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16 Days of Hope
16 Days of Hope
By Nana Akosua Hanson
Imagine this: You are walking through a busy street and everybody keeps grabbing at your body parts. You speak up, but you are shut down. You have no right to open your mouth, they say. They grab you some more. Your body is in pain, so you are in pain. It is such an awkward mind space; feeling the pain of a body that hurts because you carry that body, you own it. It belongs to you, and yet all these people who do not share in the pain of this body claim ownership of it. And they would kill you to make that point. Welcome to Patriarchy.
In Ghana, during the second half of the 90s, the first of the serial killings was traced to Kumasi. Akua Serwaa was found dead near the Kumasi Sports Stadium. The killings spread to Accra. Thirty-three more women were found dead in various states of mutilation and undress. The Accra Strangler became famous. In 2000, four men were standing trial for killing their partners. Seven women at least had been killed in the span of two weeks by their partners over alleged infidelities. These occurrences were not new. The style was familiar. The late 90s and early 2000s was Ghana’s Jack-the-Ripper moment. It played out to a chorus of fury and fear, the ruling government’s insensitivity in politicising Ghanaian women’s murders, and the lack of interest and urgency by the Ghana Police.
In Uganda, it was twenty women in four months. In South Africa, it is three women a day. Same script.
These women were sex workers, loving partners, traders, human beings with hopes and dreams, who had children, and people who loved them, but before everything else, they were Women.
I often think about the nature of patriarchy. Oppressive systems are made up of human beings. Human beings project beyond themselves, unify those projected ideas and from hence, come the establishment of a system. Patriarchy is a unified projection of our hate. In my life, this hate moves from irritating to downright scary. It is frightening to contemplate how grossly hateful a system can be that a by-product of its hate is an outburst of women-killings by a single-minded, hateful man or several groups of hateful men. It is downright scary when you are hit with the horror of the reality of a system that from birth hammers in a language of gender inequality, empowers this inequality by creating “divine” justification and systematises it such that its continuous existence is assured. This is downright scary.
But I have learnt to keep reminding myself to appreciate the many examples of hope that constantly surround us. These are reminders that there is a strong force of goodness in all of this hate and the unification of that projected strong force of love would also soon birth a loving world where people are not targeted because of their gender, sexuality class, ethnicity, race or any category used to create violent rifts because of differences.
Today marks the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. As we commemorate this very first day in our 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence, let us be reminded about the hope of this day, of this time. My many cards of hope today are the thousands of women who marched through the streets of Accra on April 6th 2002, spoke truth to power and demanded the serial killings stopped and they did.
My special card of hope is that our activism against patriarchy and its consequent violence has come to live and thrive beyond just 16 days, and because of this, every new day brings us closer to a world free from patriarchy and free from Gender Based Violence. Just Imagine.
VACANCY: Human Resources and Administration Manager
VACANCY: Human Resources and Administration Manager
AWDF is looking for a Human Resources Manager. The candidate will be responsible for leading, planning and managing the Human Resources and Administration function of the organisation through the design, development and alignment of policies, procedures, systems and controls guiding critical human resources interventions, applications and outcomes. Working with the Director of Operations and staff to drive the accomplishment of AWDF’s mission and vision and assure its responsiveness and accountability to its diverse constituents.
Click here to see the Terms of Reference: bit.ly/2J9Q1od
“Female solidarity is important” Theo Sowa tells Female Foreign Ministers in Montreal
“Female solidarity is important” Theo Sowa tells Female Foreign Ministers in Montreal
African women: The Architects of our Economic Futures.
African women: The Architects of our Economic Futures.
On September 13-15 2018, AWDF will convene a select group of activists, scholars, researchers and policy shapers to help build and think through a thoughtful, progressive and transformative vision for the future of women in African economies. The African Women’s Development Fund knows the potential of the power that women wield in our shared economic future and seeks to harness to shape this future.
At the “African Women: Economic Futures” convening we will examine what needs to be done to see that potential grow into tangible results. Participants will also investigate feminist interventions within the economy and how we can further support progressive changes that help ensure that the possibilities of our economic future becomes a reality.
The convening will be part of a larger movement-building process and ongoing conversation and activism around African women’s economic transformation. Some of the questions that will anchor the conversations and creative construction are:
- What is already being done to build just and secure economic presents and futures?
- How are African women actively, politically and intentionally creating subversive work/labour practices, and what can we learn from these?
- What economic models exist that can be engaged in thinking about where to go?
To participate in the conversation please follow the hashtag #AWDFfutures, #Econfutures, #Afrifem as well as our twitter handle @awdf01, where we will be unpacking these topics, and tweeting key thoughts and ideas from the convening. Also look out for future knowledge products that will come out of the amazing work that our participants will be doing over the 3-day period!
Please click here to read the full Futures Report.
Temporary Position: Short-term Grants Administration Support
Temporary Position: Short-term Grants Administration Support
Terms of Reference (TOR)
Background
The African Women’s Development Fund is a leading feminist grantmaking foundation supporting African women’s rights organisations and movements across Africa and 5 countries in the Middle East, through grant making, institutional capacity building, advocacy and knowledge generation aimed at advancing social justice and gender equality. AWDF is headquartered in Accra, Ghana.
As part of AWDF’s mandate and grant making processes, the fund periodically puts out calls for project proposals from women’s rights organisations. These calls usually have a timeframe within which applicants are expected to send in their applications to be considered for a grant in response to that particular call. AWDF therefore tends to receive a high volume of applications during such periods.
In August 2018, AWDF is expecting to receive a high volume of applications in response to three current calls for proposals.
AWDF is therefore looking for a short-term Grants Administration support person to assist in the downloading and initial screening of the applications that are expected. This is the first phase of the grants screening process.
Qualifications and Experience
The successful applicant will have a blend of relevant background and professional experience in the following areas:
- A Bachelors’ degree or Higher National Diploma in any relevant field with preference for Women’s rights, social work, development studies, management, administration studies, or other related fields.
- At least one year’s experience working in an office environment with responsibilities involving administration and/or processing of information
- Proficiency in the use of Microsoft Office tools especially Excel
- Ability to speak and write good English. French will be an added advantage
- Knowledge of and commitment to women’s rights issues
- Meticulous information processing skills and attention to detail
- Good human relations
- Capable of multi-tasking
- Ability to work with limited supervision
- Ability to work in an environment of diverse cultures
- Ability to keep confidential information
Scope of Work
- The successful applicant will assist with checking and downloading emails for funding applications relating to current grant application calls
- Group applications received by funding stream and other criteria as relevant
- Ensure that all required supplementary documentations have been appropriately submitted, together with the applications.
- Respond to every application email with the appropriate acknowledgement text.
- Download applications into their appropriate folders
- Enter key information from the downloaded applications into an excel sheet.
- Prepare required basic statistics and undertake basic analysis of downloaded applications
- Undertake any other appropriate task that may be assigned
- Work closely with the AWDF Grants Administrator and Grants team members
Duration of Assignment
The assignment shall be for 2 months from day of engagement. It is anticipated that the assignment will start in early August, 2018.
How to Apply
Interested applicants should please submit their cover letter and application as soon as possible by email to:
Grace Amenyogbeli
The Human Resource and Administrative Manager
African Women’s Development Fund
Please note that only shortlisted applicants will be contacted
AWDF CAPACITY BUILDING PROGRAMME – Financial Management Training
AWDF CAPACITY BUILDING PROGRAMME – Financial Management Training
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 24th till 26th 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.
#FacesofLeadership: Meet the women of the Ceo Forum ; Deborah Takawira
#FacesofLeadership: Meet the women of the Ceo Forum ; Deborah Takawira
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 programme. She describes how the programme has caused her to rethink the role of her board in the growth of her organisation and the different connections she has made during the forum.
DEBORAH TAVONGA TAKAWIRA
Project Officer,
Markets and Training African Women’s Initiative in Developing Economies
Zimbabwe
The Forum has been awesome, inspiring and eye-opening. I learned that being a leader involves a lot of things, not just having the academic qualifications or being able to tell people what needs to be done.You have to ensure that things are running efficiently, that there are proper structures that need to be in place in terms of governance and who you are going to be working with . It’s important to have the proper leadership qualities if you are going to be effective.
In Zimbabwe, it’s easy to think you are the only one doing a lot of work, but there are other women on the continent who are also doing awesome work, that is similar to yours. I had the chance to connect with a participant from Malawi who is running a programme that is very similar to ours. It has been very exciting to share our different experiences and to learn from them. We have a board that is brilliant and has the necessary skills but we need to ensure that we tap into those skills properly.We will talk with the board to see if they want to work with us to help our organisation to grow and to be at par with all the other successful women’s organisations across Africa.
LFS Round 2: AWARD OF GRANTS FOR 2017-2018
LFS Round 2: AWARD OF GRANTS FOR 2017-2018
[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
- Association Démocratique des Femmes du Maroc / Rabat, Morocco
- Association des Femmes Handicapées de Madagascar (AFHAM), Madagascar
- Institute For Social Transformation (IST), Uganda
- Rural Women’s Movement (RWM), South Africa
Ananse Grantees
- ABANTU For Development, Ghana
- Alliances for Africa, Nigeria
- Anti-Racism Movement (ARM), Lebanon
- EarthLore Foundation, South Africa
- Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA Kenya), Kenya
- Horizons Femmes, Cameroon
- Psycho Social Counseling Center for Women, Palestine
- The Initiative for Strategic Litigation in Africa, South Africa
- Womankind Kenya, Kenya
- Women Advocates Research and Documentation Center (WARDC), Nigeria
- Women and Law in Southern Africa, Zambia
- Women Filmmakers of Zimbabwe (WFOZ), Zimbabwe
- Forum for Women in Democracy (FOWODE), Uganda
- The Nigerian Women Trust Fund (NWTF), Nigeria
Pamoja Grantees
- Collective for Research and Training on Development Action (CRTDA), Lebanon
- 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), 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 : 2e 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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VACANCY: Programme Officer: Catalytic Initiatives
VACANCY: Programme Officer: Catalytic Initiatives
Are you passionate about women’s rights in Africa, excited about African feminism, and embrace African women’s diversities?
Do you have experience of implementing programmes aimed at movement building, encouraging innovation?
Are you ready to contribute to developing cutting-edge programming in women’s rights around feminist movement building, activist well-being and artivism/ arts, culture and tech for women’s rights?
The Programme Officer- Catalytic Initiatives, plays an exciting role in the Programmes Department supporting AWDF’s role as host of the African Feminist Forum and implementation of new programming areas around the arts, culture and technology for women’s rights; and activist wellbeing. Reporting to and working in close collaboration with the Director of Programmes, the Officer will implement a diverse portfolio of projects that involve a high level of creative thinking and an open attitude to experimentation, learning and programme improvement. The Officer will work with the Grants Department to support grantmaking in line with the project areas, as well as with the Knowledge Management and Communications teams in producing externally-facing information, documentation and analysis. The Officer will also liaise with external consultants in the delivery of project objectives.
Excellent knowledge of English is required. Working knowledge of French is desirable.
For the full Job Description CLICK HERE
Women’s rights movements get a boost from Canadian Government
Women’s rights movements get a boost from Canadian Government
A new $300 Million dollar Equality Funding initiative launched by Canada on 24 May 2018, aims to be a self generating fund for women’s movements. This new approach presents the possibility of continuous flexible funding for women’s movements and is the result of sustained advocacy by feminists who pushed for resources for women’s organisations because they recognised the true value of their work.
This next phase of funding for women’s movements will require innovation and new approaches to old questions and will leverage the financial clout of government, private, investment and philanthropic sectors to reach women driving social change and peace efforts globally. The Match International Women’s Fund will play a key role in actualising the initiative to ensure its sustainability.
These are exciting times and we are thrilled for the future of women’s movements across the world!