Tag: AWDF
Tributes to Joana Foster: A Life Remembered.
Tributes to Joana Foster: A Life Remembered.
Remembering Joana Foster: A friend and sister in her unwavering commitment to Feminism.
By Hilda Tadria
I had an opportunity to talk to Joana in August 2016 and she was in high spirits, attending a farewell party organised for her by friends in London. She told me she was enjoying herself, dancing; and indeed she had her laughter. I was amazed and told her my conversation with her had taught something about living positive. In our October AWDF Board meeting we were told there are some promising developments. I felt somehow hopeful. Then Saturday 6 November 2016, I receive a call from Theo Sowa without warning (Theo always warns me when she is planning to call). I was sure she had bad news when she asked me if I was at home and told her to come out with it; she wanted to know whether I was alone. I have to be frank, am glad I was alone that night so that I did not have to restrain myself in mourning for my friend.
Since then, I have been mulling over what to say about Joanna. Let me talk about her as I have known and experienced her. She and I met in what could be described as an unlikely place. We met in Dakar, Senegal by sheer destiny. In 1994 African women merged in Dakar to prepare for the famous Beijing Conference. That meeting is etched in my memory for two reasons. The fist reason is the total lack of order in a meeting where 2000 women turned up; most of them unexpected. AS I sought an explanation for the chaos, I was told it was the lack of resource.
I found myself looking for answers as to where African women could access resource for future organising. So when I saw a flyer from Global Fund for Women advertising a training on resource mobilisation; I decided that is the place I would spend my time. I found the allocated room and took my place in a circle of other women and prepared to pay attention. A few minutes after settling in, I looked around the room, and there across was this pretty woman with the most engaging smile. It was surely meant for me; I smiled back. Each time an important point was made, this woman and I would look at each other across the room , nod and smile at each other. When the session was over, we zoomed across the room and introduced ourselves. I remember we held hands as we walked out and as soon as we were out of other people’s hearing, looked at each other and in Unison said “we can do this”.
Joana and I were inseparable during the rest of our time in Dakar, planning how to start a Fund for African Women. By the time we left Dakar we had managed to get a commitment from Global Fund to give us the seed grant we needed to develop the proposal and launch the organisation. Not long after, we met with Bisi Adeleye –Fayemi who had been working on a similar plan to start a Fund. The three of us are pragmatists; we soon became a trio; and we had never separated. Our togetherness, no matter what has remained firm in spite of the challenges we have encountered; Three women, Three countries bound by a common vision and driven by feminist passion.
Now Joana has been plucked from us but I will always remember that first meeting and the engaging smile that told me ‘you are the one I want to work with’. I will remember her for her positive outlook on life; she was not willing to be brought down by events that could be managed by dialogue. Joana was elegant ; a small woman with a big heart always ready to share knowledge and gifts. I and the African women will remember her for the light she shone on women’s rights.
Joana Silochina Foster (1946-2016)
By Bisi Adeleye Fayemi
I first met Joana Foster at an international conference on Violence Against Women, which took place in Brighton, England in November 1996. I took my son with me to the conference, and he fell ill. As I fretted over my son, Joana fussed over me. After Brighton, Joana and I became firm friends. She was a mother-figure, auntie and friend. At the time we met, she had just become the Regional Coordinator for Women in Law and Development in Africa (WILDAF), one of the leading women’s rights networks in Africa. She was based in Harare, Zimbabwe. Anytime she was in London, which was often, because her daughter Helen lived there, Joana would get in touch and we would meet up.
In March 1998, Joana stopped over in London on her way to attend the annual United Nations Commission on the Status of Women in New York, the meeting known in the international women’s movement as CSW. I was going to attend the CSW that year as well, and we were booked on the same flight out of London. The day before, we met up for lunch at a restaurant near AMwA’s office in Holborn. As we walked down the street, we were comparing notes and sharing our frustrations dealing with our respective donor agencies. I was telling her about my experiences with a funder who had sat on our proposal for eighteen months only to turn around and give a ridiculous excuse for rejecting the funding request. I ended my rant with, ‘It is about time we started our own fund as African women’. Joana stopped in her tracks. ‘What fund’? she asked. ‘An African women’s fund’ I said. She laughed and said, ‘Welcome on board. We already have a fund’. Prior to that conversation, AMwA had been planning to start a fund for African women, as a logical step from the work we were already doing, running capacity building programs for African women and facilitating advocacy opportunities. Joana Foster and Dr Hilda Tadria had started working on the idea of an African women’s fund as far back as 1994, based on inspiration Joana had drawn from attending a workshop organized by the US based Global Fund for Women. ‘African women can do this’, Joana said to herself, and she managed to convince Dr Tadria to join her. Both of them did some planning and consultations, but the timing was not quite right. Dr Tadria was working with the United Nations Economc Commission for Africa (UNECA) in Addis, and did not have much time for additional endeavors. Joana was Ghana Country Director for CUSO, a Canadian NGO at the time, then she left to become Regional Coordinator of WILDAF in Zimbabwe. The idea of the fund for women in Africa was put on hold. After our March 1998 discussion, Joana, Hilda and I decided to join forces and the two separate ideas for a women’s fund in Africa became the African Women’s Development Fund. I left London in 2001 to move to Accra where we had decided to locate the fund, and Joana finished her term at WILDAF and returned to Ghana. I became the Executive Director of AWDF and Joana was the Chair of the Board.
AWDF could have been based anywhere in Africa, since it was an Africa-wide foundation. Several countries met our objective criteria – an enabling political environment, a vibrant women’s movement, a favorable banking system that would allow the flow of money in and out of the country and so on. For me, what clinched the deal for Ghana was the fact that not only was it close to Nigeria, since I did not want to live too far away after being out of Africa for so long, it was Joana’s home. Auntie Joana was my mother and my friend, so it was a no brainer. Ghana it was.
I learnt a lot from Auntie Joana. We spent a lot of time together travelling, attending meetings and planning for AWDF. She was always full of enthusiasm, joy and energy. She loved to cook, garden and dance, and she enjoyed good wine and tea. She was also a very elegant woman who took a great deal of pride in her appearance. She was also a very healthy eater.
When I arrived in Accra, April 2001 to start work at AWDF, I stayed with Joana for the first month. We had so much fun together, setting up AWDF, recruiting staff, looking for a place for me to live, and planning for the future. After all the various journeys the idea had taken, AWDF was formally launched in June 2000 in New York at the Beijing plus 5 Review Conference, with an Africa launch in December 2001. Five years after the Beijing conference, African women were proud to celebrate a concrete achievement, and Joana Foster was key to that. Sixteen years later, AWDF is globally acknowledged as a key player in the international philanthropic movement, having funded over 1,200 women’s organisations in 42 African countries. In spite of the many difficulties involved in raising significant funding for grant making and operations, AWDF continues to grow and its influence in the field of feminist philanthropy is undeniable. Joana’s dream of a well-respected foundation for African women came true.
Joana had a very cosmopolitan upbringing and outlook. Born of a Ghanaian mother and Indian father, Joana understood what it was like to manage diversity from a very young age. She had a wide family network which included Ghanaian, Indian, Lebanese and English relatives. When I was out with her in Accra, she would always make stops to see one family member or the other. She was a very generous person and was always giving something to someone. Once, on a visit to Harare, I had admired a porcelain dinner set made by local potters. Joana made arrangements to have a dinner set shipped to Accra for me. Her training as a Lawyer provided the backdrop for a life-long devotion to social justice and women’s rights issues, which took her to many countries around the world as a policy advocate, organizer and administrator.
Joana and I did not always get on. This is to be expected when strong women from different generations work together. In spite of the occasional wrinkles in our relationship, our love for each other was never in doubt. When Joana moved from Ghana to Liberia to work for the UN, I missed her a great deal. I missed her comforting presence in Accra, and I missed her as a travelling companion. I stayed with her in Monrovia when I went for the inauguration of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in January 2006. I asked Joana if she needed anything from Ghana, and she said I should bring her some tomatoes! I have a policy of not travelling with food items because I do not want to subject myself to the scrutiny of customs officers anywhere in the world. However, I could not think of saying no to Joana, so I hauled a large carton of tomatoes to Monrovia. Fortunately, the customs officers were too busy receiving the free CDs of the famous Liberian singer Miatta Fahnbulleh’s special recoding we had sponsored for the inauguration, that they ignored Joana’s tomatoes.
Joana told me she was ill with cancer in 2014. Over the past two years I have followed the progress and setbacks of her treatment through visits to her in London, emails and phone conversations. The last time I saw her was in August 2016 in Accra. She had come home to put her affairs in order. She was very frail, but still had a sparkle in her eyes and her sharp wit. She told us that she was going to attend her own wake in London before she passed away. ‘ I am going to be there for my own wake. No one is going to have more fun than me’ she declared. That was vintage Joana. Warm, funny, smart, loving, generous, optimistic. She passed away quietly in London the afternoon of Saturday November 5th2016.
One of Joana’s favourite saying was, ‘We have to do something’. That is what Joana spent her life doing. Something, and a whole lot more. I will miss my mother, sister and friend. I will miss one of the greatest feminist activists I have had the pleasure of working with and learning from. Rest in peace Auntie Joana. We will continue to ‘do something’.
Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi is a Gender Specialist, Social Entrepreneur and Writer. She is the Founder of Abovewhispers.com, an online community for women. She can be reached at BAF@abovewhispers.com
An unforgettable friend and mentor.
by: Comfort Lamptey
I still vividly remember the first day l met Auntie J, some 21 or so years ago. I was in Accra to attend a workshop being organized by Cuso, the organization she was heading at the time. I remember the classy, beautiful cloth she wore that day, her stylishness, and her captivating smile, as she walked into the conference room. We became friends instantly. She took me under her wings and nurtured and mentored me to the very last day I saw her on 23 September 2016 in London. I will forever cherish that short walk we took together from her flat to Willesden Green station, where we said goodbye.
Auntie Joana taught me so many enduring life lessons. She taught me not to take myself too seriously; she taught me that the fight for social justice and gender equality requires stubbornness, a sense of humor and a very thick skin; she taught me the importance of always maintaining a spirit of youthfulness. Over the years, she introduced me to so many people and places in Ghana, as l sought to re-establish a life there after many years abroad. We had lots of fun together. But by far, the greatest lesson Auntie J taught me was that even when confronted with the most daunting and devastating news, as she received in the final few months of her life, it is possible to face this with grace and dignity and to uphold a positive spirit to the end.
A standard-setting peacekeeper
Auntie J was a pioneer and trail blazer. I has a close-up view of this during the period we worked together as gender advisers in the field of UN peacekeeping. Whilst working as a senior gender adviser to the UN peacekeeping mission in Liberia, Auntie J broke new ground in a number of important areas which had far-reaching effects on global peacekeeping practice, and which also helped to advance the push for women’s rights in Liberia. As an example, she advocated strongly and successfully with the mission leadership to ensure that thousands of girls who played support roles with the fighting forces in the war were not ignored, but got support as part of the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration process (DDR). The formal recognition of the category of Women Associated with Fighting Forces (WAFFs) in UN DDR parlance, took root in Liberia as a result of the formidable work done by Auntie J and her colleagues.
She also educated the mission on the value of using sex disaggregated data to enhance operational success. This was clearly illustrated during the first voter registration process which took place in post-war Liberia in 2005. Through a gender analysis she undertook with the team on the number of registered voters, it became apparent that less than a third of eligible women had registered to vote. She subsequently mobilized the mission to devote resources to support the Ministry of Gender and women’s constituencies across the country to launch an all-out ‘register to vote’ campaign, targeting women. The results were impressive, as the final count of women who registered to vote , exceeded 50 percent, a factor which helped to propel the first woman President into office in Africa.
As a strong supporter of civil society activism, Auntie J understood the importance of strengthening the women’s civil society movement in post-war Liberia, to enable them to be better-positioned to engage as partners with government in the reconstruction of the country. To this end, she provided strategic technical guidance and resources to support the establishment of the Women’s NGO Secretariat of Liberia (WONGOSOL) as an umbrella entity to support effective planning, resource mobilization and coordination of the work of women’s NGOs in Liberia.
Through these and other efforts, Auntie J left an indelible mark on UN peacekeeping practice, by showing how the use of a gender lens can enhance both operational effectiveness and women’s empowerment in a fragile post-conflict context.
I thank God for Auntie J’s life, for all she taught me and the countless other younger women she mentored, and for the privilege of counting her as a friend and as family.
Thank you, Auntie J. I hope to be able to honor your legacy everyday by championing the causes you believed in and worked for throughout your life. Wɔ ojogban (Rest in Peace)!
A moment with Joan Koomson
A moment with Joan Koomson
Joan Koomson, AWDF’s Donor Liaison Specialist spoke with Ghana’s Metro TV about the International Conference for Family planning in Bali Indonesia held 25-28 January. She discussed some of the steps that have been taken in Ghana to move forward policy on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR). She also touched on some of the shortfalls and the need to strengthen the country’s policy and implementation strategies.
World Health Organization Declares Ebola Outbreak Over In West Africa
World Health Organization Declares Ebola Outbreak Over In West Africa
January 14, 2016 – Today, the World Health Organization (WHO), declared the end of the most recent outbreak of Ebola virus disease in Liberia and says all known chains of transmission have been stopped in West Africa.
It’s a day to celebrate, yet the consequences of this outbreak – the worst the world has ever known, are devastating: over 11,000 deaths out of 28,000 infections in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, the three worst affected countries, and economies and lives shattered.
Liberia was first declared free of Ebola transmission in May 2015, but the virus was re-introduced twice since then, with the latest flare-up in November. The last confirmed patient in Liberia has tested negative for the disease following two consecutive 21 day incubation cycles of the disease.
“More flare-ups are expected and that strong surveillance and response systems will be critical in the months to come,” WHO said in a statement.
For us at AWDF who have been deeply involved with assisting women’s groups from the start of the epidemic, the welfare of women must continue to be a priority for local, government and regional leaders. The critical support which will be needed to get families back on their feet, children in school and health systems running, must not be denied.
“We need support for the women affected by Ebola and those involved in the fight,” says Djakagbe Kaba, who heads the Association Guineenne pour L’Allegement des Charges (AGACFEM), an AWDF grantee which was instrumental in coordinating Ebola prevention and education efforts in Kissidougou, one of the worst affected areas.
“After Ebola I hope we can help women resume their work in soap-making and agricultural production. Though the epidemic has passed, we must still be observant and remind people to always wash their hands. Preventive measures must continue,” Kaba said.
All our efforts will be needed in the months to come to ensure that the necessary prevention, surveillance and response capacity across all three countries are put in place and that more women are ready to shoulder responsibility in these efforts. Please make a donation now.
Op-Ed : Ghana’s frustrated youth are vulnerable to the radical call of ISIS
Op-Ed : Ghana’s frustrated youth are vulnerable to the radical call of ISIS
Students at University of Ghana (AP Photo/Gabriela Barnuevo)
Read published article here: on Qz.com
BY Amba Mpoke-Bigg
Over the past couple of decades Ghana has won a hardearned reputation as a stable and settled democracy.
Yet, as news broke last week that a young university graduate from Ghana had left home to join Islamic State of Iraq (ISIS), it was hard not to dread the prospect of a mass exodus, or worse, deadly jihadist violence on our shores.
Those concerns were heightened when an investigative report by popular local radio station Starr FM reported that ISIS agents in Ghana are enticing unemployed youths with promises of cash and a gateway to heaven.
“They are promised initial spending fee and luxurious life before they travel to Syria and Iraq. Again their immediate families are assured quality life after they have left, so many of the young guys are considering it, especially in the Zongos (a slang term for neighborhoods populated by majority northern Ghanaian Muslims),” it quoted an interviewee as saying.
Twenty-five year old Nazir Alema Nortey, a graduate of one of Ghana’s leading universities sent a WhatsApp message to his family telling them he left the country earlier this month to join the Islamic extremist group, leaving behind a devastated family. The University Of Science and Technology graduate, is described by his father as a gentle, well-mannered man. Nortey was an active student on campus and showed no signs of being radicalized. He had a girlfriend. He was an ordinary man. Sketchy details of a second recruit, identified only as Rafiq also emerged this week at an official media briefing but there are already unconfirmed reports of a third—a young woman whose name has been given as Shakira Mohammed.
“Anyone is a potential recruit,” National Security Co-ordinator, Mr Yaw Donkor, told reporters at the briefing.
Donkor said would-be members were being headhunted from mainly tertiary institutions in Ghana where students were drafted into WhatsApp and Facebook social media forums in which radical discourse and indoctrination took place.
Among the many questions a shocked nation is asking itself is what might happen if radicalized youth return home. A look at what’s happening across Africa and around the world shows a sharp rise in the number of youth joining ISIS.
Ghana prides itself on its stable democracy and social harmony, but it was surely only a matter of time before the specter of Islamist militancy touched our shores given how close we are to troubled regional neighbours like Nigeria to the east, Mali to the northwest and Niger and Chad to the northeast. These are all now hotspots for militant Islam and terrorist activity.
Boko Haram, which has launched massive attacks in Nigeria since 2009, is the most troubling. The group which initially had links to al-Qaeda, pledged allegiance to ISIS in March. With little in place in terms of anti-terrorism measures in Ghana, what is there to stop us following the lead of our volatile neighbours?
Back in June there were angry demonstrations in Accra when city authorities ordered security forces to raze part of one of the largest slums, largely inhabited by Muslims, leaving thousands homeless.
One placard brought home the frustration: “Before 2016 , you will see Boko Haram in Ghana,” the sign read.
While some are blaming the internet and the accessibility of radical social media sites, there is an increasing possibility Islamic disaffection with Christian fundamentalism might be on the rise.
Christians make up 70% of the population of Ghana and Muslims 18%, according to official census figures from 2000. This has been disputed by Ghanaian Muslim leaders and other official sources who set the number at between 18% to 30%. Relations between the two religions have been peaceful in Ghana. But it’s often noted development and education have spread much faster in the predominantly Christian south than in the mainly Muslim north.
Ghana’s main political parties are not organised primarily on religious or ethnic lines, as happens elsewhere on the continent, and the country has had several Muslim vice presidents. Yet in the wake of these revelations the potential for Islamophobia against its Muslim minority is real.
We need to ask ourselves what the attraction is for an ordinary, middle-class Ghanaian young man, or woman, in joining the most dangerous jihadist group in the world. Words like radicalization seem almost incongruous with moderate Muslim youth. Yet it is true that education and liberalism aren’t foolproof armour against radicalization.
Neither can the economic factor be overlooked, given that Ghana, once Africa’s star economy, has turned to the International Monetary Fund to help it resolve its financial crisis.
President John Mahama says growth needs to be at least 8% to provide jobs for its young people, but growth has shrivelled in the past two years and it is expected to stand at 3.9% in 2015—below average for subSaharan Africa.
Unemployment data in Ghana is not collected, but Desmond Biney, director of the Unemployed Graduates Association Of Ghana sets the figure for unemployed graduates over the last five years at around 287,000. Current membership of the group which was set up as an advisory and placement service has doubled in the last two years.
And in further evidence of the impact of current economic conditions, Ghanaians have joined the hundreds of thousands of migrants risking their lives on the Mediterranean to seek work in Europe.
It is important not to overstate the problem. So far this is a tiny handful of people in a nation of 26 million. But for the majority of Ghanaians their decision to join ISIS should set alarm bells ringing. The question that needs answering is: how far will they go?
International Women’s Month Highlight: AWDF Women Writers Workshop Participant Commy Mussa Selected For “15 Journalists” Award By Women Deliver
International Women’s Month Highlight: AWDF Women Writers Workshop Participant Commy Mussa Selected For “15 Journalists” Award By Women Deliver
[tp lang=”fr” not_in=”en”]We are proud to announce that Comfort Mussa, one of the participants in AWDF’s Women Writers Workshop held in July last year, made the shortlist of Women Deliver’s selected journalists.
Each year, Women Deliver, a leading, global advocate for girls’ and women’s health, rights, and wellbeing, celebrates International Women’s Day by honoring people, organizations and innovations that are delivering for girls and women. This year, they are celebrating 15 journalists from around the world who are advocating for and advancing sexual and reproductive health and rights. Honorees were selected by an internal review board from a competitive pool of more than 100 journalists who were nominated by dozens of Women Deliver’s partners and supporters.
Read the story here: Comfort Mussa nominated for 15 Journalists Reporting On Women, Girls, By Women Deliver.
Says Women Deliver: “Comfort uses her voice to make others’ voices even louder. She is a radio host, blogger and multi-award winning journalist with a keen eye for stories that expose social injustice. She hosts a weekly radio broadcast, 100% Jeune Live, where she leads young people in open and vibrant conversations about sexual and reproductive health. As a reporter for the Global Press Journal, Comfort writes about many sensitive topics including the risk of sexual harassment for mentally disabled women in Cameroonand the ripple effect of anti-child labor laws on middle class women. Comfort also founded SisterSpeak237, a blog where girls and women can openly discuss taboo topics, such as sexual harassment on public transportation. ”
In Comfort’s own words: “There is an immense lack of stories about women’s health and rights in Cameroon’s mainstream media. I am inspired to tell these stories because it highlights relevant issues otherwise ignored. I believe that through my reporting, people ask themselves, ‘How can we solve the problems that we are currently sweeping under the rug?’ ”
It’s exciting for us to see the reach of our Women Writers Workshop and how it’s helping to amplify women’s voices. We invite you to be a part of this year’s to be held in July-August. Details to follow soon.[/tp]
[tp lang=”fr” not_in=”en”]Nous sommes fiers d’annoncer que Comfort Mussa, une des participantes à l’atelier des femmes écrivains d’AWDF tenu en Juillet l’année dernière, a fait la liste finale de journalistes sélectionnées par Women Deliver’s .
Chaque année, Women Deliver, chef de file, défenseur mondial pour les filles et la santé des femmes, les droits et le bien-être, célèbre la Journée internationale de la femme en rendant hommage à des personnes, des organisations et des innovations qui comptent pour les filles et les femmes. Cette année, ils célèbrent 15 journalistes du monde entier qui militent pour faire avancer la santé et les droits sexuels et reproductifs. Les lauréates ont été sélectionnées par un comité d’examen interne parmi un groupe de concurrents de plus de 100 journalistes qui avaient été nommées par des dizaines de femmes, de partenaires et de partisans.
Lire l’article ici: Comfort Mussa nominated for 15 Journalists Reporting On Women, Girls, By Women Deliver.
Le Women Deliver déclare:.. “Comfort utilise sa voix pour faire ressortir les voix des autres encore plus fort”. Elle est journaliste, animatrice radio, blogueuse et multi-primée avec un oeil vif pour les histoires qui exposent et l’injustice sociale. Elle anime une émission de radio hebdomadaire, 100% Jeune en direct, où elle conduit les jeunes dans des conversations ouvertes et dynamiques sur la santé sexuelle et reproductive. En tant que journaliste pour un Journal de presse internationale, Confort écrit sur de nombreux sujets sensibles, y compris le risque de harcèlement sexuel pour les femmes handicapées mentales dans Cameroonland, l’effet de richochet des loi anti-travail pour les enfants sur les femmes de la classe moyenne. Confort a également fondé SisterSpeak237, un blog où les filles et les femmes peuvent discuter ouvertement de sujets tabous, comme le harcèlement sexuel dans les transports publics “.
Selon les propres mots de Confort: “Il ya un immense manque d’histoires au sujet de la santé et des droits des femmes dans les médias traditionnels du Cameroun. Je suis inspiré de raconter ces histoires, car elles mettent en évidence des questions pertinentes sinon ignorées. Je crois que dans ma déclaration, les gens se demandent, ‘Comment pouvons-nous résoudre les problèmes que nous sommes en train de balayer sous le tapis? ”
Il est excitant pour nous de voir la portée de notre atelier des femmes écrivains et comment il aide à amplifier la voix des femmes. Nous vous invitons à faire partie de l’édition de cette année qui se tiendra en Juillet-Août. Détails à suivre bientôt.[/tp]
AWDF’s 16 Days of Activism Blog Series Begins
AWDF’s 16 Days of Activism Blog Series Begins
[tp lan=”en” not_in=”fr”]In June 2013, a thirteen-year old Egyptian girl Sohair al-Bata’a, died while being circumcised by a doctor in a small village northeast of Cairo. Today it was announced that the “doctor” who performed the procedure was acquitted in Egypt’s first Female Genital Mutilation trial. But we must not forget. We must get up and stand up for our rights and those of girls like Sohair.
Girls such as Sohair are the reason that the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence Campaign exists. From 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, to 10 December, Human Rights Day, the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence Campaign is a time to highlight action to end violence against women and girls around the world.
The campaigns key dates include: November 25th: The International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women; December 1st: World Aids Day; December 3rd: International Day for Persons with Disabilities; December 10th: International Human Rights Day. This year, the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence Campaign will continue with the theme of “From Peace in the Home to Peace in the World: Let’s Challenge Militarism and End Violence Against Women!”
Violence against women continues to affect women in all corners of the globe. The United Nations (UN) defines violence against women as “any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life”.
One in three women globally has been a victim of either sexual or physical violence by a partner, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a statement released alongside the reports, published recently in the Lancet medical journal.
According to the WHO “despite increased global attention to violence perpetrated against women and girls, and recent advances in knowledge about how to tackle these abuses, levels of violence against women — including intimate partner violence, rape, female genital mutilation, trafficking, and forced marriages — remain unacceptably high, with serious consequences for victims’ physical and mental health.”
In Africa, violence against women continues unabated. Families show their preference for boy children over girl children. Violence against the girl child starts right at birth, with some circumcised between infancy and age 15. These procedures are not performed by medical professionals; moreover, circumcision has no health benefits for girls and women. Circumcision may cause severe bleeding and problems urinating, and later cysts, infections, infertility as well as complications in childbirth and increased risk of newborn deaths. According to World Health Organisation, more than 125 million girls and women alive today have been cut in the 29 countries in Africa and Middle East where FGM is concentrated. Despite activists calling for the end of the practice, female genital mutilation is still a common practice in many communities.
Earlier this year, Uganda signed the Anti-Pornography Act into law; a number of women around Uganda were stripped for wearing mini skirts. Last week, a group of men were caught on video stripping a woman at a popular bus stop in Nairobi, Kenya. Fortunately, women and men from around East Africa took to social media, tweeting the hashtag #MyDressMyChoice and organized protests through the streets of Nairobi demanding the government deal with perpetrators of sexual violence.
We are violated in our own homes by the people who we love; our spouses, our siblings, our relatives, men in the streets, on our way to the well. As a woman, almost everywhere seems unsafe. As a woman, I am used to being harassed, not because of how I dress (and there is nothing wrong with how most women dress) but because I am a woman. And the men get away with it because they think it’s their responsibility to treat women the way they want. In order for women to live peacefully, we need peace in the homes, in the streets, where we can walk without being harassed.
Sometimes, I dream about the time that no child will undergo genital mutilation, no woman will be whistled to by men on the streets, homes where women feel safe and loved and not worry about defilement, rape or incest. And this is not something that is hard for us to do, but why can’t we do them? Why can’t we love women? Why can’t we treat women with respect? We all want peace but we never want another person to be peaceful.
This year, AWDF has commissioned six of the participants of the FEMRITE/AWDF non-fiction writers workshop to blog about the issues highlighted on each day of the campaign. This year’s writers include: Jennifer Thorpe from South Africa and Njoki Wamai from Kenya who through interviews with AWDF grantee partners and using an analysis of women’s rights organising focus on how communities can get involved to end violence against women. Eunice Kilonzo from Kenya and Kechi Nomu from Nigeria focus on issues of HIV/AIDS and disability how they have impacted on women on the continent and some of the strategies of resistance that we see emerging; and finally to close the series on December 10th, Valerie Bah from the DRC tells the story of a Togolese woman who has faced a widowhood rite, and contextualizes it against the advocacy work being done by AWDF grantee partners there.
Every year, AWDF provides resources to women’s organizations and groups all over Africa who are working to end gender-based violence in Africa. To support the 2014 global campaign to end violence against women, AWDF will support small to medium scale women’s rights organizations across Africa to lend their voice to the campaign to end violence against women. AWDF will support initiatives by women’s organizations and groups in Africa working to: address stigma and discrimination against women living with HIV/AIDS; empower women living with HIV to participate effectively and take the lead in the HIV response in their various communities; and to amplify the voices of women living with HIV. For several years AWDF has recognised the importance of providing grants to support activities to mark 16 Days of Activism and remains committed to this work.
I am glad that women are doing everything to make every woman safe in this world, and men have joined in the fight. Some men need to know that the woman is as important and human as they are, and we should be treated with respect and love. Every woman must help each other fight violence against women. As Maya Angelou once said, “Each time a woman stands up for herself, without knowing it possibly, without claiming it, she stands up for all women.”
Beatrice Lamwaka was born in Gulu in northern Uganda, and now lives in Kampala. She is the General Secretary Uganda Women’s Writers Association (FEMRITE) and a freelance writer with Monitor Newspaper, UGPulse and the Press Institute. She was shortlisted for 2011 Caine Prize for African Writing and finalist for the PEN/Studzinski Literary Award 2009. Her short stories have appeared in Caine Prize anthologies, To See the Mountain and other stories, and African Violet and Other Stories. And other anthologies including: Butterfly Dreams and Other Stories from Uganda, New Writing from Africa 2009, Words from A Granary, World of Our Own, Farming Ashes, Summoning the Rains, Queer Africa: New and Collected Fiction, PMS poemmemoirstory journal, among others. She is working on her first novel and a collection of short stories.[/tp]
[tp lan=”fr” not_in=”en”]En Juin 2013,une jeune écolière égyptienne de 13 ans Sohair al-Bata’a, est morte au cours d’une excision par un médecin dans un petit village au nord du Caire. Aujourd’hui, il a été annoncé que le «docteur» qui a effectué la procédure a été acquitté dans le premier procès pour mutilations génitales féminines en Égypte. Mais nous ne devons pas oublier. Nous devons nous lever et défendre nos droits et ceux des filles comme Sohair.
Les filles tels que Sohair sont la raison pour laquelle lla campagne des 16 jours d’activisme contre la violence sexiste existe. Du 25 Novembre, la Journée internationale pour l’élimination de la violence contre les femmes, au 10 Décembre, Journée des droits de l’homme, la campagne des 16 jours d’activisme contre de violence basée sur le genre est un temps pour mettre en évidence l’action pour mettre fin à la violence contre les femmes et les filles à travers le monde .
Les dates clés de la campagne comprennent: Le 25 Novembre: La Journée internationale pour l’élimination de la violence contre les femmes; 1 décembre: Journée mondiale contre le sida; Le 3 décembre: Journée internationale des personnes handicapées; 10 décembre: Journée internationale des droits de l’homme. Cette année, les 16 jours d’activisme contre la violence basée sur le genre se poursuivront avec le thème de «De la paix à la maison pour la Paix dans le Monde: Défi militarisme du LET et pour en finir avec la Violence contre les femmes”
La violence contre les femmes continue d’affecter les femmes dans tous les coins du globe. Les Nations Unies (ONU) définit la violence contre les femmes comme «tout acte de violence sexiste qui entraîne ou est susceptible d’entraîner, un préjudice physique, sexuel ou psychologique aux femmes, y compris la menace de tels actes, la contrainte ou arbitrairement la privation de liberté, que ce soit en public ou dans la vie privée “.
Une femme sur trois dans le monde a été victime de violence sexuelle ou physique par un partenaire, a déclaré l’Organisation mondiale de la Santé (OMS) dans un communiqué publié aux côtés des rapports, publiée récemment dans la revue Lancet medical journal.
Selon l’OMS “malgré l’augmentation de l’attention mondiale à la violence perpétrée contre les femmes et les filles, et les récents progrès dans les connaissances sur la façon de lutter contre ces abus, les niveaux de violence contre les femmes – y compris la violence du partenaire intime, le viol, les mutilations génitales féminines, la traite et le mariages forcés – restent inacceptablement élevé, avec de graves conséquences pour la santé physique et mentale des victimes “.
En Afrique, la violence contre les femmes se poursuit sans relâche. Les familles montrent leur préférence pour les petits garçons plus que les filles. La violence contre la petite fille commence dès la naissance, avec certaines circoncisions entre l’enfance et 15ans. Ces procédures ne sont pas effectuées par des professionnels médicaux; En outre, la circoncision n’a pas de prestations de santé pour les filles et les femmes. La circoncision peut provoquer de graves hémorragies et des problèmes urinaires, kystes et plus tard, les infections, la stérilité ainsi que des complications lors de l’accouchement et le risque accru de décès de nouveau-nés. Selon l’Organisation mondiale de la Santé, plus de 125 millions de filles et de femmes vivant aujourd’hui ont été coupées dans 29 pays d’Afrique et du Moyen-Orient où la MGF est concentrée. Malgré les militants appelant à la fin de la pratique, la mutilation génitale féminine est encore une pratique courante dans de nombreuses communautés.
Plus tôt cette année, l’Ouganda a transformé la loi anti-pornographie en droit; un certain nombre de femmes autour de l’Ouganda ont été dépouillées pour avoir porté des mini-jupes. La semaine dernière, un groupe d’hommes ont été capturés sur la vidéo de déshabillage d’une femme à un arrêt de bus populaire à Nairobi, au Kenya. Heureusement, les femmes et les hommes d’Afrique de l’Est ont utilisé les médias sociaux, Twitter :#MyDressMyChoice hashtag et des manifestations organisées dans les rues de Nairobi exigent l’accord de gouvernement pour les auteurs de violences sexuelles.
Nous sommes violées dans nos propres maisons par les personnes que nous aimons; nos conjoints, nos frères et sœurs, nos parents, les hommes dans les rues, sur notre chemin vers le bien. En tant que femme, cela semble dangereux presque partout. En tant que femme, je suis habituée à être harcelée, pas à cause de la façon dont je me habille (et il n’y a rien de mal avec la façon dont la plupart des femmes s’habillent), mais parce que je suis une femme. Et les hommes pensent qu’il est de leur responsabilité de traiter les femmes comme ils le veulent. Pour que les femmes puissent vivre en paix, nous avons besoin de la paix dans les maisons, dans les rues, où l’on peut marcher sans être harcelée.
Parfois, je rêve de l’époque où aucun enfant ne subira de mutilations génitales, aucune femme ne sera sifflée par les hommes dans les rues, des maisons où les femmes se sentent en sécurité et aimées et ne vous inquiétez pas à propos de la souillure, du viol ou de l’inceste. Et ce n’est pas quelque chose qui nous est difficile de faire, mais pourquoi ne peut-on faire entre eux? Pourquoi ne pouvons-nous pas aimer les femmes? Pourquoi ne pouvons-nous pas traiter les femmes avec respect? Nous voulons tous la paix, mais nous ne voulons jamais une autre personne d’être pacifique.
Cette année, AWDF a commandé à six des participants de FEMRITE/AWDF non-fiction writers workshop un blog sur les questions mises en évidence à chaque jour de la campagne. Les écrivains de cette année comprennent: Jennifer Thorpe de l’Afrique du Sud et Njoki Wamai du Kenya qui, à travers des entretiens avec les partenaires bénéficiaires de subventions d’AWDF et de l’aide d’une analyse des droits des femmes organisant l’accent sur la façon dont les communautés peuvent participer pour mettre fin à la violence contre les femmes. Eunice Kilonzo du Kenya et Kechi Nomu du Nigeria se concentrent sur les questions de VIH / sida et handicap comment ils ont eu un impact sur les femmes sur le continent et quelques-unes des stratégies de résistance que nous voyons émerger; et enfin pour clore la série le 10 Décembre, Valerie Bah de la RDC raconte l’histoire d’une femme togolaise qui a fait face à un rite de veuvage, et contextualise contre le travail de plaidoyer effectué par les partenaires bénéficiaires de subventions AWDF.
Chaque année, AWDF fournit des ressources aux organisations et groupes africains de femmes qui travaillent pour mettre fin à la violence fondée sur le genre en Afrique. Pour soutenir la campagne mondiale 2014 et mettre fin à la violence contre les femmes, AWDF va soutenir les petites et moyennes organisations de droit des femmes à moyenne échelle à travers l’Afrique afin de prêter leurs voix à la campagne pour mettre fin à la violence contre les femmes. AWDF va soutenir les initiatives des organisations et des groupes de travail de femmes en Afrique: lutter contre la stigmatisation et la discrimination contre les femmes vivant avec le VIH / sida; l’autonomisation des femmes vivant avec le VIH afin de participer efficacement et de prendre les devants dans la riposte au VIH dans leurs différentes communautés; et pour amplifier la voix des femmes vivant avec le VIH. Depuis plusieurs années AWDF a reconnu l’importance de fournir des subventions pour soutenir les activités pour marquer le 16 Jours d’Activisme et demeure déterminé à ce travail.
Je suis heureuse que les femmes fassent tout pour rendre chaque femme en sécurité dans ce monde, et les hommes ont rejoint dans la lutte. Certains hommes ont besoin de savoir que la femme est aussi importante et des humains comme ils le sont, et nous devrions être traités avec respect et amour. Chaque femme doit aider l’autre dans le combat contre la violence contre les femmes. Comme l’a dit Maya Angelou, “Chaque fois qu’une femme se lève pour elle-même, sans le savoir peut-être, sans prétendre, elle se lève pour toutes les femmes.”
LamwakaBeatrice Lamwaka est né à Gulu, dans le nord de l’Ouganda, et vit maintenant à Kampala. Elle est Secrétaire générale de l’Association Ougandaise des femmes écrivains (FEMRITE) et un rédacteur pigiste avec moniteur de journaux,a UGPulse et l’Institut de presse. Elle a été finaliste en 2011 pour le Prix Caine pour l’écriture africaine et finaliste pour le PEN / Studzinski Literary Award 2009. Ses nouvelles ont paru dans des anthologies Caine Prize, pour voir La Montagne et autres histoires, ou La violette africaine et autres histoires. Et d’autres anthologies dont: Rêves de papillon et autres histoires de l’Ouganda, de l’Afrique du New Writing 2009, Mots de A Granary, World of Our Own, agricoles Ashes, Summoning les pluies, l’Afrique Queer: Nouveau et recueilli Fiction, PMS poemmemoirstory Journal, entre autres . Elle travaille sur son premier roman et un recueil d’histoires courtes.[/tp]
A Conversation with Dr. Yaba Blay: Saturday 30th August
A Conversation with Dr. Yaba Blay: Saturday 30th August
[tp lang=”en” not_in=”fr”]You’re invited to a conversation with Dr Yaba Blay on Saturday 30th August from 5pm-7pm at the AWDF resource centre in East Legon, Accra.
Dr Blay is a professor, producer, and publisher.As a researcher and ethnographer, she uses personal and social narratives to disrupt fundamental assumptions about cultures and identities. As a cultural worker and producer, she uses images to inform consciousness, incite dialogue, and inspire others into action and transformation.
This conversation with Dr Blay will focus on her work including a discussion on 1)ne Drop: Shifting the Lens on Race which explores potential disadvantages related with having light skin, particularly among people of African descent – racial ambiguity and contested racial authenticity. As well as a focus on ‘Pretty.Period’, a transmedia project created as a visual missive in reaction to the oh-so-popular, yet oh-so-offensive “compliment” – “You’re pretty for a dark-skinned girl.” A few copies of )ne Drop: Shifting the Lens on Race will be available for sale.
For directions to AWDF house please click here[/tp]
[tp lang=”fr” not_in=”en”]Vous êtes invité à une conversation avec le Dr Yaba Blay le samedi 30 Août à partir de 17 heures à 19 heures au centre de ressources AWDF à East Legon, Accra.
Dr Blay est professeur, producteur et éditeur. En tant que chercheur et ethnographe, elle utilise des récits personnels et sociaux afin de perturber les hypothèses fondamentales sur les cultures et les identités. En tant que travailleur culturel et producteur, elle utilise des images dans le but d’informer la conscience, susciter le dialogue, et inspirer les autres à l’action et à la transformation.
Cette conversation avec le Dr Blay se concentrer sur son travail, y compris une discussion sur 1) ne Goutte: Décalage de l’objectif sur la race qui explore les inconvénients potentiels liés à avoir la peau de la lumière, en particulier chez les personnes d’ascendance africaine – l’ambiguïté raciale et l’authenticité raciale contestée. Ainsi que l’accent sur ‘Pretty.Period‘, un projet transmédia créé comme une missive visuelle en réaction au”compliment” oh-so-populaires, pourtant oh-so-désobligeant- “Vous êtes assez jolie pour une fille à peau foncée”A quelques copies de) ne Goutte:. Décalage de l’objectif sur la race sera disponible à la vente.
Pour les directions à la maison AWDF s’il vous plaît cliquez ici[/tp]
AWDF Grantee Organisations Fight Ebola in Liberia
AWDF Grantee Organisations Fight Ebola in Liberia
AWDF supports its grantee organisations in Liberia to fight Ebola
With the current onslaught of the outbreak of Ebola in Liberia and the threat it continues to pose, AWDF is supporting three of its grantees in Liberia to help intensify educational activities around the prevention of Ebola. In all, AWDF has awarded $20,000 to three women’s rights organisations in Liberia to undertake a series of educational activities to intensify prevention education and knowledge around this deadly disease.
The groups are listed below:
1. The Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Market Women’s Fund (SMWF) has been awarded a grant of $10,000 to join the national government and partners to ease the spread of the ebola virus by creating mass awareness among market women across the country. SMWF will be working in 7 markets across the country.
The SMWF is a grantee of AWDF that seeks to improve the infrastructure of markets in Liberia and create a knowledge-based environment for women traders. It provides them with credit, health care, childcare facilities, storage facilities, sanitary facilities and literacy opportunities.
2. New Liberian Women Organisation/Skills Training Centre has been awarded a grant of $ 5,000 to undertake a series of educational activities on the Ebola outbreak within selected communities in Careysburg city, Bentol city, Yeantown and Cruzerville. NLWO will be using community appropriate methodologies such as music and dancing to reach out these communities
New Liberian Women Organisation/Skills Training CentreLiberia works with young, unemployed women empowering them through skills training and advocacy. The organisation currently operates in Ghana and Liberia. The main beneficiaries of the organisation are Liberian Refugee women and children.
3. Women and Children Development Association of Liberia (WOCDAL) has been awarded a grant of $ 5,000 to sensitize members of 3 densely populated communities in Montserrado County in Liberia on the prevention of Ebola. The awareness activities will cover Newkru Town (Duala, St. Paul Bridge, Point 4 and Red Hill) and Caldwell (Mombo Town East, Mombo Town West, New Georgia Junction and Samukai Town). This project is intended to spread relevant messages about the Ebola virus and help a selected group of community members become focal persons for deepening knowledge on the prevention of Ebola. WOCDAL will be using singing, dancing and dramatic performance as an awareness creation strategy to reach out to these communities.
WOCDAL is one of the AWDF grantees in Liberia. WOCDAL seeks to improve the wellbeing of children and young women. They have a skills training center for out of school young women as well as a school for needy children. WOCDAL operates in five counties namely: Montserrado, Margibi, Bong, Lofa and Nimba-Grand Dedeh.
Expression of interest – Health and Reproductive Rights thematic Evaluation
Expression of interest – Health and Reproductive Rights thematic Evaluation
The African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF) is looking for an experienced consultant with demonstrable expertise on women’s rights work in Africa to undertake a formative evaluation on one of its thematic grant making areas – Health and Reproductive Rights (HRR).
The overall objective of the HRR thematic area program review is to identify current and emerging issues of focus under the health and reproductive rights of women in Africa to inform its grant making work. It is also to assess and document the work AWDF has done under this thematic area over the past twelve years including examining the relevance of the newly selected priorities in advancing women’s health and reproductive rights on the continent. The evaluation will also look at the major challenges that is associated with the low patronage of the thematic area and the areas AWDF needs to bring on board to strengthen the scope and coverage. The full terms of reference are attached.
The time frame expected for the execution of this study is four weeks between the months of August and September, 2014.
Interested applicants are encouraged to send their expression of interest including CVs and proposals (Technical and financial) to the following address:
zeytuna[at]awdf dot org and copy yengsaanchi[at]yahoo dot com
The deadline for submission of applications is by close of work on Friday July 11,2014. Only shortlisted consultants will be contacted. Applications from women consultants based in Africa are especially welcome.
Please see link to the Terms of Reference for this consultancy below:
‘Results based programming: beyond the jargon’ by Dr. Awino Okech
‘Results based programming: beyond the jargon’ by Dr. Awino Okech
In 2013, I was leading a gender and peace building workshop in which the organisers intuitively built in institutional work as an essential part of creating peaceful and holistic societies. Organisations present were asked to look inward at their personal and institutional practices and values on gender. As part of institutional reflection, we invited three organisations in the host country to speak about the meaning of building gender equitable organisations. Two of the presenters highlighted their activities and achievements. The final presenter focused on the sweat, blood and tears that her organisation had gone through in its close to fifteen year journey of working to end gender based violence. She did this through illustrations[i] that highlighted six major moments in her organisation’s growth cycle.
It was a presentation that was cited repeatedly during the workshop because it did two things. First, it told the story behind the story. This is the story behind activities, staff qualifications, experience and strategic plans which could be found on the website but which do not tell us what it means to do the work and live the values. Second, it challenged the workshop participants who had hitherto declared that their organisations were very gender sensitive, to re-examine the true state of their institutions beyond the value statements on banners and websites.
What does the above have to do with results based programming (RBP)? RBP contains sometimes confusing terminology – outputs, outcomes, results, indicators and targets, which are accompanied by multiple ways of thinking, writing up and collecting evidence to support each. It is a received framework – World Bank derived – which makes institutions and individuals that want to build organic processes that speak to their contexts reluctant to use it.
However, in my view, RBP is simply a process that enables us to tell a compelling story about why we do the work we do. This is a story that does not start with the strategic plan, priority areas and activities, however critical they are in the later stages of an organisation’s planning process. It starts withcontinuous reflection on the vision for change we desire in our communities and why we are best positioned to deliver it. Second, RBP as a framework asks us to take a step back to assess whether the change we desire is supported by a sound analysis of the root causes of the problem and its current manifestations. Third, can aspects of the change we desire be achieved through the set of priorities we have identified and the constituencies we have targeted? Fourth are we realistic about our ability to deliver what we plan for with our communities. Fifth, how do we know when change is happening and our role in it?
In May 2014, at a workshop on RBP with twenty small to medium sized organisations that are AWDF grantees, 10 lessons emerged about the meaning of creating and articulating innovative programmes within our communities:
- Clarity: RBP terms can be confusing but it is a process that begins with clarity of purpose. We may all want “happy, healthy societies for women” – but each organisation wants it for a different reason. The need to be clear about what you believe “happy, health societies” will achieve and how you realistically propose to get there is an essential part of the programming journey. Clarity about who you are working with, where and why you are doing a specific activity/project/programme will make the process of planning for reporting and tracking much simpler especially when you are a small organisation
- Identifying our strengths: Most of our work is driven by compassion, personal experience and the failure of the state to deliver services amongst others factors. As a result, we do not create time to reflect on our capacity to drive the change we seek. It is important to identify where our strengths lie and build on those as well as identify our weaknesses and plan to improve on them. This process facilitates effective and efficient programmes and allows us to identify where additional resources need to go to in order to strengthen our organisations as vehicles for movement building.
- Root cause analysis: The absence of “happy, healthy societies” is caused by a number of factors, some of them decades in the making. Do we have a sense of what the causes are and the factors that prevent these causes from being resolved? Mapping our understanding of the state of affairs, why we believe it persists and how to transform it offers a good foundation for reviewing our journey towards changing the status quo. Sometimes, our analysis of root causes, are found in broad statements such as “poverty”, “lack of policies”, “culture”. While valid, it makes it difficult to make a case for how training 6,000 rural women in business skills in a remote village in Namibia will resolve poverty and the lack of enabling government policies in that village. Making a clear (even though life is complex) link between the activities you propose, your target groups and how the changes you envisage contribute to resolving what you have identified as the problem is a useful element of RBP.
- Responding to causes and consequences: How much of our work is geared towards dealing with the causes of the problem? How much work deals with the factors that sustain the problem? How much of our work responds to other things that are remotely related to the problem? Continuously developing clarity about how your work contributes to resolving the factors that cause as well as enable the problems you are responding to, facilitates a more thoughtful mapping of who else is working on the issue, why you need to work with them (and sometimes against them), at what level and how – as allies, influencers, power brokers, gate keepers and direct constituencies who sustain movements for change.
- The value of numbers: The pressure associated with raising funds to sustain organisations means that we articulate our work as sets of activities and the immediate results. We focus less on how those activities contribute to the broader change the organisations were set up to achieve. For example, a report that begins and ends with 6,000 women were trained in business skills, effectively shows how 5000USD was spent. However, when we think beyond shillings and cents, speaking about what why that training was useful in the first place is a more useful story about impact. Articulating the value of training 6,000 women and gathering evidence to show what the training has facilitated in real terms, is the next layer – medium term – of thinking about results within the RBP framework. How many of the women who were trained are using those skills, in what areas, with what effect on their livelihoods and that of their communities. RBP pushes us to think about the transformative intention of the numbers.
- Plan and write for you: when we are accountable to ourselves and not to the next reporting cycle that releases funds, then our commitment to planning for and reflecting on the work becomes part of movement building and creating institutional memory. The identification of sign posts of change – indicators, developing simple mechanisms to collect information regularly and building memory through reports, discussions, debates, videos, becomes part of a learning journey for the organization and not a process initiated for funders.
- Proof: There is immense anxiety around proving to donors that work is being done. When focus is placed on proving to donors, the last minute collection of proof to show impact follows. This proof is often in the form of quotations from beneficiaries – “we are very grateful for the training X gave us”, case studies and pictures. While all of this is important, this proof is often used for “show and tell” purposes. It is evidence that we were here and a workshop was done. It is proof that we met the Y ministers we said we would meet. The pictures and videos should not be seen as proof of work done but as the illustration of how the change (impact) process is unfolding.
- Honour the experiences: Always remember that one size does not fit all. Interventions and subsequent reporting mechanisms need to suit the constituencies you work with and honour their agency. While stories about an individual in a community are powerful, stories about communities and their journey with you are equally compelling. It enables us see the connections in peoples lives and the process of change. In the era of social media, we should not always be pressured to find the perfect quote that can be re-tweeted or blogged about. We must remain authentic to the essence of the message/story/testimonyshared with us. We are entrusted with stories by virtue of our work, honour them as part of us but also as part of the lives they speak about.
- Reflect and review: The process of implementing programmes and writing about failures and successes is ultimately a process about studying our environment and how it is adapting to and/or resisting change. Challenges and obstacles are an essential part of understanding the environments we operate in, the new dynamics that shape our work and the lives of our constituents. Do not lose the opportunity to reflect on the meaning of those challenges in order to emphasize how successful you are. Challenges enable us review our approach to the change (impact) journey and keep us alert to mapping the state of affairs, our responses and the new barriers that block change.
- The soul: Always remember the passion and purpose that drove the work when it all begun. Organisations must grow, however, it is important to focus on what you know best and strengthen how you deliver it in response to new challenges and innovations. The pressure to take on new areas of work because of funding opportunities should not drive how our movements grow. Always remember the story behind the story. The spirit that started the journey.
[i]Start and launch; grow and deliver; delegate and evaluate; specialize and control; renew and rebuild; envision and commit
Dr. Awino Okech is a programme development and management specialist with 10 years experience in the delivery of social justice programming in Eastern Africa and the Great Lakes region.