Category: resources
Preventing Violence against Women: A Primer for African Women’s Organisations
Preventing Violence against Women: A Primer for African Women’s Organisations
Why this primer?
This primer provides an overview of key terms, trends, approaches, and evidence used to frame violence against women (VAW) prevention programming. It is designed to strengthen programming, advocacy, and research for evidence-based violence against women prevention in Africa. We hope that it will both contribute to individual learning and promote collective knowledge on VAW—enabling organisations and groups to engage more meaningfully in VAW prevention programming, advocacy, research, and activism.
Who is this primer for?
This primer is intended for African women’s organisations, African women’s funds, and allied philanthropic actors to broaden their understanding of the trends in the rapidly evolving field of VAW prevention. The primer also serves to increase the participation of African women’s organisations, researchers, activists, and programme developers in advancing evidence-based work on VAW prevention grounded in feminist politics.
Ultimately, it is our hope that this primer supports African women’s organisations to take the lead on VAW prevention programming, innovations, implementation, and advocacy.
HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE PRIMER
Annual Report 2018: Deepening Roots
Annual Report 2018: Deepening Roots
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Deepening Roots is a report on our achievements, learnings and growth in 2018. We strongly believe in the power and potential of African women to shape our own destinies and this report is a testament to all the growth work that continues to guide our cause. The report has been structured across three major themes: growth, reflection, and learning. Each theme captures the ways that AWDF implemented our strategic vision in 2018. We stay committed to
supporting a range of African women’s organisations to live out their visions of justice and freedom for all African women. As we continue to reach upwards and outward in our feminist journeys, we also remember to dig deeper and more intentionally into the values that root us to do this work. We hope
you enjoy reading as much as we enjoyed growing, reflecting and learning in 2018.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL REPORT ENGLISH VERSION
TO READ THE FRENCH VERSION, PLEASE CLICK HERE
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L’enracinement (Deepening Roots) est un rapport sur nos réalisations, nos apprentissages et notre croissance en 2018. Nous croyons fermement au pouvoir et au potentiel des femmes africaines à forger nos propres destins; et ce rapport est un témoignage de toutes les activités qui ont marqué notre croissance et qui continuent de guider notre cause.
Le rapport a été structuré autour de trois principaux thèmes: croissance, réflexion et apprentissage. Chaque thème représente les voies par lesquelles notre vision stratégique a été mise en oeuvre par l’AWDF en 2018. Nous demeurons engagées à notre volonté de soutenir un éventail d’organisations de femmes à accomplir leur vision de justice et de liberté pour toutes les femmes africaines. En poursuivant notre engagement à la cause féministe vers les sommets et l’extérieur, nous nous rappelons également de puiser profondément et de manière plus intentionnelle dans nos valeurs qui nous lient à ce travail qui nous passionne tant.
Nous espérons que vous trouverez du plaisir à lire ce rapport tout comme nous avons été heureuses de croître, de réfléchir et d’apprendre en 2018.
CLIQUEZ ICI POUR LIRE ET TELECHARGER LE RAPPORT
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Bread and Butter #2: Advancing Resources for Rural Women Farmers
Bread and Butter #2: Advancing Resources for Rural Women Farmers
From 13-15 September 2018, the African Women’s Development Fund convened activists, scholars, researchers and policymakers to build a thoughtful, progressive and transformative vision for the Future of African Women and the Economy under AWDF’s Economic Justice and Security thematic area. This convening investigated the various ways that African feminists are engaged in critique, analysis and the re-visioning of African economies to provide justice and security for African women. The convening is part of a larger movement-building process and ongoing conversation around resourcing African women’s economic justice and security at AWDF. The Bread and Butter series is a multifaceted knowledge production project that springs out of the convening, reflecting AWDF’s commitment to providing feminist analysis of African women’s organising. The article below is the second Article of the series.
Bread and Butter Article 2: Advancing Resources for Rural Women Farmers by Sylvia Nalubega
Women are the primary food producers globally. Within the continent of Africa, 57% of total female
employment is within agriculture. The continent’s future of food security in the face of climate change will be largely centered on the resources afforded rural women farmers. However, gender inequality perpetuates biases in resources allocated to rural women farmers and their communities. ARUWE understands that the future of food security depends on a holistic, rightsbased approach to addressing gender inequality. Central to expanding the economic opportunities for rural women is access to financial services. In this article, Sylvia Nalubega (ARUWE Uganda) provides a case study analysis of ARUWE’s work, demonstrating how rural women’s access to
finance is a necessary component in securing food on the continent. ARUWE Uganda champions
rural women and supports their movement as they advocate for their rights to financial resources.
For the full Article please click the link below:
Statement from the Participants of AWDF’s 2018 Economic Convening on the Future of African Women and the Economy
Statement from the Participants of AWDF’s 2018 Economic Convening on the Future of African Women and the Economy
At the end of 2018’s AWDF’s Economic Convening the participants composed a statement. This statement from the participants of the convening, outlined their priorities and recommendations for securing African women’s economic futures.
Please click HERE to read the statement
The Bread and Butter Series: Growth for Whom? A Pan African Feminist Reflection on Macro Level Economic Policies
The Bread and Butter Series: Growth for Whom? A Pan African Feminist Reflection on Macro Level Economic Policies
The first article in our Bread and Butter series was written by Crystal Simeoni from the African Women’s Development and Communication Network (FEMNET), convenors of the African Feminist Macroeconomics Academy. The article provides a feminist reflection on current neoliberal macro level economic policies in Africa and how they affect women’s lives. The writer argues that current definitions of women’s economic empowerment are too narrow to offer impactful strategies. This follows from increasing analyses that, in as much as Africa’s economies grow, so does inequality between her people. Simeoni argues that current neoliberal macroeconomic frameworks will continue to exacerbate the problem.
Please click HERE to read the article.
African Women’s Economic Futures Convening : Statement on African Women’s Economic Justice
African Women’s Economic Futures Convening : Statement on African Women’s Economic Justice
On September 13th – 15th, 2018, AWDF convened 27 activists, academics, development workers and knowledge producers to strategise and prioritise African women’s economic futures. This convening culminated from AWDF’s fourth strategic plan Shaping the Future, and the accompanying Futures Trends Analysis Report which highlighted the socio-economic implications of anticipated trends in Africa for women and girls. Over three (3) consecutive days, we had extensive conversations, workshop and group activities that helped us build sound advocacy strategies for African women’s economic futures. As an institution committed to resourcing African women’s movements, AWDF believes that this convening was the first step in a journey to better support future-oriented strategies to engender African women’s economic justice and security.
Bread and Butter is the post-convening knowledge series which aims to document the dynamic, critical and radical perspectives of African women thinking about their economic futures. The expression “bread and butter” refers both to the ways in which individuals come to sustain themselves usually through paid work and individuals’ practical, every day needs and concerns.
We begin our Bread and Butter series with a statement from participants of the convening, outlining our priorities and recommendations for securing African women’s economic futures.
The statement was drafted during the convening and finalized a few weeks after by the Drafting Group. Each participant contributed their own expertise to produce a holistic approach to the issues and concerns presented. While the statement attempts to provide a comprehensive analysis and list of recommendations, we encourage other African feminists to expand and operationalize this statement, with proper citation of the original statement. We hope that you find the statement useful to your own strategies.
Please click HERE to read the statement
CEO Forum Report: The Grand Finale
CEO Forum Report: The Grand Finale
Feminist organisations have been at the forefront of women’s and girl’s rights advocacy and action across Africa and the Middle East. Often working in
challenging socio -economic and political contexts with limited organisational capacity and ever-increasing demands, women’s organisations help bridge the public service delivery gap, while redefining conventional ideas and practices on the rights and roles of women in society, the economy, and policymaking. How do these women’s organisations continue to push the envelope on impact
while embarking on feminist movement building? How do they remain innovative and relevant in ever-changing women’s rights, development and professional landscapes? How do they stay accountable as they tackle Africa’s challenging socio-economic and political issues?
To address the capacity building needs of African women’s organisations, the African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF) spearheaded the creation of the CEO Forum. Designed by African feminists, the CEO Forum seeks to build individual and collective leadership and skills of senior, mid -level and emerging women leaders and executives. Participants benefit from networking, technical skills acquisition and professional capacity building, alongside in-person and virtual coaching over a specified timeframe. The coaching process involves practical exercises and feedback for the continuous evolution and growth of African feminist leaders. To date, 60 feminist leaders and activists have been coached.
From 4th to 6th October, 2018, 30 representatives of grantee women’s organisations joined coaches Hope Chigudu, Paula Fray, and Yene Assegid and the AWDF team at Accra’s Best Western Hotel for a period of sharing, reflection, learning and evaluation on the CEO Forum’s successes, shortfalls and impact. The gathering marked the eighth edition and grand finale of the CEO Forum and featured past and prospective coachees working in 14
African and Middle Eastern countries, namely: Benin, Burkina Faso,
Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Lebanon, Malawi, Nigeria, Sierra
Leone, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
See below for the event report:
Grantee Recognition Survey Report: 2018
Grantee Recognition Survey Report: 2018
Grantees Recognition Survey forms part of AWDF’s monitoring and evaluation instruments used to assess and ascertain the profound impact grantees are making in the lives of women and on the continent at large. AWDF has provided grants and technical support to over 1,340 women’s organisations in 43 out of the 54 countries in Africa and 2 Middle East countries, since the beginning of its operation in 2001. These organisations are doing outstanding work by contributing to improving living conditions of beneficiaries, increased recognition and inclusion of women’s rights issues in the development agenda and the continuous struggle for social justice in their communities. As a result of these remarkable works, they have earned recognitions and influence in their localities / communities, countries, on the continent and beyond. The survey showcases the recognition/awards of AWDF’s grantees and also highlights the role AWDF played.
These awards / recognition come in different forms and AWDF seeks to systematically track and document such recognitions/awards annually making use of online survey through google forms. For the 2018 survey, questionnaires were sent through Google forms to 54 organisations who received funding above $5,000 in 2016 (48 from Anglophone countries and 6 from francophone countries).
In Bloom: AWDF Activity Report 2017
In Bloom: AWDF Activity Report 2017
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.
Women’s Human Rights: A Look at AWDF Grant Best Practices
Women’s Human Rights: A Look at AWDF Grant Best Practices
Within the strategic plan, AWDF prioritised issues under the WHR thematic area which included Violence against women: ending impunity, practical support to survivors of violence, Fundamentalisms: religious, cultural, political, economic, legal and social, Property rights: ownership, inheritance, access, control of assets and Citizenship. The grantee portfolio at the time included initiatives that addressed the following issues including: legal, policy development and reform, movement building using The Charter of Feminist Principles for African Feminists, awareness raising through campaigns, events, media outreach on issues listed above, research and documentation, practical support to women affected by the thematic issues,training and capacity building. The purpose of the evaluation
was to increase organisational learning by assessing AWDF and grantee partners. It was designed to understand AWDF and performance between 2009-2011. The evaluation used relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability as an overarching framework. The analysis of the report was guided by the social change matrix, a tool utilised by the Global Fund for Women for internal reflection practices. It is our hope that the findings over that period of time will only continue to strengthen the work of AWDF as well as deeper understandings and practices in women’s human rights.