Join us for some impactful conversations at the Commission on the Status of Women.

We’re excited to share our programme with you for the 68th session on the Commission on The Status of Women happening 11 – 22 March 2024.

Just like many of our partners, and friends, we at the  African Women’s Development Fund have planned a few sessions and will also join our partners at the CSW 68.

We hope to see many of you in the crowds as we deliberate on fundamental issues that affect African feminists at the heart of AWDF’s work.

Here are the events we have lined up.

March 13: Feminist Financing Practices: Funding Movements to Make Change

Partners: Leading from the South, Count Me In! Consortium and the Alliance for Feminist Movements

The event addresses the crucial role of autonomous feminist movements in advancing gender equality and human rights across various domains, including economic rights, gender-based violence, reproductive justice, and political participation. Despite their significant impact on policy, institutional strengthening, and social norm changes, feminist movements face chronic underfunding and operate under precarious conditions amidst anti-gender movements and a growing polycrisis. Additionally, feminist activists and organisations are increasingly threatened in hostile political and social environments. To confirm your attendance, RSVP here

March 15: Perspectives From the South: Unpacking localisation and feminist funding

Partners: Leading from the South

Leading from the South (LFS) has been a game-changing partner & funder to feminist & women’s rights organizations and their communities. This side-event will aim to showcase LFS’s unique model of partnership and collaboration with the larger ecosystem of women’s funds, feminist organizations and movements. The conversation will seek to amplify the impact and achievements that have emerged from the Consortium’s work over the last seven years. LFS has been deeply connected to the realities and experiences of communities on the frontlines to advance gender equality and its intersections including climate justice, migration, racial and ethnic justice. To confirm your attendance, RSVP here.

March 19: On est ensemble: Financer les Mouvements Féministes en Afrique Francophone

Partners: AWDF and Foundation for a Just Society (FJS)

This session is part of a deliberate effort by the AWDF to deepen its understanding and support for the challenges and realities faced by movements of women, girls, and gender-diverse people in Francophone Africa/French-speaking Africa while strategising on the response and involvement of feminist funds and the philanthropic sector in advancing gender justice in this region.

During the event, AWDF and FJS will present the outcomes of a joint study on the context, realities, and priorities of these movements in eight Francophone African countries (Burkina Faso, Chad, Ivory Coast, Guinea Conakry, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, and Senegal). The findings of this study will be made available to the general public in 2024 after being presented to activists in the region during the Francophone Feminist Forum in Lomé, Togo, at the end of 2023. To confirm your attendance, RSVP here. Read more about the event here.

March 21: Reimagining Economies for Women’s Economic Justice: A Pan-African and Global South Feminist Perspective

Partners: Akina Mama wa Afrika (AMwA), NAWI Afrifem Macroeconomic Collective, AWDF

During this session, we will seek to emphasize the urgency for economic related gender inequality to be addressed as a macro-critical disparity by applying a feminist analysis to the full range of macro-economic and financial policies – from tax administration to trade negotiations, so that countries, policy makers and development practitioners can assess and avoid the gendered and unjust impacts of such policies. The discussion will therefore foreground the imperative to approach women economic justice as a process that shifts social and political power.

Read more about all the events HERE

Your presence and participation will not only enrich our dialogue but also contribute to shaping resilient and vibrant feminist futures in our regions!