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Women’s rights and feminist movements in Africa received a boost this week. On a visit to Sierra Leone, the Canadian Minister of International Development, Marie-Claude Bibeau, announced a $7 million (CAD) partnership with the African Women’s Development Fund, as part of the Canadian government’s recently announced $150 million ‘Women’s Voice and Leadership’ initiative.

At a meeting in Freetown on 14 August 2018, with women’s rights and peace and security civil society organisations, Minister Bibeau stated that in Canada’s Feminist International Assistance Policy, ‘women are not seen as victims but as survivors and agents of change’. As such, AWDF is excited to be a part of the Voice and Leadership initiative, with an initial focus on transnational and regional activity.

Spanning five years, this project will allow AWDF and African women’s rights organisations to further strengthen their impact on the achievement of women’s rights and social justice through greater support, profile and networking of African women’s voices, participation and leadership. This initiative will join with other AWDF work, supporting African women’s rights organisations and movements through grantmaking, technical assistance, advocacy and knowledge generation.

Watch for further information about this initiative in the near future.[/tp]

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Dans le cadre de la récente annonce du gouvernement canadien de consacrer 150 millions de dollars à sa nouvelle initiative sur « la voix et le leadership des femmes », l’honorable Marie-Claude Bibeau, ministre du Développement international, en visite en Sierra Leone a annoncé un financement de 7 millions de dollars en faveur du Fonds Africain pour le Développement de la Femme (AWDF). Cette annonce vient booster les efforts des organisations de défense des droits des femmes et des mouvements féministes en Afrique.

Le 14 août 2018, lors d’une rencontre avec les représentants des organisations de femmes, de la société civile, et celles œuvrant pour la paix et la sécurité en Sierra Leone, Freetown, la ministre Bibeau a déclaré que dans la Politique d’Aide Internationale Féministe du Canada «les femmes ne sont pas considérées comme des victimes mais comme des survivantes et des agents du changement». AWDF est donc ravi de contribuer à la mise en œuvre du projet Voix et Leadership, tout en se focalisant sur les activités transnationales et régionales.

Couvrant une période de cinq ans, ce projet permettra à l’AWDF ainsi qu’aux organisations de défense des droits des femmes de renforcer leur impact pour le respect des droits des femmes et l’atteinte de la justice sociale à travers le soutien, le réseautage et l’amplification des voix, de la participation et du leadership des femmes africaines. Ce projet s’ajoutera aux autres projets de l’AWDF consacrés à soutenir les organisations de défense des droits des femmes et des mouvements féministes par l’octroi des subventions, le renforcement des capacités, le plaidoyer et la gestion des connaissances.

Consultez souvent notre site web pour de plus amples informations sur cette initiative.[/tp]

 

By: Maame Akua Kyerewaa-Marfo

The fast pace of technology has often made it synonymous with the concept of progress. New Technological developments often came with the presumption of neutrality. They were widely thought of not to have the the weaknesses of human prejudice, just simple–clean–algorithms. Technology could be–at least conceptually–blissfully neutral. However in its implementation it became clear that technological developments often mirrored the people doing the developing and left out, inadvertently or not, those who lacked the privilege often needed to gain the skills necessary to claim digital real estate. The Decolonising the Internet conference, held in Cape Town, wanted to re-imagine an internet where the real estate was owned by all. An internet where everyone had a voice, an opinion and a story.

Decolonising the Internet was a conference organised by Whose Knowledge? as a precursor to WIKIMANIA 2018, the Wikimedia Foundation’s annual conference. Each WIKIMANIA brings together volunteers and free knowledge leaders to celebrate all the various free knowledge projects hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation. This year’s theme– “Bridging knowledge gaps: the Ubuntu way forward,” focused on the spaces and moments that Wikipedia and all of the other free knowledge products of the Wikimedia foundation, had missed. As an organisation that already does the work of reconstructing the internet so that more of it’s users are included within it’s landscape, Whose Knowledge?’s two day, Decolonizing the Internet pre-conference provided a lens by which to interpret and untangle the WIKIMANIA conference. They created a space where participants could participate in this reconstruction and re-imagining of an internet which would truly belong to everyone.

The first day focused on imagining. What would it truly mean to rethink the internet–and how could all of the different voices in the room find a space in this collective re-imagining? What did it mean to be in a room full of people doing interesting and often times revolutionary work in spaces that the western world normally wouldn’t consider in its construction of the digital landscape? What would this reclaiming of space look like? The answers to these questions had a wide range, from new ways of archiving information and new knowledge systems to rethinking the concepts of labeling that are prevalent within library systems and how even those categorisations can be limiting and exclusionary. The first day served as a way of getting participants to both conceptualise the internet and free knowledge spaces they want to see, and start the difficult work of imagining themselves within those landscapes.

The second day focused on the doing– now that we had re-imagined wild– important futures. How could we transform the spaces we occupy now to usher them in? For some the answer was to look at the landscape of Wikimania–and Wikipedia itself. How could we get rid of common limitations that we had experienced trying to populate the space with information from marginalised communities? What were the first steps to our glorious, liberated, decolonised digital future in a space that prides itself on being accessible to all? How could we, in our own ways, ensure that it is? Several different answers sprang up in response to this question and the day was spent working out our places and our starting points. The focus on small, manageable starting points meant that the follow up actions were simple–doable things that linked clearly to our overall goal. We would be doing something small–but tangible and foundational like exploring the possibility of a feminist commons, to becoming more involved in editing and updating Wikipedia.

Over the next few days of WIKIMANIA itself, it became clear how important the space offered by Decolonising the Internet was. It allowed people working in different ways to link hands in a space where knowledge was de-centralised. This meant that for those who had been in the bean bag filled break away rooms there was a lens, an action plan and a reason to engage, beyond a passion for free knowledge. It allowed inputs to be important and poignant, and though the overall achievements of that space are hard to map now– the connections between people doing incredible work, who were pushing for more space for marginalised knowledge were powerful, tangible things.

Whose Knowledge called into question the rethinking of the cannon. An internet for all would mean rethinking concepts, categories, what is considered a source and who is considered an authority. Although Wikipedia questions these tenets by its simple existence– it was clear from both the conversations and the theme for this years WIKIMANIA that this question, this probing, this revolution is incomplete. Whose Knowledge took that theme and that questioning further, and provided a space of liberation. One were we could deconstruct and reconstruct.

Whose Knowledge provided not only space to question and imagine– but also incredible people to do this important imagining with.

For more information on Whose Knowledge please follow this LINK.

The African Women’s Development Fund believes in supporting our grantees to build their capacity and resourcing them past finances. We also believe in the strength of unity of purpose as demonstrated by our Results Based Programming training which is aimed at reinforcing our knowledge and understanding of our common goals.

This flagship programme is part of efforts of the Capacity Building Unit to strengthen our grantees, and through them the women’s movement as a whole. The training focuses on systematically aligning the incredible work that women’s organisations do with global visions and expected results, thus allowing them to map the change they are already creating.

This training helps grantees reaffirm their purpose and achieve the results that define their overall goals. The training also focuses on holistic learnings that gives organisations the space to integrate lessons learned into management decisions. Another important aspect of the training is its focus on monitoring and performance. It allows grantees to check in and check themselves, to make sure they’re doing the best work they can, and achieving the goals they set out to achieve.

The training module asks several key questions:

What do we want to achieve? What is our goal?

What will we do to reach that goal?

How will we know whether or not we have achieved our goal?

These questions will be explored in a myriad of ways, focusing on evidence-based methodologies that give grantees a nuanced experience of Monitoring Evaluation and learning, especially as it pertains to them and AWDF. This year’s training, starting on 8th August 2018, will take place over the course of 6 days and will be held in Nairobi, Kenya.

For more information and personal reflection on a previous Results Based Programming training held by AWDF, see this piece by Dr Awino Okech, HERE

 

 

Theme: “Building capacity for organisational effectiveness and sustainability”.

The African Women’s Development Fund is organising its 4th Financial Management Training as part of its mandate to provide technical skills to grantees in order to ensure transparency, accountability and prudent financial management of resources for better results and impact.

Running from 24^th till 26^th July 2018, the 3-day programme will include a series of highly interactive sessions for sharing ideas among participants. The programme will consist of presentations, case studies and discussions in the following areas;

• Governance and Organisational structures
• The Financial Planning Process
• Assessment of Financial Health, Budget and Cash flow projection
• Internal control checks and financial risk management (fraud risk)
• Accounting records
• Reconciliations
• Grant Management and compliance
• Procurement
• Financial Reporting
• Compliance with Statutory Requirements

After the training, selected organisation will receive up to 6 hours of individual coaching by a Consultant to address challenges as well as assist participants in translating the workshop concepts into prioritized action steps for improvement.

Financial management is one of the most critical functions of any organisation and is vital to the existence of the entity. With sound financial planning, non-profits can successfully manage their resources and ensure their growth and sustainability. This is the reasoning behind the high premium that AWDF places on its Capacity Building Programme and specifically the Financial Management Training. It is done with the expectation that participants will enhance their financial management knowledge and skills to better manage as well as mobilise additional resources for long term sustainability.

Background

 

The African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF) is a pioneering grant-making foundation headquartered in Accra, Ghana. AWDF was founded by and for African women. It aims to support the work of the African women’s movement for peace, equality, sustainable development and social justice. Since its founding in 2001, AWDF has continued to support a growing portfolio of grants to leading women’s rights organisations and feminist movements across Africa, while also supporting knowledge generation, capacity building, and donor advocacy around African women’s activist histories, movement resourcing needs, and more recently, feminist futures.

AWDF requires the services of an astute, experienced, innovative, dedicated, smart and dependable Administrative Assistant, who believes in the achievement of African women’s rights. Given AWDF’s organizational mandate, female applicants are preferred.

Scope

The post holder will assist the Human Resources Manager in providing administrative and HR services to AWDF, with particular responsibility for the running of the front desk, general HR and administrative support to the organisation, and ensuring that AWDF’s operations and programmes are executed in an effective and efficient manner.

Responsibilities:

1. Manage the Front desk of the organisation
2. Receive incoming calls and make outgoing official calls

3. Ensure efficient management and monitoring of incoming and outgoing letters, documents distribution (including filing of documents where appropriate).

1. Assist in logging maintenance, administrative and logistical complaints, including receiving and recording of complaints, and liaising with the relevant service provider to resolve the issue
2. Assist in ensuring operation of equipment by organising preventive maintenance requirements; calling for repairs; maintaining equipment inventories; evaluating new equipment and techniques.
3. Assist in maintaining supplies inventory by checking stock to determine inventory level; anticipating needed supplies; placing and expediting orders for supplies; verifying receipt of supplies.
4. Assist in procurement processes according to the organisation’s procurement policy
5. Assist in maintaining electronic and hard copy filing system
6. Assist in maintaining confidential records and files
7. Assist in efficient minute taking and distribution
8. Assist in providing administrative support during recruitment processes

1. Assist in coordinating logistical arrangements for both in-house and external events according to laid down procedures. Organise information / board papers for organisational meetings.
2. Assist in the renewal of permits, NGO recognition certificate, filing of annual returns and other
3. Any other duties as may be assigned by the line manager

Person Specification

• Bachelor degree in HR/ Administration or its equivalent required
• Minimum of 2 years of hands-on administrative support experience
• Proficiency in MS Word, MS Excel and MS Outlook is a must
• Knowledge of office administration and reasonable knowledge of Human Resource management
• Knowledge of operating standard office equipment
• Knowledge of and commitment to African women’s rights issues
• Fluency in French is an advantage

Competencies required:

• Must have excellent communication (oral and written) and listening skills
• Ability to speak and interact clearly and professionally
• Ability to prioritise work and strong problem solving skills
• Good research skills and attention to detail
• Ability to work methodically, accurately, speedily and neatly.
• Must be a team player with excellent inter personal skills. Capacity to work constructively with a diverse group of people is essential.
• Experience working with an international organisation and with varied cultural awareness (preferred)
• Good analytical skills
• Extremely organised. Strong multi-tasking and time-management skills.
• Ability to handle sensitive information with the highest degree of integrity and confidentiality.
• Knowledge in transport bookings and arrangements is a plus.
• Proactive, with the ability to work with minimum supervision.

How to apply:

Qualified candidates should send their application letter and CV of not more than 3 pages by email

To grace@africlub.net/awdf with ‘Administrative Assistant’ as the subject reference. Applications should reach AWDF no later than August 7, 2018.

Only short listed candidates will be contacted for additional information and interviews.

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For many women and girls in Africa, getting justice for violence perpetrated against them continues to be an elusive dream. The barriers that impede access to justice are myriad but are all rooted in societal structures and social norms that define women and men’s interactions and experiences.

This month, the international community celebrates the World Day of International Justice. This historic day marks the establishment of the Rome Statute, the treaty that created the International Criminal Court which deals with war crimes, crimes against humanity, crimes of aggression and genocide.

Violence against women (VAW) has been a key funding area for AWDF’s grant making with cases advocating to end VAW occupying the majority of our grant portfolio over the years.

Under AWDF’s new strategic framework (SFIV), tackling VAW continues to be a major pillar under the Bodily and Health Rights thematic area. Beyond our main grants, AWDF makes annual calls to fund organisations during the 16 days of Activism against Gender-based Violence (25^th November – 10^th December). Over the past 3 years, AWDF has funded several organisations working on VAW issues.

AWDF is proud of its grantee partner Ripples International, a women-led organisation that stands out in raising awareness and educating women and girls on their rights. Ripples International’s 160 girls Project goes beyond raising awareness and follows through to ensure that perpetrators of VAW are held accountable. With support from various donors including AWDF, Ripples International works to seek justice on behalf of sexually abused girls, usually under 18 years, and whose cases have either been improperly investigated or thrown out of court for lack of evidence or tampering with evidence.

Rape and sexual violence cases are particularly difficult to seek justice for. This fact makes it all the more extraordinary that Ripples International was not deterred by the difficult and frustrating nature of this case. After winning the ground-breaking case in 2013 with the 160 girls project through the court ruling that ensured girls are protected from rape, the organisation went on to win another key landmark case. On Thursday, October 27^th 2017, Maua court ruled that a Laare Police Officer be sentenced to 20 years for sexually defiling a 13-year old school girl in Kenya. This is one of 11 child rape cases that Kenya’s high court ordered to be re-opened in 2013, after Ripples International sued the police for failing to investigate hundreds of cases brought to them – instead demanding bribes from and even locking up girls attempting to make reports. After six (6) years in and out of court, this landmark victory was one of 5 successful court rulings in favour of the 160 girls that Ripples international advocated for.

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It all started in December 2010 when police officer Joseph Mutua, on duty at a local bank, beckoned a 13-year old school girl in the company of her friends to approach him. He made advances at the little girl and suggested sex (which she refused), but forcefully raped her in a back room at the A.P Quarters. Mutua subsequently threatened to harm her if she informed anyone of the vicious act. Not surprisingly, the 13-year old obliged out of “fear of the uniform”. After a few months, the girl’s family realized that she was pregnant. The family immediately contacted Ripples International to seek justice for their daughter. But since the accused was a policeman, the police were reluctant to investigate the issue and even tampered with DNA evidence. The accused finally managed to coerce the family into accepting to withdraw the case and settle out of court. When the child was born in 2011, DNA tests confirmed that Mutua was indeed the father of the child. This revelation was followed by failed promises of customary marriage and bribes for the girl’s family.

Finally, after six years of unsuccessful attempts at justice, the court ruled in favour of the 13-year old school girl. The court determined that the stories of the accused, the girl (who had been coerced to speak in favour of the accused) and her mother did not corroborate, demonstrating inconsistencies such as the residential location of the supposed married couple . The fabricated stories led the judge to rule for the imprisonment of the police officer for 20 years. The girl has since returned to school.

We congratulate our grantee partner Ripples International and all change agents in Africa, the women who speak out and refuse to give up. We salute you![/tp]

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Pour de nombreuses femmes et filles en Afrique, l’obtention de la justice pour des violences perpétrées contre elles continue d’être un rêve non réalisable. Les obstacles qui entravent l’accès à la justice sont multiples mais sont tous enracinés dans les structures et les normes sociales qui déterminent les interactions et les expériences des femmes et des hommes.

Ce mois, la communauté internationale célèbre la Journée Mondiale pour la Justice Internationale. Cette journée historique marque la création du statut de Rome, le traité qui a créé la Cour Pénale Internationale qui s’occupe des crimes de guerre, des crimes contre l’humanité, des crimes d’agression et de génocide.

Les violences faites aux femmes (VAW) font partie des domaines clés d’octroi de subventions de l’AWDF. Au fil des ans, la majorité du portefeuille de l’AWDF est constituée de subventions destinées à soutenir les activités de plaidoyer visant à éliminer les violences faites aux femmes.

Dans le cadre de notre nouveau plan stratégique, adresser les problèmes liés aux violences faites à la femme continue d’être une priorité essentielle et est par conséquent inclus dans l’un de nos domaines thématiques notamment les droits relatifs au corps et à la santé. À part sa subvention principale, AWDF lance des appels à propositions de projets pour commémorer 16 jours d’activisme contre les violences basées sur le genre célébré chaque année (du 25 novembre au 10 décembre). Au cours des trois dernières années, AWDF a donné un soutien financier à plusieurs organisations travaillant sur les problèmes liés aux violences faites aux femmes.

Ripples International, organisation basée au Kenya et dirigée par des femmes, est l’une des organisations bénéficiaires de l’AWDF et est reconnue pour ses campagnes de sensibilisation et d’éducation des femmes et des filles sur leurs droits. Son projet « 160girls » va au-delà de la sensibilisation et assure que les auteurs des crimes de violences faites aux femmes sont tenus responsables de leurs actes. Avec le soutien financier de plusieurs donateurs dont AWDF, Ripples International travaille pour assurer la justice pour les filles (plus souvent moins de 18 ans) survivantes des abus sexuels et dont les cas ont été mal étudiés ou abandonnés pour manque de preuves.

Le viol et les violences sexuelles font partie des cas les plus difficiles à être jugés, raison pour laquelle l’organisation Ripples International est appréciée pour ses efforts car elle n’est pas découragée par les difficultés et les frustrations qu’elle rencontre en traitant ces types de cas. Après avoir remporté la grande victoire en 2013 dans le cadre de son projet « 160 girls » qui avait comme décision finale du tribunal d’assurer que les filles soient protégées contre le viol, elle a également remporté une autre victoire très signifiante. Jeudi 27 octobre 2017, le tribunal de Maua a condamné à 20 ans de prison un policier qui avait violé une écolière de 13 ans au Kenya. Ce cas est l’un des onze cas de viol de mineurs ayant été réétudié en 2013 sous l’ordre de la cour suprême du Kenya. Ceci est dû à l’intervention de Ripples International qui a poursuivi la police en justice pour manque d’enquêtes sur des centaines de cas rapportés. Ces policiers qui s’étaient laissés corrompre ont même enfermé les filles qui ont rapporté les cas de viols. Après 6 ans de lutte pour conclure ce cas, cette victoire marquante fut l’un des 5 jugements du tribunal en faveur du projet « 160 girls » que défendait Ripples International.

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Tout a commencé en décembre 2010, lorsque le policier Joseph Mutua, de service dans une banque locale, a fait signe à une écolière de 13 ans, en compagnie de ses amis (es) de s’approcher de lui. Il a fait des avances à la petite fille et lui a demandé de faire l’amour avec lui. La petite a refusé mais ce dernier avec force l’a emmené dans une chambre derrière le logement AP et l’a violée. Mutua a par la suite menacé la petite en lui disant qu’il allait lui faire du mal si elle informait quelqu’un de l’acte inégal. La petite de 13 ans n’a donc parlé de l’incident à personne à cause de la peur qui l’envahissait. Après quelques mois, la famille de la petite a réalisé qu’elle était enceinte. La famille a immédiatement fait appel à Ripples International pour demander justice pour leur fille mais à cause du fait que l’accusé était un policier, la police était réticente à faire des enquêtes sur la situation et a même falsifié le test d’ADN. Finalement, l’accusé a réussi à convaincre la famille de retirer leur plainte de la justice afin de régler l’affaire hors du tribunal. Lorsque l’enfant est né en 2011, les tests d’ADN ont confirmé que Mutua était réellement le père de l’enfant. Cette découverte s’est suivie des promesses du mariage coutumier non tenues et aussi d’actes de corruption envers la famille de la jeune fille.

Après six ans de tentatives infructueuses à l’obtention de justice, la Cour d’appel a finalement statué en faveur de l’écolière de 13 ans. La Cour a jugé que les témoignages de l’accusé, de la jeune fille (qui avait été contrainte de témoigner en faveur de l’accusé) et de sa mère étaient contradictoires à cause des incohérences par exemple sur le lieu de résidence du couple présumé. Les témoignages fabriqués ont poussé le juge à condamner le policier pour 20 ans de prison. La jeune fille par la suite, est retournée à l’école.

Nous félicitons notre partenaire bénéficiaire Ripples International et tous les partenaires qui œuvrent pour le changement en Afrique. Nous vous saluons, les femmes qui s’expriment et ne sont pas prêtes à abandonner la bataille.[/tp]

This year, AWDF set the stage for our new strategic plan Shaping the Future (2017-2021). It was a year of significant expansion in our budget, in our programming and also growth in our staff team as we began our planned scale-up in contributions in the world of African feminist philanthropy. Under our new strategic plan, AWDF has a threefold aim of resourcing African women’s organisations and movements to promote, protect and realise women’s human rights, amplifying African women’s rights, concerns and resourcing agendas; and sustaining AWDF as a financially secure, effective and well governed feminist philanthropic organisation.

To read our activity report in full, click the link below.

AWDF Activity Report 2017

[tp lang=”en” not_in=”fr”]AWDF is excited to announce the award of the second round of grants for “Leading from the South” for Africa and the Middle East, supporting advocacy and lobbying to advance women’s rights.

We received many exciting applications from women’s rights organisations and coalitions from across Africa and the Middle East that spanned the full range of our thematic areas, and contained innovative approaches to advocacy work. We would like to commend all eligible applicants for putting forward thorough and engaging applications. After a rigorous screening, 22 grants have been approved with grant awards totaling US $5,657,900.

See the breakdown of the Data and the full grants list below.

 

LFS Grantees: Round 2

Yalla Grantees

1. Association Démocratique des Femmes du Maroc / Rabat, Morocco
2. Association des Femmes Handicapées de Madagascar (AFHAM), Madagascar
3. Institute For Social Transformation (IST), Uganda
4. Rural Women’s Movement (RWM), South Africa

Ananse Grantees

1. ABANTU For Development, Ghana
2. Alliances for Africa, Nigeria
3. Anti-Racism Movement (ARM), Lebanon
4. EarthLore Foundation, South Africa
5. Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA Kenya), Kenya
6. Horizons Femmes, Cameroon
7. Psycho Social Counseling Center for Women, Palestine
8. The Initiative for Strategic Litigation in Africa, South Africa
9. Womankind Kenya, Kenya
10. Women Advocates Research and Documentation Center (WARDC), Nigeria
11. Women and Law in Southern Africa, Zambia
12. Women Filmmakers of Zimbabwe (WFOZ), Zimbabwe
13. Forum for Women in Democracy (FOWODE), Uganda
14. The Nigerian Women Trust Fund (NWTF), Nigeria

 

Pamoja Grantees

1. Collective for Research and Training on Development Action (CRTDA), Lebanon
2. FEMNET- The African Women’s Development and Communication Network, Kenya
3. Women in Law and Development in Africa – Afrique de l’Ouest (WiLDAF), Togo
4. Coalition of African Lesbians (CAL), South Africa

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L’AWDF a le plaisir de vous annoncer sa deuxième série de subventions octroyées en Afrique et au Moyen Orient dans le cadre du projet «LE SUD AUX RÊNES DU LEADERSHIP» dont l’objectif est d’appuyer les actions de plaidoyer et de lobbying en vue de la promotion des droits des femmes.

La demande était très énorme. Les organisations de défenses des droits des femmes et des coalitions en Afrique et au Moyen Orient ont envoyé des propositions de projets intéressants et après un examen rigoureux de ces dossiers, 22 subventions d’un montant total de 5657900 de dollars américains ont été approuvées.

Ci-dessous les détails sur les organisations sélectionnées

Bénéficiaires de LFS : 2^e cycle de subventions

Bénéficiaires de la catégorie Yalla

Association Démocratique des Femmes du Maroc / Rabat, Maroc

Association des Femmes Handicapées de Madagascar (AFHAM), Madagascar

Institute For Social Transformation (IST), Ouganda

Rural Women’s Movement (RWM), Afrique du Sud

 

Bénéficiaires de la catégorie Ananse

ABANTU For Development, Ghana

Alliances for Africa, Nigeria

Anti-Racism Movement (ARM), Liban

EarthLore Foundation, Afrique du Sud

Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA Kenya), Kenya

Horizons Femmes, Cameroun

Psycho Social Counseling Center for Women, Palestine

The Initiative for Strategic Litigation in Africa, Afrique du Sud

Womankind Kenya, Kenya

Women Advocates Research and Documentation Center (WARDC), Nigeria

Women and Law in Southern Africa, Zambie

Women Filmmakers of Zimbabwe (WFOZ), Zimbabwe

Forum for Women in Democracy (FOWODE), Ouganda

The Nigerian Women Trust Fund (NWTF), Nigeria

 

Bénéficiaires de la catégorie Pamoja

Collective for Research and Training on Development Action (CRTDA), Liban

FEMNET- The African Women’s Development and Communication Network, Kenya

Women in Law and Development in Africa – Afrique de l’Ouest (WiLDAF), Togo

Coalition of African Lesbians (CAL), Afrique du Sud

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The CEO Forum and coaching programme, designed by African feminists, develops the individual and collective leadership skills of women leaders who are at different points in their careers (senior, mid-level and emerging). As a Capacity Building Programme, this space also addresses critical gap areas while strengthening institutional and governance structures and providing an enabling framework for their sustainability. With this 7th CEO Forum and 4th coaching programme, we have over the years gained specialised knowledge of the persistent challenges African women’s organisations contend with concerning resource mobilisation, communications, governance, leadership transition, safety and wellbeing.

The story below, is from one of the participants of the CEO forum and Manda program. She describes how the programme has changed not only her approach to leadership, but her approach to life in general.

VALNORA EDWIN
Executive Director: Campaign for Good Governance
Sierra Leone

 

“This has been a mind-opening experience. I think of a quote that says, It’s not about you but it’s all about you. It’s not anything personal about you but there’s a lot you have to do about yourself to be a better person. As the CEO, you take the lead in making the organisation a better place. There have been quite a lot of conversations both in the sessions and informally that shows that you are not alone. You feel you are alone in the bad experiences – you have a feeling of, is something wrong with me? What am I not doing right? Am I not communicating well? But in conversation we realise that it is something common but we need to work on ourselves to make things better.

The Wheel of Life – the nature and pace of the organisation – we’re all paying attention to that rather than ourselves. We need to work on ourselves, reflect and set targets and goals and that will help us to strengthen the team. I want my colleagues to do some reflection. Our governance structure is not too bad but it could be better than what we have now. While we were doing the baseline evaluation, in practice we are doing a couple of things but in terms of formalizing and developing tools, written policies and structures, these are things we will work on when we return to the office.

I’m very excited about the coaching and I’m really looking forward to it. I’m in another leadership training program in Sierra Leone which is also a 9-month program and it’s almost similar. This is preparing me for the next level – I don’t know what – and so I am excited for being equipped to do this”.

AWDF is thrilled to have been selected for support under the NoVo Foundation’s Radical Hope fund- a bold and imaginative initiative that seeks to support efforts focused on nurturing the movements we need and deepening our collective ability to build a more just and balanced world.

We are looking to re-inspire radical hope amongst African feminists through Flourish Project- a three-year initiative that will strengthen feminist organising across Africa through three key interventions:

1. Seedinginspiration for the growth of African feminist movements through intergenerational dialogues and documenting a generation of liberation-era feminist trailblazers;
2. Grounding through a pilot model of a retreat for African feminist activists facing burnout and stress, and in need of a reflective and healing space—designed and implemented in collaboration with AIR, a network of African practitioners developing transformative feminist approaches to trauma, emotional wellbeing, and mental health
3. Connectingfeminist activists to convene and grow their organising at national and community levels linked to the African Feminist Forum.

“The Flourish Project aims to do what the name suggests- refresh and tend to the vibrant movement of African feminists who have and will continue to shape the future of Africa” says Jessica Horn, Director of Programmes at AWDF. “We are excited that Novo has recognised the need to invest in the deep movement work that also needs support alongside frontline advocacy: the work of documenting and sharing our activist legacies, of finding durable ways to sustain activists working in hostile terrain, and of keeping movement strategy and base-building spaces alive”.

For more information on Radical Hope, read the Novo Foundation press release here