Hmmm, the current political situation in Ghana is very tricky at the moment. If you read this blog regularly you will know that we (the AWDF staff) held a 'blog off' on our last day at work. As moderator of this blog, I can tell you that I have never had so many postings submitted in one day. Politics is obviously a subject that arouses all our passions.
At the moment we in Ghana are in a 'wait and see' mode. The EC held a press conference about an hour ago and at the moment we still do not have a winner. The NDC has a tiny lead but that can change depending on the results of the Tain constituency. Apparently the Tain Consitituency were not able to vote on the 28th and so will be voting this coming Friday. I can just see all the political parties getting in their 4 x 4s and heading straight to Tain. There have also been allegations of 'irregularities' by both parties and the EC is asking both parties to provide evidence so they can investigate. I am wondering how long this process is going to drag on. I am tired already, I have been dreaming of the elections and feeling so stressed wondering what is going to happen. The sad thing is no party is going to be satisfied whatever the outcomes are. The country is clearly polarised between the two parties and for whoever emerges victorious close to 50% of the population will be unhappy. I have been totally 'against' the power sharing deals that have taken place on the African continent this year but have found myself wondering whether in this particular context there are genuine grounds for power sharing. What are your thoughts?
Nana Sekyiamah
Programme Officer
Fundraising & Communications
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Saturday, December 20, 2008
We are indeed Moving Forward!
Allow me as a non Ghanaian who is living in Accra to throw my 2 cents worth into the fray of the discussions that are at present heating up the entire country. The elections are on most people’s minds here. There is debate, argument and counter argument between and amongst Ghanaians (and even non Ghanaians).
When I announced to my family and friends that I would be in Accra during the recently held elections, I was immediately beset with looks and sighs of panic and concern. By way of explanation, my family like most African families these days is scattered all over the globe. Having migrated for employment purposes, I am the only member of my family here in Ghana.
Armed to the teeth as they were with all the well known stories of elections in much of Africa (most recently illustrated in countries such as Nigeria, Kenya and Zimbabwe), the concern for my safety and well being at election time became the focus of my family’s attention. What would happen when, rather than, if chaos broke out? Calls and SMS messages came in a plenty, asking what my evacuation plans were. What is the strategy? Where will you stay? You simply cannot stay in that house alone at this time; What if something happens? The panic reached fever pitch. All the while, I (with some moderate trepidation it must be said) tried to assure them that all would be well. But just in case, I’d camp at Bisi’s house across the street.
And so come election day on 7th December. I am woken up at 5.30am. Vero, my house keeper lets me know very excitedly that she is off to cast her vote. I wish her well as I close the gate behind her and fortress myself inside. Soon after that, the phone starts to ring. Mum, sister, brothers, uncles, aunts, cousins, friends, former school friends, boyfriends and so on. It occurs to me that I do not realise how much I am loved until now. The calls come through out the day. I assure them I am fine and all is well. I even tell then about the drive I have taken to do some shopping. But they seem strangely unable to believe it. It is the calm before the storm, they say; Don’t let your guard down, you never know what can happen. On and on it went.
Who can blame them for worrying like this? Given the general pessimism dolled out regularly in the international media with the same underlying message - Africa is a Basket Case! – beamed frequently into our homes and into our consciousness? And yes, one cannot ignore the ugly conduct of many in political leadership on the continent today. The contempt with which they treat their office, their countries, their continent and their fellow citizens is quite simply, staggering. It does little to broker confidence in any undertaking that in which they are a part (unless of course it involves theft and other such acts of gross misconduct).
Well, the storm that my family and friends whipped up a fever about never actually materialised. On that day, 7th December 2008, Ghanaians all over the country went to the polling stations, waited patiently, some for very long hours, in the sweltering heat to cast their votes. And cast their votes, they did. I spent the evening with Bisi and her family and some of her friends from ECOWAS who were here to monitor the elections. They informed us that everywhere they went, the situation was the same. Voting was conducted in an orderly, transparent and fair manner. Although there was no official announcement of the result until 10th December, the media was busy doing its own counting. It was a close race with no clear winner emerging. We marvelled at how in spite of there being no clear winner, so far there were no attempts to stuff the boxes or hold a gun to some poor vote counter’s head, or even a bribe which is far more effective! You mean they haven’t sent a few armed privately armed militia to remind them where to cast the vote? We laughed. Even more astonishing was that a senior military official felt the need to issue a press statement denying reports that he had held meetings with leaders of the political parties in the run up to the election.. In our countries ,there would be no cause for denial, since the military is the government, we joked.
The country and the electorate waited, patiently for the official results from the Electoral Commission. On 10th December the results were announced. There would be a second round of voting as there was no clear winner for the presidency.
The political parties and candidates accepted the result, the people accepted the result and the country moved on with its life. Not a single gun shot anywhere. No skirmishes. No loss of life. Nothing but peace and acceptance. This really is the stuff of elections.
The Head of the Electoral Commission, Dr Afari Djan and his entire team did an exemplary job of counting the votes. The media also played its part in reporting even the slightest whiff of skulduggery. The military kept out of view and kept silent. The polling stations and all the volunteers, party agents, voters, candidates, everyone made the decision that they are Ghanaians first, and conducted themselves in a manner that is befitting such an occasion.
For many in Africa today, free and fair elections are nothing but a fanciful dream. Casting one’s vote is simply a matter of life and death. Yet in the midst of all this turmoil, there are also reasons to believe that change will come. Ghana has given us a reason to believe. And we will hold on to it for all that it is worth.
In the words of yet another reason to believe, Barack Obama, Yes we can.
And we did on 7th December 2008.
Congratulations Ghana. You did Africa proud. We are indeed Moving Forward! May it continue on 28th December 2008.
You will be pleased to know that my family is not worried at all now.
Sarah Mukasa
Director of Programmes
When I announced to my family and friends that I would be in Accra during the recently held elections, I was immediately beset with looks and sighs of panic and concern. By way of explanation, my family like most African families these days is scattered all over the globe. Having migrated for employment purposes, I am the only member of my family here in Ghana.
Armed to the teeth as they were with all the well known stories of elections in much of Africa (most recently illustrated in countries such as Nigeria, Kenya and Zimbabwe), the concern for my safety and well being at election time became the focus of my family’s attention. What would happen when, rather than, if chaos broke out? Calls and SMS messages came in a plenty, asking what my evacuation plans were. What is the strategy? Where will you stay? You simply cannot stay in that house alone at this time; What if something happens? The panic reached fever pitch. All the while, I (with some moderate trepidation it must be said) tried to assure them that all would be well. But just in case, I’d camp at Bisi’s house across the street.
And so come election day on 7th December. I am woken up at 5.30am. Vero, my house keeper lets me know very excitedly that she is off to cast her vote. I wish her well as I close the gate behind her and fortress myself inside. Soon after that, the phone starts to ring. Mum, sister, brothers, uncles, aunts, cousins, friends, former school friends, boyfriends and so on. It occurs to me that I do not realise how much I am loved until now. The calls come through out the day. I assure them I am fine and all is well. I even tell then about the drive I have taken to do some shopping. But they seem strangely unable to believe it. It is the calm before the storm, they say; Don’t let your guard down, you never know what can happen. On and on it went.
Who can blame them for worrying like this? Given the general pessimism dolled out regularly in the international media with the same underlying message - Africa is a Basket Case! – beamed frequently into our homes and into our consciousness? And yes, one cannot ignore the ugly conduct of many in political leadership on the continent today. The contempt with which they treat their office, their countries, their continent and their fellow citizens is quite simply, staggering. It does little to broker confidence in any undertaking that in which they are a part (unless of course it involves theft and other such acts of gross misconduct).
Well, the storm that my family and friends whipped up a fever about never actually materialised. On that day, 7th December 2008, Ghanaians all over the country went to the polling stations, waited patiently, some for very long hours, in the sweltering heat to cast their votes. And cast their votes, they did. I spent the evening with Bisi and her family and some of her friends from ECOWAS who were here to monitor the elections. They informed us that everywhere they went, the situation was the same. Voting was conducted in an orderly, transparent and fair manner. Although there was no official announcement of the result until 10th December, the media was busy doing its own counting. It was a close race with no clear winner emerging. We marvelled at how in spite of there being no clear winner, so far there were no attempts to stuff the boxes or hold a gun to some poor vote counter’s head, or even a bribe which is far more effective! You mean they haven’t sent a few armed privately armed militia to remind them where to cast the vote? We laughed. Even more astonishing was that a senior military official felt the need to issue a press statement denying reports that he had held meetings with leaders of the political parties in the run up to the election.. In our countries ,there would be no cause for denial, since the military is the government, we joked.
The country and the electorate waited, patiently for the official results from the Electoral Commission. On 10th December the results were announced. There would be a second round of voting as there was no clear winner for the presidency.
The political parties and candidates accepted the result, the people accepted the result and the country moved on with its life. Not a single gun shot anywhere. No skirmishes. No loss of life. Nothing but peace and acceptance. This really is the stuff of elections.
The Head of the Electoral Commission, Dr Afari Djan and his entire team did an exemplary job of counting the votes. The media also played its part in reporting even the slightest whiff of skulduggery. The military kept out of view and kept silent. The polling stations and all the volunteers, party agents, voters, candidates, everyone made the decision that they are Ghanaians first, and conducted themselves in a manner that is befitting such an occasion.
For many in Africa today, free and fair elections are nothing but a fanciful dream. Casting one’s vote is simply a matter of life and death. Yet in the midst of all this turmoil, there are also reasons to believe that change will come. Ghana has given us a reason to believe. And we will hold on to it for all that it is worth.
In the words of yet another reason to believe, Barack Obama, Yes we can.
And we did on 7th December 2008.
Congratulations Ghana. You did Africa proud. We are indeed Moving Forward! May it continue on 28th December 2008.
You will be pleased to know that my family is not worried at all now.
Sarah Mukasa
Director of Programmes
Friday, December 19, 2008
WHAT’S THE MEANING OF CHANGE IF IT WILL NOT IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF YOUR LIFE?
I listen to discussions on politics and read about politics with keen interest at every level. I am always amazed at the passion, knowledge and ignorance with which people speak. Indeed Ghana has advanced in deepening democracy in the country and l feel very proud as a Ghanaian.
In just about 10 days Ghana will go for a presidential run-off; this time the race is between the two main political parties; National Democratic Congress (NDC) with the ‘change’ slogan and The National Patriotic Party (NPP) with the ‘moving forward slogan’. I am raising some questions about Grace’s blog. As a gender activist with a critical mind l like to ask the same questions in every situation. I hear and see people calling for change, change, change. But have you actually critically analysed issues and situations? Have you compared events before, now and after? Have you analysed the risk factors and looked at anticipated results of the change that you are calling for? Are you calling for change just because NPP has stayed two years in office and some government officials have become arrogant? Please let us not confuse assertiveness with arrogance! Have you dispassionately and using non-partisan and non-tribal lens analysed progress of development and women’s welfare in the country? What has been the record of both par ties when it comes to women and children. Which party has institutionalised a school feeding programme and the National Health Insurance Scheme? A word to the wise is enough!
My dearest sister, until you pause and do that and concretely establish reasons for change in a convincingly manner lets stop promoting change. What is the point in change if it is not going to improve the quality of lives of Ghanaians; women and children particularly but rather going to send us back to the dark days in Ghana. Stop comparing oranges with mangos and putting square pegs in round holes. Ghana can never be Zimbabwe nor vice versa.
AFTER ALL FORWARD EVER; LONG LIVE GHANA, LONG LIVE THE AFRICAN WOMEN’S MOVEMENT
Nafi Chinery
Programme Officer
Capacity Building
In just about 10 days Ghana will go for a presidential run-off; this time the race is between the two main political parties; National Democratic Congress (NDC) with the ‘change’ slogan and The National Patriotic Party (NPP) with the ‘moving forward slogan’. I am raising some questions about Grace’s blog. As a gender activist with a critical mind l like to ask the same questions in every situation. I hear and see people calling for change, change, change. But have you actually critically analysed issues and situations? Have you compared events before, now and after? Have you analysed the risk factors and looked at anticipated results of the change that you are calling for? Are you calling for change just because NPP has stayed two years in office and some government officials have become arrogant? Please let us not confuse assertiveness with arrogance! Have you dispassionately and using non-partisan and non-tribal lens analysed progress of development and women’s welfare in the country? What has been the record of both par ties when it comes to women and children. Which party has institutionalised a school feeding programme and the National Health Insurance Scheme? A word to the wise is enough!
My dearest sister, until you pause and do that and concretely establish reasons for change in a convincingly manner lets stop promoting change. What is the point in change if it is not going to improve the quality of lives of Ghanaians; women and children particularly but rather going to send us back to the dark days in Ghana. Stop comparing oranges with mangos and putting square pegs in round holes. Ghana can never be Zimbabwe nor vice versa.
AFTER ALL FORWARD EVER; LONG LIVE GHANA, LONG LIVE THE AFRICAN WOMEN’S MOVEMENT
Nafi Chinery
Programme Officer
Capacity Building
WE ARE MOVING FORWARD
The political atmosphere in the country is as charged as ever. Even non political people such as myself are taking a stand and in fact this is good for the political maturity of the nation. I am not a registered member of any political party and I do not see myself bearing a party card in the near future. But times dictates that my voice be heard. Times require that I no longer keep quiet and allow those who know nothing about my needs to make and impose a decision on me. Times demand that I make my own selfish needs plain. A desire to see that I live in a free and prosperous nation. A desire to see my children get the best of education here in this dear mother land called Ghana. A desire to see that my extended family who live in the villages of Suhum in those family cocoa farm lands get free and effective health care. A desire to see that maternal mortality is reduced and child survival rates are increased. A desire to see that money will not be a stumbling block for that financially challenged but brilliant young lady to attain higher education. A desire to see that I do not ever ever have to queue up to buy fuel to run my good old faithful jalopy. These are times to speak up and I encourage all freedom loving Ghanaians to speak up. I say VOTE FOR NANA AKUFFO ADDO, VOTE for the NPP. A vote for Nana Akuffo Addo means a vote for free secondary education; A vote for Nana Akuffo Addo means a vibrant economy; A vote for Nana Akuffo Addo means A better health system; A vote for Nana Akuffo Addo means freedom of Speech (Very very important); A vote for Nana Akuffo Addo means WE ARE MOVING FORWARD.
Please GHANAIANS help us all MOVE FORWARD. Please remember to exercise your franchise on December 28, 2008. Vote Nana Akuffo Addo; Vote for real progress. WE HAVE TO MOVE FORWARD
Beatrice Boakye-Yiadom
Acting Grants Manager
Please GHANAIANS help us all MOVE FORWARD. Please remember to exercise your franchise on December 28, 2008. Vote Nana Akuffo Addo; Vote for real progress. WE HAVE TO MOVE FORWARD
Beatrice Boakye-Yiadom
Acting Grants Manager
Thursday, December 18, 2008
It is official: The 'blog off'
As you can imagine the women of AWDF are very political and we have been having very spirited discussions on politics. We easily agree on the importance of having women in parliament, women as decision makers, and on representational politics but when it comes to the subject of NPP and NDC (the two main political parties in Ghana) we are not all of 'one mind'.
To that end we have decided to have a 'blog off' between the various political factions. Grace has kicked off with her support for 'Yeresesam' and I invite all my colleagues to join in.
Nana Sekyiamah
Programme Officer
Fundraising & Communications
To that end we have decided to have a 'blog off' between the various political factions. Grace has kicked off with her support for 'Yeresesam' and I invite all my colleagues to join in.
Nana Sekyiamah
Programme Officer
Fundraising & Communications
YERESESAM AS WE MOVE FORWARD
Ghana’s political atmosphere is charged with a lot of slogans in the bid to choose the president of the nation. How exciting!
Ghanaians are very sharp and wide awake to the democratic dispensation prevailing in the country and elsewhere on the African continent now. Surely, we must continue to move our country forward, but we NEED TO CHANGE as we do that. WHY?
BECAUSE, we need to learn lessons from our sister nations. Keeping one party in government for more than two terms is a recipe for complacency, arrogance, perpetuation of selfishness, greed, corruption and what have you. We all can rightly guess the consequences of such behaviours all over Africa. It’s not wise to experience all situations before advising oneself. Sometimes, one needs to LEARN from other people’s experiences. We know of the Idi Amins, the Mobutu Seseseko’s of old and we are not mindless of the Mugabe’s of today. Ghanaians do not need to get there at all!
We are blessed with many great women and men in Ghana. The two contestants for the presidency, Professor Atta Mills and Nana Akuffo Addo Danquah are all great and illustrious sons of Ghana. They all merit the presidential position. But the thing is the National Patriotic Party (NPP) has reigned for two terms so that‘s ok for now. The CPP has proved to Ghanaians that they are not ready yet. May be they would by the year 2016 when we would change again (one term is reasonably too short). Otherwise we bring NPP back into governance. My people, lets CHANGE while we move forward.
To this end, I urge you all, VOTEZ Professor Mills!!!
Grace Amenyogbeli
Administration Manager
Ghanaians are very sharp and wide awake to the democratic dispensation prevailing in the country and elsewhere on the African continent now. Surely, we must continue to move our country forward, but we NEED TO CHANGE as we do that. WHY?
BECAUSE, we need to learn lessons from our sister nations. Keeping one party in government for more than two terms is a recipe for complacency, arrogance, perpetuation of selfishness, greed, corruption and what have you. We all can rightly guess the consequences of such behaviours all over Africa. It’s not wise to experience all situations before advising oneself. Sometimes, one needs to LEARN from other people’s experiences. We know of the Idi Amins, the Mobutu Seseseko’s of old and we are not mindless of the Mugabe’s of today. Ghanaians do not need to get there at all!
We are blessed with many great women and men in Ghana. The two contestants for the presidency, Professor Atta Mills and Nana Akuffo Addo Danquah are all great and illustrious sons of Ghana. They all merit the presidential position. But the thing is the National Patriotic Party (NPP) has reigned for two terms so that‘s ok for now. The CPP has proved to Ghanaians that they are not ready yet. May be they would by the year 2016 when we would change again (one term is reasonably too short). Otherwise we bring NPP back into governance. My people, lets CHANGE while we move forward.
To this end, I urge you all, VOTEZ Professor Mills!!!
Grace Amenyogbeli
Administration Manager
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
2008, the year of politics?
Is 2008 the year of politics? I think I have had politics on the 'membrane' the whole year...Ken Livingstone losing the ‘Mayorship’ of London (whilst I was still resident there), the difficult decision of should I support Hillary Clinton because she is female or Barack Obama because he is black (even though I have no vote in America), I observed the shambles of the Kenyan and Zimbabwean elections and looked forward to the Ghanaian elections. Earlier this year I queued for 5 hours to register to vote and on the 7th of December queued for 6 hours to cast my vote. Now that a run off has been declared between the incumbent and the opposition parties I guess I am going to have to queue all over again.
I have a strong belief in representational politics and standpoint theory – the belief that if you are from a particular standpoint you are more likely to be able to emphatise with someone from a similar standpoint. At least that’s my laywoman’s understanding of standpoint theory, so women politicians for example are more likely to vote in a Domestic Relations Bill and Oil investors in the US are more likely to vote Republican. I am aware of the limits of representational politics so I do not need a dreadlocked, middle class Ghanaian woman, aged 30 to speak up for women’s rights in Ghana but I do need a significant number of women parliamentarians in Ghana. Alas, it appears that I am to have less women parliamentarians in the next Ghanaian parliament than the previous one.
According to the Daily Graphic of December 11, 2008, 103 women contested the parliamentary elections (In 2004, 104 contested) but so far only 5 new women parliamentary candidates have emerged victorious. 4 of them on the ticket of the New Patriotic Party and 1 on the ticket of the Convention People’s Party, the issue this raises for me is do political parties select female candidates to run in their ‘strongholds’. It is well known that some areas of Ghana are strongholds of particular parties so in my local constituency of Tema West the NPP is almost guaranteed victory no matter who they select to represent the party hence Ms Irene Naa Torshie Addo winning on the NPP’s ticket. Personally, I doubt very much if ‘Naa’ won on the basis of her vision for the area.
If Ghana is to have more women MPs then political parties need to take the issue of gender parity seriously. What has worked in other parts of the world (the Nordic countries come to mind) has been a quota system for women. I would suggest that Ghanaian political parties adopt a similar strategy and have ‘women only lists’ for a proportion of their ‘strongholds’. This will indicate that political parties are taking the issue of gender parity seriously and will be one sure way of getting more women MPs. The next Ghanaian parliament is going to have 18 women MPs out of 230. I think that’s abhorrent. What are your thoughts?
Nana Sekyiamah
Programme Officer
Fundraising & Communications
I have a strong belief in representational politics and standpoint theory – the belief that if you are from a particular standpoint you are more likely to be able to emphatise with someone from a similar standpoint. At least that’s my laywoman’s understanding of standpoint theory, so women politicians for example are more likely to vote in a Domestic Relations Bill and Oil investors in the US are more likely to vote Republican. I am aware of the limits of representational politics so I do not need a dreadlocked, middle class Ghanaian woman, aged 30 to speak up for women’s rights in Ghana but I do need a significant number of women parliamentarians in Ghana. Alas, it appears that I am to have less women parliamentarians in the next Ghanaian parliament than the previous one.
According to the Daily Graphic of December 11, 2008, 103 women contested the parliamentary elections (In 2004, 104 contested) but so far only 5 new women parliamentary candidates have emerged victorious. 4 of them on the ticket of the New Patriotic Party and 1 on the ticket of the Convention People’s Party, the issue this raises for me is do political parties select female candidates to run in their ‘strongholds’. It is well known that some areas of Ghana are strongholds of particular parties so in my local constituency of Tema West the NPP is almost guaranteed victory no matter who they select to represent the party hence Ms Irene Naa Torshie Addo winning on the NPP’s ticket. Personally, I doubt very much if ‘Naa’ won on the basis of her vision for the area.
If Ghana is to have more women MPs then political parties need to take the issue of gender parity seriously. What has worked in other parts of the world (the Nordic countries come to mind) has been a quota system for women. I would suggest that Ghanaian political parties adopt a similar strategy and have ‘women only lists’ for a proportion of their ‘strongholds’. This will indicate that political parties are taking the issue of gender parity seriously and will be one sure way of getting more women MPs. The next Ghanaian parliament is going to have 18 women MPs out of 230. I think that’s abhorrent. What are your thoughts?
Nana Sekyiamah
Programme Officer
Fundraising & Communications
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
What's the point of the Revolution if We Can't Dance: A Personal Personal Perspective
I have been wanting to read ‘What’s the Point of the Revolution If We Can’t Dance’ since I got my copy at the African Feminist Forum in September. However, it has taken me until today the 6th of December to finish the book (whilst queuing for 6 hours to vote). For me the most interesting thing is that the book began to influence me even before I delved into its pages…At the recent Association of Women in Development (AWID) Forum, I attended a session on ‘What’s the Point of the Revolution If We Can’t Dance’ and afterwards made up my mind to write a list of personal self-care principles which are:
• Have a manicure every 2 weeks
• Have a pedicure every month
• Have a facial every month
• Exercise at least 4 times a week
• Drink at least a litre of water a day
• Read a fantastic book at least once a month
• Have a weekend break every 3 months
• Take a fun holiday at least once a year
• Have a massage once a month
The great thing for me is that although my list may appear very indulgent (and why not?) it actually will not cost me much money. I am fortunate that my favourite Auntie owns a beauty studio so I get to have free manicures, pedicures and facials. All I really need to do is tip the staff that provides the treatments, and from time to time I bring my Auntie a small gift. However I have realized that my self care routine only works when I am actually in my home country Ghana. I am quite fortunate that the organization I work for, the African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF) has a flexible working policy…I am a night owl so tend to go to bed very late and accordingly rise late so it is a real boon to be able to start work at 9am, 9.30am or 10am. In Ghana that’s a real luxury, many people I know have to fight through hours of traffic to start work at 8am.
By now you are probably thinking I have it good when it comes to self-care, but I have realized a pattern. Whenever I travel for work (and recently that has been up to twice a month) I fall sick. I usually get a cold which in the case of my trip to San Francisco for the ‘Women Raising Millions’ training was somewhere between my 16 hour flight time from Accra – San Francisco. In Uganda, during the entire African Feminist Forum I had a cold and a racking cough, my poor room mate Sophie would wake up in a panic wondering if I was okay and very recently in Dakar I reacted very badly to the dusty conditions and sneezed for three days continuously. So what am I going to do about this? These short term illnesses have given me a clear message. I need to take even better care of myself. I need to start taking some good vitamin and mineral supplements, I need to go to the clinic to run some tests to ensure there is not an underlying reason for these persistent coughs and colds, when I am outside Ghana attending conferences or convenings I need to try as much as possible to emulate some of the healthy eating practices I maintain at home and not indulge in lavish hotel breakfasts or the pastries and biscuits that are sometimes present at conferences and convenings. I also need to ensure that I find ways of taking a break whilst traveling for work…So what do you do to take care of yourself? Let’s share some ideas and strategies. Any recommendations
Nana Sekyiamah
Programme Officer
Fundraising & Communications
• Have a manicure every 2 weeks
• Have a pedicure every month
• Have a facial every month
• Exercise at least 4 times a week
• Drink at least a litre of water a day
• Read a fantastic book at least once a month
• Have a weekend break every 3 months
• Take a fun holiday at least once a year
• Have a massage once a month
The great thing for me is that although my list may appear very indulgent (and why not?) it actually will not cost me much money. I am fortunate that my favourite Auntie owns a beauty studio so I get to have free manicures, pedicures and facials. All I really need to do is tip the staff that provides the treatments, and from time to time I bring my Auntie a small gift. However I have realized that my self care routine only works when I am actually in my home country Ghana. I am quite fortunate that the organization I work for, the African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF) has a flexible working policy…I am a night owl so tend to go to bed very late and accordingly rise late so it is a real boon to be able to start work at 9am, 9.30am or 10am. In Ghana that’s a real luxury, many people I know have to fight through hours of traffic to start work at 8am.
By now you are probably thinking I have it good when it comes to self-care, but I have realized a pattern. Whenever I travel for work (and recently that has been up to twice a month) I fall sick. I usually get a cold which in the case of my trip to San Francisco for the ‘Women Raising Millions’ training was somewhere between my 16 hour flight time from Accra – San Francisco. In Uganda, during the entire African Feminist Forum I had a cold and a racking cough, my poor room mate Sophie would wake up in a panic wondering if I was okay and very recently in Dakar I reacted very badly to the dusty conditions and sneezed for three days continuously. So what am I going to do about this? These short term illnesses have given me a clear message. I need to take even better care of myself. I need to start taking some good vitamin and mineral supplements, I need to go to the clinic to run some tests to ensure there is not an underlying reason for these persistent coughs and colds, when I am outside Ghana attending conferences or convenings I need to try as much as possible to emulate some of the healthy eating practices I maintain at home and not indulge in lavish hotel breakfasts or the pastries and biscuits that are sometimes present at conferences and convenings. I also need to ensure that I find ways of taking a break whilst traveling for work…So what do you do to take care of yourself? Let’s share some ideas and strategies. Any recommendations
Nana Sekyiamah
Programme Officer
Fundraising & Communications
Friday, November 28, 2008
AWDF’S PARTICIPATION IN THE SIXTH AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT FORUM: ACTION ON GENDER EQUALITY, EMPOWERMENT AND ENDING VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN AFRICA
The team (Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi - Executive Director, Sarah Mukasa – Director of Programmes, Rose Buabeng – Anglophone Programme Officer) arrived in Addis Ababa on the 19th of November 2007. Challenges with accommodation bookings and registration processes did not enable us to participate in the opening ceremony which had the Ethiopian President as the guest of honour. Despite this inconvenience, the rest of the conference went very well and enabled organizations who could not participate in the recent Association of Women in Development forum the chance to lend their voices to the discourses on action on Gender Equality, Women’s Empowerment and ending violence against Women.
The African Development Forum VI was a major gathering which discussed critical development issues, mobilized consensus and built partnerships among stakeholders in gender issues on the continent. A broad spectrum of stakeholders participated in the 3-day forum. The stakeholders included: government officials, civil society organizations, media networks, special groups such as nomads, indigenous people, persons with disability, persons living with HIV/AIDS, women and girls affected by violence, religious organizations, traditional leaders, international civil society organizations, UN partners, Bilateral organizations, international and regional financial institutions.
AWDF currently has a grantee profile of over 500 women’s organisations throughout sub-Saharan African and support from the African Capacity Building Foundation has enabled us to expand our Capacity Building Programme to include the development of a resource base of African Women Experts who are able to provide technical expertise at international conferences, forums and convenings. For this forum, AWDF provided technical assistance for the development of the programme which included providing resource persons and financial support to enable the participation of AWDF grantees.
The forum was centred on twelve thematic areas which were:
• Violence against women
• HIV/AIDS
• Health and reproductive rights
• Education, training and skills development
• Migration
• Governance, conflict, peace and security
• Employment, markets and trade
• Food security
• Land and property rights
• Climate change, water, sanitation and energy
• Financing for gender equality
• Gender and ICT
The overall programme was structured to ensure maximum discussion and feedback.
There were various presentations on all the thematic areas as well as break-out sessions to discuss pertinent issues from earlier presentations and recommendations made to support the drafting of the final plan of action.
The utmost concern of most participants as well as gender activists who participated in the forum was the fact that resolutions from the forum will not be mere rhetoric just like other forums that have happened in the past but that concrete actions will be taken to accelerate the attainment of MDG 3.
Another critical issue that emerged was the availability of resources to support the implementation of proposed gender equality objectives stipulated in the developed plan of action especially, with the emergence of the current global financial crisis.
It is therefore incumbent on feminist funding organizations like AWDF to embark on strategic resource mobilization activities in order to increase support to women’s rights organizations on the African Continent if gender equality and women’s empowerment is to be attained for the achievement of MDG 3.
Generally, the forum went very well with fruitful deliberations on the selected thematic areas; it culminated with a plan of action which gave clear recommendations for member States and development partners to accelerate the achievement of gender equality and women’s empowerment and ending violence against women.
LAUNCHING OF AWDF’s “POPULAR CULTURE PROJECT”
AWDF had the opportunity to launch its 3-year project entitled: “Reclaiming Popular Culture to Promote Women’s Rights” on the eve of the second day (20th November 2008) of the ADF VI conference. The programme was witnessed by about hundred participants from various women’s rights organization on the African Continent. The Executive Director of AWDF, Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi on introducing the project lamented the negative impact of most local movies on women rights promotion as well as the coverage and audience such movies attract. She therefore called on women’s rights organizations on the Continent to join forces with various movie icons in the promotion of women’s rights through the development of movies with positive women’s rights messages, since most youth of today prefer movies and music.
One of the project movies ‘The White Handkerchief’ was shown to participants. There was a lengthy discussion after the movie. Participants saw the need and bought into the idea of using movies and music to propagate the women’s human rights message. The project was officially launched by the Liberian Minister for Women and Children. Two movies ‘The White Handkerchief’ and ‘The Narrow Path’) were distributed to participants after the programme. AWDF gave assurances that initiatives by women-led organization on the continent to utilise popular culture to promote women’s rights will gain AWDF’s support.
Rose Buabeng
Anglophone Programme Officer
AWDF
The African Development Forum VI was a major gathering which discussed critical development issues, mobilized consensus and built partnerships among stakeholders in gender issues on the continent. A broad spectrum of stakeholders participated in the 3-day forum. The stakeholders included: government officials, civil society organizations, media networks, special groups such as nomads, indigenous people, persons with disability, persons living with HIV/AIDS, women and girls affected by violence, religious organizations, traditional leaders, international civil society organizations, UN partners, Bilateral organizations, international and regional financial institutions.
AWDF currently has a grantee profile of over 500 women’s organisations throughout sub-Saharan African and support from the African Capacity Building Foundation has enabled us to expand our Capacity Building Programme to include the development of a resource base of African Women Experts who are able to provide technical expertise at international conferences, forums and convenings. For this forum, AWDF provided technical assistance for the development of the programme which included providing resource persons and financial support to enable the participation of AWDF grantees.
The forum was centred on twelve thematic areas which were:
• Violence against women
• HIV/AIDS
• Health and reproductive rights
• Education, training and skills development
• Migration
• Governance, conflict, peace and security
• Employment, markets and trade
• Food security
• Land and property rights
• Climate change, water, sanitation and energy
• Financing for gender equality
• Gender and ICT
The overall programme was structured to ensure maximum discussion and feedback.
There were various presentations on all the thematic areas as well as break-out sessions to discuss pertinent issues from earlier presentations and recommendations made to support the drafting of the final plan of action.
The utmost concern of most participants as well as gender activists who participated in the forum was the fact that resolutions from the forum will not be mere rhetoric just like other forums that have happened in the past but that concrete actions will be taken to accelerate the attainment of MDG 3.
Another critical issue that emerged was the availability of resources to support the implementation of proposed gender equality objectives stipulated in the developed plan of action especially, with the emergence of the current global financial crisis.
It is therefore incumbent on feminist funding organizations like AWDF to embark on strategic resource mobilization activities in order to increase support to women’s rights organizations on the African Continent if gender equality and women’s empowerment is to be attained for the achievement of MDG 3.
Generally, the forum went very well with fruitful deliberations on the selected thematic areas; it culminated with a plan of action which gave clear recommendations for member States and development partners to accelerate the achievement of gender equality and women’s empowerment and ending violence against women.
LAUNCHING OF AWDF’s “POPULAR CULTURE PROJECT”
AWDF had the opportunity to launch its 3-year project entitled: “Reclaiming Popular Culture to Promote Women’s Rights” on the eve of the second day (20th November 2008) of the ADF VI conference. The programme was witnessed by about hundred participants from various women’s rights organization on the African Continent. The Executive Director of AWDF, Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi on introducing the project lamented the negative impact of most local movies on women rights promotion as well as the coverage and audience such movies attract. She therefore called on women’s rights organizations on the Continent to join forces with various movie icons in the promotion of women’s rights through the development of movies with positive women’s rights messages, since most youth of today prefer movies and music.
One of the project movies ‘The White Handkerchief’ was shown to participants. There was a lengthy discussion after the movie. Participants saw the need and bought into the idea of using movies and music to propagate the women’s human rights message. The project was officially launched by the Liberian Minister for Women and Children. Two movies ‘The White Handkerchief’ and ‘The Narrow Path’) were distributed to participants after the programme. AWDF gave assurances that initiatives by women-led organization on the continent to utilise popular culture to promote women’s rights will gain AWDF’s support.
Rose Buabeng
Anglophone Programme Officer
AWDF
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Letter from Zambia
Hello Sisters,
I miss you all but trust you are holding up. This week I find myself in the landlocked country of Zambia. The place is hot and one wonders if ever the time will come when Africa is going to harness this God given resource that is so abundant everywhere on the continent. Zambia actually feels and looks like Ghana in some sense. The country side looks so much like Ghana, the way they build their mud houses is so similar to the architecture we have in Northern Ghana. In fact some suburbs in Lusaka are very similar to some suburbs in Accra.
My colleague Grace and I took a few trips to cities outside Lusaka. Some of these trips can be heart wrenching you know, setting off very early in the morning to be able to accomplish all the goals you have set for yourself and returning late at night. But the sisters in the communities make it all worth it.
There is nothing so picturesque about the Zambian country particularly on those roads we used. However those trips outside the capital, Lusaka, gave me a nostalgic feeling. There are so many similarities with some scenes in our beloved Ghana. The bags of charcoal lined up for sale on major highways and the way they are bagged is so similar to the Ghanaian scenery. In fact the new vogue of bagging small quantities of charcoal for sale in polythene bags in also in vogue here in Zambia. Charcoal burning I am sure is a major challenge for the authorities in Zambia as they are in Ghana, it appears to be a dominant business for communities along the highways. (I did not see sachet water in Southern Africa, I am sure they are not allowed or something to that effect, it is so strange).
There are so many similarities in the way women ply their trading activities along the various highways in Zambia. The selling techniques, display of their products, pitching of their products etc are so similar to what pertains in Ghana. Their tomatoes looks so much like those tomatoes we grow in the North of Ghana, popularly called “Bolga Tomatoes”
The consequences of structural adjustment programmes are very evident in the town of Ndola where we visited one of our partners. All these big industries including copper mines closed down with its consequent loss of jobs which has lead to increased poverty and high rates of HIV&AIDS. The town of Ndola has an HIV&AIDS prevalence rate of 24%, the national prevalence rate is 16%. A combination of poverty and HIV&AIDS has left the women and children of Ndola very vulnerable that is why the nutrition centre of Ndola Nutrition group, an AWDF grantee, is extremely critical. The women in the community are provided with counseling and nutritional supplements. Support groups of women were at their best again, resilient as ever, with income generation activities and the spirit of sisterhood binding them together.
You think the drivers in Ghana are innovative? Well they cannot beat their Zambian counter parts. Leaves are very much in use as warning triangles to warn oncoming vehicles of broken down vehicles on the highways. And why do they always have to conveniently forget to remove them from the roads after they have finish whatever business they had to attend to? I think Zambia beats Ghana again in the number of road blocks one encounters on the highway. On a four hour journey we met at least six road blocks and they are so ingenious. The road blocks are mounted with barrels (filled with cement I guess) painted black with a red band at the top and police inscribed on the red paint. That is ingenious, one needs to be creative to stand out and survive you know.
Another notable feature is the number of haulage trucks that ply the highways. The Zambian highways are full of haulage trucks and trailers, in fact for every ten cars we met on the high way six were likely to be these heavy duty trucks, some of them heading towards DRC hauling badly needed food items especially fish from South Africa.
I am sure you heard that Zambia recently lost its president and just at the beginning of the month of November held a by election so the country streets are still covered with billboard of the various candidates and parties and it makes me wonder what is happening with our own elections? I hope we are on course. All the best and
See you soon
Beatrice
HIV/AIDS Programme Officer/Acting Grants Manager
I miss you all but trust you are holding up. This week I find myself in the landlocked country of Zambia. The place is hot and one wonders if ever the time will come when Africa is going to harness this God given resource that is so abundant everywhere on the continent. Zambia actually feels and looks like Ghana in some sense. The country side looks so much like Ghana, the way they build their mud houses is so similar to the architecture we have in Northern Ghana. In fact some suburbs in Lusaka are very similar to some suburbs in Accra.
My colleague Grace and I took a few trips to cities outside Lusaka. Some of these trips can be heart wrenching you know, setting off very early in the morning to be able to accomplish all the goals you have set for yourself and returning late at night. But the sisters in the communities make it all worth it.
There is nothing so picturesque about the Zambian country particularly on those roads we used. However those trips outside the capital, Lusaka, gave me a nostalgic feeling. There are so many similarities with some scenes in our beloved Ghana. The bags of charcoal lined up for sale on major highways and the way they are bagged is so similar to the Ghanaian scenery. In fact the new vogue of bagging small quantities of charcoal for sale in polythene bags in also in vogue here in Zambia. Charcoal burning I am sure is a major challenge for the authorities in Zambia as they are in Ghana, it appears to be a dominant business for communities along the highways. (I did not see sachet water in Southern Africa, I am sure they are not allowed or something to that effect, it is so strange).
There are so many similarities in the way women ply their trading activities along the various highways in Zambia. The selling techniques, display of their products, pitching of their products etc are so similar to what pertains in Ghana. Their tomatoes looks so much like those tomatoes we grow in the North of Ghana, popularly called “Bolga Tomatoes”
The consequences of structural adjustment programmes are very evident in the town of Ndola where we visited one of our partners. All these big industries including copper mines closed down with its consequent loss of jobs which has lead to increased poverty and high rates of HIV&AIDS. The town of Ndola has an HIV&AIDS prevalence rate of 24%, the national prevalence rate is 16%. A combination of poverty and HIV&AIDS has left the women and children of Ndola very vulnerable that is why the nutrition centre of Ndola Nutrition group, an AWDF grantee, is extremely critical. The women in the community are provided with counseling and nutritional supplements. Support groups of women were at their best again, resilient as ever, with income generation activities and the spirit of sisterhood binding them together.
You think the drivers in Ghana are innovative? Well they cannot beat their Zambian counter parts. Leaves are very much in use as warning triangles to warn oncoming vehicles of broken down vehicles on the highways. And why do they always have to conveniently forget to remove them from the roads after they have finish whatever business they had to attend to? I think Zambia beats Ghana again in the number of road blocks one encounters on the highway. On a four hour journey we met at least six road blocks and they are so ingenious. The road blocks are mounted with barrels (filled with cement I guess) painted black with a red band at the top and police inscribed on the red paint. That is ingenious, one needs to be creative to stand out and survive you know.
Another notable feature is the number of haulage trucks that ply the highways. The Zambian highways are full of haulage trucks and trailers, in fact for every ten cars we met on the high way six were likely to be these heavy duty trucks, some of them heading towards DRC hauling badly needed food items especially fish from South Africa.
I am sure you heard that Zambia recently lost its president and just at the beginning of the month of November held a by election so the country streets are still covered with billboard of the various candidates and parties and it makes me wonder what is happening with our own elections? I hope we are on course. All the best and
See you soon
Beatrice
HIV/AIDS Programme Officer/Acting Grants Manager
AWDF’S NEW OFFICE AND THE ‘ONAMDAADE’ WAHALA
‘Onamdaade’ is an Akan word used in Ghana which literally means (a person without a vehicle). It has similar meaning in this short text.
It is a hilarious moment at AWDF since we now have our own office building which is spacious and magnificent. We are still settling down and this coming Thursday (27th November 2008) is the official commissioning of the building (every body is invited anyway).
The area is serene and well laid out. In terms of categorization of urban settlement, I will place it in the first class category. I must be honest; it very well befits the status of a feminist grant making organization, such as AWDF, which has immensely supported the empowerment of women and women’s rights promotion through provision of grants to support several women-led initiatives on the African Continent since its establishment seven years ago.
Although acquiring our own property is a boost to the organization, it has also brought untold hardship to the ‘onamdaade’ staff because no commercial vehicle plies the vicinity, making life for such category of staff unbearable.
One has to either take a dropping ( a chartered Taxi) from Tetteh Quarshie roundabout which is approximately $4.00 a day (for a return journey) or wait at Tetteh Quarshie roundabout and make numerous calls to colleagues with vehicles to find out who is passing by at that particular moment for a lift. It is indeed a daunting task.
‘Onamdaade’ comrades, better think of how to get your own vehicles before colleagues decide not to pick up your calls in the morning. Thank you.
Rose Buabeng (‘Onamdaade’ team leader)
Anglophone Programme Officer
It is a hilarious moment at AWDF since we now have our own office building which is spacious and magnificent. We are still settling down and this coming Thursday (27th November 2008) is the official commissioning of the building (every body is invited anyway).
The area is serene and well laid out. In terms of categorization of urban settlement, I will place it in the first class category. I must be honest; it very well befits the status of a feminist grant making organization, such as AWDF, which has immensely supported the empowerment of women and women’s rights promotion through provision of grants to support several women-led initiatives on the African Continent since its establishment seven years ago.
Although acquiring our own property is a boost to the organization, it has also brought untold hardship to the ‘onamdaade’ staff because no commercial vehicle plies the vicinity, making life for such category of staff unbearable.
One has to either take a dropping ( a chartered Taxi) from Tetteh Quarshie roundabout which is approximately $4.00 a day (for a return journey) or wait at Tetteh Quarshie roundabout and make numerous calls to colleagues with vehicles to find out who is passing by at that particular moment for a lift. It is indeed a daunting task.
‘Onamdaade’ comrades, better think of how to get your own vehicles before colleagues decide not to pick up your calls in the morning. Thank you.
Rose Buabeng (‘Onamdaade’ team leader)
Anglophone Programme Officer
Friday, November 14, 2008
Postcard from South Africa: Feminist Tech Exchange and AWID
I have just spent several busy, fun and intense couple of days in South Africa. I arrived here last Saturday and headed to the Monkey Valley Resort for the Feminist Tech Exchange and Wow! what an experience that has been. The Tech Exchange comprised of several tracks including digital stories, video, audio, mobile and social networking tools. I was on the digital story track and after 15 hours of intense training (and some late nights) produced my very first digital story.
I am very excited that I was able to take part in this track because digital story telling is another useful tool that feminists can use to tell their own stories - in ways that are compelling, attention grabbing and 'impactful'. All you need is a recorder, images and a basic Movie Maker that can be found on most computer software.
My person digital story was about 'My feminist journey so far...'. Watch out for the premiere on this blog!
Nana Sekyiamah
Programme Officer (Fundraising & Communications)
AWDF
I am very excited that I was able to take part in this track because digital story telling is another useful tool that feminists can use to tell their own stories - in ways that are compelling, attention grabbing and 'impactful'. All you need is a recorder, images and a basic Movie Maker that can be found on most computer software.
My person digital story was about 'My feminist journey so far...'. Watch out for the premiere on this blog!
Nana Sekyiamah
Programme Officer (Fundraising & Communications)
AWDF
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Letter from Mozambique
Oi, (As we say in Mozambique).
I get the singular privilege of changing my identity every week for the next few weeks so this week I am Mozambican. Remember Samora Machel? Yes this is the beloved land of Samora Machel. Maputo is the capital of Mozambique and as Ghana is to the cedi and pesewa so is Mozambique to the meticais and centavos . I arrived in Maputo on the night of October 30th, 2008, expecting to have some communication difficulties but I was pleasantly surprised to find out that just about everybody speaks some amount of English. Do you know that Mozambicans are Portuguese speaking? Anyway, I go through immigration and customs with no incidence and was met on arrival by a host I had met over the net (He happens to be a man who speaks English better than the partner who I had asked to kindly coordinate the visit). Pedro my host is a very cordial and meticulous person and has done a good job of arranging all logistics, including translators, convenings, meetings with local authority officials and grantees.
My first point of call the next morning as early as 8.15am was the office of the Provincial Directorate of Women and Social Affairs, Angelina P. Lubrino, a very affable lady who warmly welcomes us and holds a long chat with us (I mean myself and my translator) on the situation of women organizing in Maputo. I then rush off to the convening, I had unfortunately kept the very busy women of Mozambique waiting for 15 minutes, because I spent too much time at the Provincial directorate for women’s office, well you can’t cut a “big” woman off you know. The meeting went very well and I was very fascinated about these three young articulate activists for sexual minority rights. Their message was simple, in their own words “we have come to the meeting to inform our mothers and grandmothers that we are” and had to be listened to.
After a one on one chat with a few organizations after the meeting (Remember organizations are always looking for exclusive scoops or contacts after such convenings), I rushed off again to visit the first grantee on my itinerary. The project had gone well and everything was in place. I was happy with myself, my only regret was my inability to visit some of the beneficiaries because the project was implemented up North about 8 hours ride away. I then proceeded to visit LAMBDA, an LGBT group, one of the groups I had volunteered to visit and had such an eye opening chat with these two young ladies who gladly gave me a tour of their offices and shared with me the plans they had for the place. I finally get to retire to my hotel room around 6.30pm. I did a lot of stairs climbing that day, I have noticed that most offices are in high rise buildings, and the pain in my tendons the day after made me resolve to stop being elusive with John our wellbeing consultant. Wearing slit (a traditional long Ghanaian skirt) and climbing stairs is not a past time for an ‘old school’ member you know. Anyway, thank God I had a good night sleep, I wished I could have slept the whole day but that was not to be. I had already agreed to visit a women’s HIV&AIDS network. I set off the next day thinking it was going to be a quick one, being a weekend. Apparently this group had something else in mind. After a lengthy chat in their offices with the aid of an interpreter (It prolongs the chat you know) they led the way to the field to visit some beneficiaries of their home based care project.
This project actually kept me thinking? Why are networks entangling themselves in direct service? I though networks were suppose to be coordinating and providing institutional and programmatic support to its members? As well as focusing on critical advocacy issues? Anyway, here we were after about 30 minutes drive to this community in Maputo with a very small driveway that we quickly navigated in order to park the car. Well we really did not have a choice, there was no way we could have driven around all the points of call. It was such a long winding walk through the sandy community. We entered the first house and my first shock, there were about 7 elderly women sitting on mats in the compound of the house eating their lunch. Wondering what is cooking for lunch? Salad and bread, very healthy, no wonder at their age they look so strong. We enter the common room, I guess, and I and the interpreter were offered a chair, all others had to sit on a mat on the floor of the room. So now I got the catch, it is their culture, they sit on mats with one or both legs of women bent to the side, and with the legs of men bent in a kind of squatting position in front of them. Unfortunately, the beneficiary had passed away the week before leaving behind 4 children in the care of their grand auntie who pleaded passionately with us to help her support the children through school, meanwhile all the children are boys. This sets me thinking again, can the AWDF funds be used to support the care giver to support the children who are all boys? I need some clarifications from my Director of Programmes. Well, the network will not let me be, till we had visited three families, it can be emotionally tiring and the expectations of those visitors are raised so that one wonders how one can personally be of help. Well it was another eye opener. At about 3.30pm I get a view of the city of Maputo, It is a very nice city with good road networks and some good cars, a beautiful coast line and they use platoons as well to get to other parts of the city. A few noticeable issues are the number of cars that have detachable trailers (you can easily hire them for use) which carry their goods and the way they carry their babies in the man made traditional kangaroo pooches. The way the women tie their wrappers is also worth noting.
The next day saw me (and my translator of course) on a long ride (About 4 hours) to the city of Xai Xai (it is pronounce Shaishai). The ride to the district of Xai Xai in the Gaza Province was a smooth and awesome one. The scenery was simply breathtaking especially on entering the district of Xai Xai which has an amazing well developed beach, very good road networks, a lot of greeneries and fascinating developments. One cannot miss the presence of beach goers every where in the town and I had the privilege of staying in one of the lodges by the beach. The coast line is incredibly well developed with camp houses on stilts, cabins they are called l think, guest houses, hotels, restaurants, etc. Despite all these developments it is so obvious that great care had been taken to preserve the flora and fauna in the area. Later upon enquiry I was told that it was one of the conditions that go with being granted a license for development in the area. Maybe some of our cities and towns should learn a lesson or two from the city of Xai Xai. Another noticeable scene was the presence of families. A good number of the beach patrons were there with their families, another lesson to be learnt there. After a tour of the coast line which had considerable motor able roads I managed to have my dinner after some miss-communications had cost me some serious hard earned cash.
Monday is another day, an 8.30 am meeting with the Xai Xai Provincial Director of Women Affairs. Can you imagine? The provincial Director for Women’s Affairs was a man, (Well we have a similar case in our back door). A very pleasant man though who offered us the use of the District’s social centre for the convening without charge. The meeting with him went well and I proceed to the convening afterwards. Meeting community women can be so invigorating, clearly articulating their views, needs and solutions. Another great convening there raising issues of violence against women, HIV&AIDS and neglect by partners coupled with the perennial drought in that part of the country. Afterwards I visit a new grantee that has just been awarded a grant. ACTIVA is implementing a huge home based care project but appeared unprepared for our visit despite the fact that they were our key contacts to Mozambique. Come to think of it, this could have been as a result of communication problems.
Anyway we return to Maputo that night only for me to learn that my booking for my last night in Maputo has mysteriously disappeared on their system even though I had left my luggage in their storage and categorically asked for a reservation, but I had no papers to confirm this so had no case. The staff were however concerned enough to get me another hotel which was just excellent. I collected my luggage and headed for my new place of abode. The icing on the cake was, it was a very good hotel with very fast internet service in the rooms free of charge, just plug and surf. So here I sit at 12.00 midnight just hitting away at my lap top, I really do not want to sleep, such luxuries in the field is very rare you know. But as nature will have it I have to obey so this is to say bye and hope to link up again.
Ciao
Beatrice from Mozambique
(Acting Grants Manager)
I get the singular privilege of changing my identity every week for the next few weeks so this week I am Mozambican. Remember Samora Machel? Yes this is the beloved land of Samora Machel. Maputo is the capital of Mozambique and as Ghana is to the cedi and pesewa so is Mozambique to the meticais and centavos . I arrived in Maputo on the night of October 30th, 2008, expecting to have some communication difficulties but I was pleasantly surprised to find out that just about everybody speaks some amount of English. Do you know that Mozambicans are Portuguese speaking? Anyway, I go through immigration and customs with no incidence and was met on arrival by a host I had met over the net (He happens to be a man who speaks English better than the partner who I had asked to kindly coordinate the visit). Pedro my host is a very cordial and meticulous person and has done a good job of arranging all logistics, including translators, convenings, meetings with local authority officials and grantees.
My first point of call the next morning as early as 8.15am was the office of the Provincial Directorate of Women and Social Affairs, Angelina P. Lubrino, a very affable lady who warmly welcomes us and holds a long chat with us (I mean myself and my translator) on the situation of women organizing in Maputo. I then rush off to the convening, I had unfortunately kept the very busy women of Mozambique waiting for 15 minutes, because I spent too much time at the Provincial directorate for women’s office, well you can’t cut a “big” woman off you know. The meeting went very well and I was very fascinated about these three young articulate activists for sexual minority rights. Their message was simple, in their own words “we have come to the meeting to inform our mothers and grandmothers that we are” and had to be listened to.
After a one on one chat with a few organizations after the meeting (Remember organizations are always looking for exclusive scoops or contacts after such convenings), I rushed off again to visit the first grantee on my itinerary. The project had gone well and everything was in place. I was happy with myself, my only regret was my inability to visit some of the beneficiaries because the project was implemented up North about 8 hours ride away. I then proceeded to visit LAMBDA, an LGBT group, one of the groups I had volunteered to visit and had such an eye opening chat with these two young ladies who gladly gave me a tour of their offices and shared with me the plans they had for the place. I finally get to retire to my hotel room around 6.30pm. I did a lot of stairs climbing that day, I have noticed that most offices are in high rise buildings, and the pain in my tendons the day after made me resolve to stop being elusive with John our wellbeing consultant. Wearing slit (a traditional long Ghanaian skirt) and climbing stairs is not a past time for an ‘old school’ member you know. Anyway, thank God I had a good night sleep, I wished I could have slept the whole day but that was not to be. I had already agreed to visit a women’s HIV&AIDS network. I set off the next day thinking it was going to be a quick one, being a weekend. Apparently this group had something else in mind. After a lengthy chat in their offices with the aid of an interpreter (It prolongs the chat you know) they led the way to the field to visit some beneficiaries of their home based care project.
This project actually kept me thinking? Why are networks entangling themselves in direct service? I though networks were suppose to be coordinating and providing institutional and programmatic support to its members? As well as focusing on critical advocacy issues? Anyway, here we were after about 30 minutes drive to this community in Maputo with a very small driveway that we quickly navigated in order to park the car. Well we really did not have a choice, there was no way we could have driven around all the points of call. It was such a long winding walk through the sandy community. We entered the first house and my first shock, there were about 7 elderly women sitting on mats in the compound of the house eating their lunch. Wondering what is cooking for lunch? Salad and bread, very healthy, no wonder at their age they look so strong. We enter the common room, I guess, and I and the interpreter were offered a chair, all others had to sit on a mat on the floor of the room. So now I got the catch, it is their culture, they sit on mats with one or both legs of women bent to the side, and with the legs of men bent in a kind of squatting position in front of them. Unfortunately, the beneficiary had passed away the week before leaving behind 4 children in the care of their grand auntie who pleaded passionately with us to help her support the children through school, meanwhile all the children are boys. This sets me thinking again, can the AWDF funds be used to support the care giver to support the children who are all boys? I need some clarifications from my Director of Programmes. Well, the network will not let me be, till we had visited three families, it can be emotionally tiring and the expectations of those visitors are raised so that one wonders how one can personally be of help. Well it was another eye opener. At about 3.30pm I get a view of the city of Maputo, It is a very nice city with good road networks and some good cars, a beautiful coast line and they use platoons as well to get to other parts of the city. A few noticeable issues are the number of cars that have detachable trailers (you can easily hire them for use) which carry their goods and the way they carry their babies in the man made traditional kangaroo pooches. The way the women tie their wrappers is also worth noting.
The next day saw me (and my translator of course) on a long ride (About 4 hours) to the city of Xai Xai (it is pronounce Shaishai). The ride to the district of Xai Xai in the Gaza Province was a smooth and awesome one. The scenery was simply breathtaking especially on entering the district of Xai Xai which has an amazing well developed beach, very good road networks, a lot of greeneries and fascinating developments. One cannot miss the presence of beach goers every where in the town and I had the privilege of staying in one of the lodges by the beach. The coast line is incredibly well developed with camp houses on stilts, cabins they are called l think, guest houses, hotels, restaurants, etc. Despite all these developments it is so obvious that great care had been taken to preserve the flora and fauna in the area. Later upon enquiry I was told that it was one of the conditions that go with being granted a license for development in the area. Maybe some of our cities and towns should learn a lesson or two from the city of Xai Xai. Another noticeable scene was the presence of families. A good number of the beach patrons were there with their families, another lesson to be learnt there. After a tour of the coast line which had considerable motor able roads I managed to have my dinner after some miss-communications had cost me some serious hard earned cash.
Monday is another day, an 8.30 am meeting with the Xai Xai Provincial Director of Women Affairs. Can you imagine? The provincial Director for Women’s Affairs was a man, (Well we have a similar case in our back door). A very pleasant man though who offered us the use of the District’s social centre for the convening without charge. The meeting with him went well and I proceed to the convening afterwards. Meeting community women can be so invigorating, clearly articulating their views, needs and solutions. Another great convening there raising issues of violence against women, HIV&AIDS and neglect by partners coupled with the perennial drought in that part of the country. Afterwards I visit a new grantee that has just been awarded a grant. ACTIVA is implementing a huge home based care project but appeared unprepared for our visit despite the fact that they were our key contacts to Mozambique. Come to think of it, this could have been as a result of communication problems.
Anyway we return to Maputo that night only for me to learn that my booking for my last night in Maputo has mysteriously disappeared on their system even though I had left my luggage in their storage and categorically asked for a reservation, but I had no papers to confirm this so had no case. The staff were however concerned enough to get me another hotel which was just excellent. I collected my luggage and headed for my new place of abode. The icing on the cake was, it was a very good hotel with very fast internet service in the rooms free of charge, just plug and surf. So here I sit at 12.00 midnight just hitting away at my lap top, I really do not want to sleep, such luxuries in the field is very rare you know. But as nature will have it I have to obey so this is to say bye and hope to link up again.
Ciao
Beatrice from Mozambique
(Acting Grants Manager)
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
The Obama Victory: Lessons for Feminists
Wow, today is truly an exciting day. So many of us thought that we will never in our lifetime see a Black person in the ‘White House’ and that day has arrived. The question for me is ‘if we thought that was impossible’ then what else is possible? Is it possible to have a Black woman in the White House? Is it possible to have a Feminist President? Is it possible to live in a world where all women live in peace, security and equity? I think the answer has to be ‘Yes it is!’
Personally the importance of an Obama victory in the US elections is significant because of the powerful symbolism he represents. I have to confess at the start of his campaign for the Democratic Party ticket I thought ‘he doesn’t have a chance!’ I thought even if he succeeds in winning the Democratic Party ticket he is highly unlikely to win the US elections. I thought Hilary Clinton was a safer bet for the Democrats and she was a strong woman candidate (a positive attribute in my opinion). Well, I been proved so wrong and I am thrilled about that. It is a great thing to be wrong when you have lost hope in humankind. It is a great thing to be wrong when you fail to anticipate that record numbers of young people, women and people of diverse ethnicities will turn out to vote for a mixed race male whom they perceive to symbolise hope, diversity and a new world.
The Obama victory reminds me that the feminist battle may not take as long as we think it might. The Obama victory reminds me of Malcolm Gladwell’s Tipping Point, which emphasises that the right context, a few key individuals and creativity can result in change occurring within a very short period of time.
Nana Sekyiamah
Programme Officer (Fundraising & Communications)
Personally the importance of an Obama victory in the US elections is significant because of the powerful symbolism he represents. I have to confess at the start of his campaign for the Democratic Party ticket I thought ‘he doesn’t have a chance!’ I thought even if he succeeds in winning the Democratic Party ticket he is highly unlikely to win the US elections. I thought Hilary Clinton was a safer bet for the Democrats and she was a strong woman candidate (a positive attribute in my opinion). Well, I been proved so wrong and I am thrilled about that. It is a great thing to be wrong when you have lost hope in humankind. It is a great thing to be wrong when you fail to anticipate that record numbers of young people, women and people of diverse ethnicities will turn out to vote for a mixed race male whom they perceive to symbolise hope, diversity and a new world.
The Obama victory reminds me that the feminist battle may not take as long as we think it might. The Obama victory reminds me of Malcolm Gladwell’s Tipping Point, which emphasises that the right context, a few key individuals and creativity can result in change occurring within a very short period of time.
Nana Sekyiamah
Programme Officer (Fundraising & Communications)
End Impunity on Women’s Rights Violations in Eastern DRC
We represent women’s human rights organisations and their NGO partners in Africa. Our work on a daily basis confronts gender inequality and seeks to ensure the protection of women’s rights and bodily integrity. Nowhere are these rights more violated today than in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). From 21 September to 1 October 2008, our organisations were in fact in the DRC as part of a delegation of women from the African continent, and witnessed first- hand some of these challenges, and received testimonies from women survivors of these violations.
We condemn the renewed outbreak of violence in the East of the country, and we are particularly concerned with the human rights and situation of women and girls who have been the targets of a concerted campaign to use rape and sexual violence as a weapon of war over the past decade.
We issue this letter to the SADC, the African Union secretariats and the United Nations, demanding that they take urgent action to broker a political solution to the long-standing crisis in the DRC, in order to protect the lives of all Congolese.
To this end, we call upon:
• The African Union to condemn the use of rape and sexual violence as weapons of war, and immediately call for a cease-fire. Articles 14 of the AU Peace and Security Protocol (PSC) recognises the need to assist vulnerable persons including children and women in states that have been adversely affected by conflict;
• The African Union to actively monitor the immediate implementation of the Great Lakes Pact, beginning with condemning military support to the CNDP;
• The DRC government and Parliament to fully comply with their constitutional duty to protect their people, especially women and girls, without any discrimination;
• The CNDP to cease using civilians as pawns in their military objectives;
• Countries surrounding the DRC to refrain from fuelling conflict by providing weapons, and not to target women and girls’ bodies as sites of war;
• Women’s organisations across the continent and in the SADC region to amplify the voices of women and girls in the Congo, and support their struggles, especially in this fresh and renewed crisis;
• The UN to move quickly to protect women from rape sexual violence in line with its own Guidelines on Gender-Based Violence Interventions in Humanitarian Settings (2005) that calls upon communities, governments and humanitarian organizations, including UN agencies, NGOs, and CBOs, to establish and coordinate a set of minimum multi-sectoral interventions to prevent and respond to sexual violence during the early phase of an emergency. We specifically call upon the UNHCR to ensure that the UNHCR Sexual and Gender-Based Violence against Refugees, Returnees and Displaced Persons: Guidelines for Prevention and Response (2003), which details the various responses that, in the event of abuse or violence against women, are required to help victims, including the need for legal redress and access to medical and psycho-social support are fully implemented in DRC.
• The UN to push for the implementation of resolution 1325 (Articles 9 & 10) that calls on all parties of armed conflict to apply international law, recognize the conventions and protect the rights of women and girls in armed conflict.
• All actors; national and international, to take into account and document cases of sexual violence to enable implementation of Resolution 1820 that recognises rape and sexual violence can constitute war crimes and should be dealt with as such. This will facilitate access to justice and ending impunity on SGBV in situations of armed conflicts.
• Humanitarian agencies to provide immediate relief, including medical aid, to survivors of violence to address women’s immediate needs.
The Situation of Women and Girls in the Country
Women in the DRC currently face a myriad of challenges, ranging from sexual and other forms of violence, poor social service, a lack of social security, poor health and high levels of poverty. Human rights advocacy has always been a risky domain in Congo for most of its modern history. Women live under the dual cloak of politically-imposed silence, as well as silence due to their gender. Eastern Congo, a region twice the size of Uganda, has borne the brunt of brutal military campaigns since 1998. Tens of thousands of women have been raped by multiple armies from Congo and neighboring countries, often as part of a strategy to humiliate communities and destroy social structures and norms. Many of these women are still in Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps, still recovering from this trauma and particularly struggling with their sexual and reproductive health. In IDP camps their protection is still not fully guaranteed and some continue to suffer further violence by those who are supposed to protect them. The region has seen massive population displacement, disruption of agricultural activities, and acute poverty. As a result, the standard of living has drastically lowered, with food security becoming a daily struggle, primarily for women and girls whose rights to land and livelihoods have always been tenuous. Overall, across the country, women face social marginalisation and reap very few benefits from their labor. The summary below is indicative:
• International Alert, Human Rights Watch, UNICEF and the United Nations have documented the systematic use of rape as a strategy of war in Eastern DRC since 1996. A 2004 WHO report gave a modest estimate that over 40,000 women were raped: NGOs in the DRC estimate more.
• 61 percent of HIV positive persons are women; and 30 percent of rape survivors in Eastern DRC are HIV+;
• DRC ranks among the top 6 countries worldwide with the highest maternal mortality rates;
• DRC has 85 percent unemployment, the majority being women;
• 45 percent of women in the DRC are illiterate;
• In Dec. 2005, 60 percent of voters in a national referendum on a new Constitution were women; an indicator of their hopes for democracy;
• In July 2006, 13.5 percent of candidates for legislative seats were women.
Since the violence flared up again two months ago, an estimated 200 000 people have been on the move – many of them women and girls. There are now over 1 million IDPs in the Eastern DRC, as estimated by the UN;
Despite the signing of numerous peace accords, including the Great Lakes Pact, the Nairobi communiqué and the Amani process, the tensions in the East have continued to simmer since 1994, with outbreaks of war in 1996, 1998, 2003, 2006 and again in 2008, this time led by General Laurent Nkunda’s CNDP;
At risk are human rights defenders – especially women’s rights defenders who speak against the massive rape and sexual violence in the region – members of civil society organisations who provide humanitarian and legal assistance to the local population, and tens of thousands of ordinary civilians, including women and children, many of whom are victims of sexual violence which continues to be used as a weapon of war.
.
SIGNED:
Action AID International
Contact person: Mary Wandia
Tel: 254 733860036
African Women’s Development Fund
Contact person: Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi
Tel: +23321 521257
Global Fund for Women
Contact person: Muadi Mukenge
Tel: Tel: +1 415 248-4817
Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa
Contact person: Sisonke Msimang
Tel: +27 11 403 3414
We condemn the renewed outbreak of violence in the East of the country, and we are particularly concerned with the human rights and situation of women and girls who have been the targets of a concerted campaign to use rape and sexual violence as a weapon of war over the past decade.
We issue this letter to the SADC, the African Union secretariats and the United Nations, demanding that they take urgent action to broker a political solution to the long-standing crisis in the DRC, in order to protect the lives of all Congolese.
To this end, we call upon:
• The African Union to condemn the use of rape and sexual violence as weapons of war, and immediately call for a cease-fire. Articles 14 of the AU Peace and Security Protocol (PSC) recognises the need to assist vulnerable persons including children and women in states that have been adversely affected by conflict;
• The African Union to actively monitor the immediate implementation of the Great Lakes Pact, beginning with condemning military support to the CNDP;
• The DRC government and Parliament to fully comply with their constitutional duty to protect their people, especially women and girls, without any discrimination;
• The CNDP to cease using civilians as pawns in their military objectives;
• Countries surrounding the DRC to refrain from fuelling conflict by providing weapons, and not to target women and girls’ bodies as sites of war;
• Women’s organisations across the continent and in the SADC region to amplify the voices of women and girls in the Congo, and support their struggles, especially in this fresh and renewed crisis;
• The UN to move quickly to protect women from rape sexual violence in line with its own Guidelines on Gender-Based Violence Interventions in Humanitarian Settings (2005) that calls upon communities, governments and humanitarian organizations, including UN agencies, NGOs, and CBOs, to establish and coordinate a set of minimum multi-sectoral interventions to prevent and respond to sexual violence during the early phase of an emergency. We specifically call upon the UNHCR to ensure that the UNHCR Sexual and Gender-Based Violence against Refugees, Returnees and Displaced Persons: Guidelines for Prevention and Response (2003), which details the various responses that, in the event of abuse or violence against women, are required to help victims, including the need for legal redress and access to medical and psycho-social support are fully implemented in DRC.
• The UN to push for the implementation of resolution 1325 (Articles 9 & 10) that calls on all parties of armed conflict to apply international law, recognize the conventions and protect the rights of women and girls in armed conflict.
• All actors; national and international, to take into account and document cases of sexual violence to enable implementation of Resolution 1820 that recognises rape and sexual violence can constitute war crimes and should be dealt with as such. This will facilitate access to justice and ending impunity on SGBV in situations of armed conflicts.
• Humanitarian agencies to provide immediate relief, including medical aid, to survivors of violence to address women’s immediate needs.
The Situation of Women and Girls in the Country
Women in the DRC currently face a myriad of challenges, ranging from sexual and other forms of violence, poor social service, a lack of social security, poor health and high levels of poverty. Human rights advocacy has always been a risky domain in Congo for most of its modern history. Women live under the dual cloak of politically-imposed silence, as well as silence due to their gender. Eastern Congo, a region twice the size of Uganda, has borne the brunt of brutal military campaigns since 1998. Tens of thousands of women have been raped by multiple armies from Congo and neighboring countries, often as part of a strategy to humiliate communities and destroy social structures and norms. Many of these women are still in Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps, still recovering from this trauma and particularly struggling with their sexual and reproductive health. In IDP camps their protection is still not fully guaranteed and some continue to suffer further violence by those who are supposed to protect them. The region has seen massive population displacement, disruption of agricultural activities, and acute poverty. As a result, the standard of living has drastically lowered, with food security becoming a daily struggle, primarily for women and girls whose rights to land and livelihoods have always been tenuous. Overall, across the country, women face social marginalisation and reap very few benefits from their labor. The summary below is indicative:
• International Alert, Human Rights Watch, UNICEF and the United Nations have documented the systematic use of rape as a strategy of war in Eastern DRC since 1996. A 2004 WHO report gave a modest estimate that over 40,000 women were raped: NGOs in the DRC estimate more.
• 61 percent of HIV positive persons are women; and 30 percent of rape survivors in Eastern DRC are HIV+;
• DRC ranks among the top 6 countries worldwide with the highest maternal mortality rates;
• DRC has 85 percent unemployment, the majority being women;
• 45 percent of women in the DRC are illiterate;
• In Dec. 2005, 60 percent of voters in a national referendum on a new Constitution were women; an indicator of their hopes for democracy;
• In July 2006, 13.5 percent of candidates for legislative seats were women.
Since the violence flared up again two months ago, an estimated 200 000 people have been on the move – many of them women and girls. There are now over 1 million IDPs in the Eastern DRC, as estimated by the UN;
Despite the signing of numerous peace accords, including the Great Lakes Pact, the Nairobi communiqué and the Amani process, the tensions in the East have continued to simmer since 1994, with outbreaks of war in 1996, 1998, 2003, 2006 and again in 2008, this time led by General Laurent Nkunda’s CNDP;
At risk are human rights defenders – especially women’s rights defenders who speak against the massive rape and sexual violence in the region – members of civil society organisations who provide humanitarian and legal assistance to the local population, and tens of thousands of ordinary civilians, including women and children, many of whom are victims of sexual violence which continues to be used as a weapon of war.
.
SIGNED:
Action AID International
Contact person: Mary Wandia
Tel: 254 733860036
African Women’s Development Fund
Contact person: Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi
Tel: +23321 521257
Global Fund for Women
Contact person: Muadi Mukenge
Tel: Tel: +1 415 248-4817
Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa
Contact person: Sisonke Msimang
Tel: +27 11 403 3414
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
AFRICAN WOMEN’S DEVELOPMENT FUND (AWDF) AT 11TH AWID INTERNATIONAL FORUM, CAPE TOWN, 14TH-17TH NOVEMBER 2008
The African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF) will be attending the 11th AWID International Forum in Cape Town, 14th-17th November, 2008. AWDF will be convening a number of activities before and during the AWID Forum, as well as supporting grantee partners from around the continent to attend the Forum. AWDF convenes the African Feminist Forum (AFF) and during the AWID Forum there will be a number of AFF related activities to showcase the work of feminist activists and thinkers in Africa.
Highlights of AWDF’s activities at AWID are:
11th & 12th November 2008
Women’s Political Participation and Transformational Leadership
Whilst much has been done to increase women’s entry points into politics, it is clear that much more needs to be done. Further measures need to be taken to safeguard women’s participation and further reflection is required on what kind of leadership will enable effective participation on an agenda that advances women’s rights.
This workshop will assess women’s participation in political processes at local, national and regional levels with a view of developing strategies to deal with challenges and barriers facing women in politics and strengthening qualitative and quantitative participation of women at all levels.
14th November 2008
‘Celebrating African Feminists and our Feminist Ancestors’
19.30
This is an evening reception hosted by AWDF and representatives from the African Feminist Forum, in celebration of African women's movements and
feminist activism. The event will feature African women's music and the launch of the African Feminist Ancestors Project, documenting the rich herstory of African women's struggles for autonomy and change. There will also be information about the grant making and movement-building activities of the African Women's Development Fund.
15th November 2008
Feminists, No 'Ifs' not 'Buts': Mobilising feminist activism in Africa
14.30-16:00
Talk show host: Hope Chigudu (Zimbabwe/Uganda)
Talk show guests: Muthoni Wanyeki (Kenya), Coumba Toure (Senegal), Bene
Madunagu (Nigeria), Sarah Mukasa (Uganda/Ghana)
This lively talk show explores the regional African Feminist Forums and
national feminist forums as new platforms for re-energising and focusing
Feminist activism in the region. Talk show guests include sexuality
trainers, story tellers, human rights advocates and community mobilisers
from across generations. They will reflect on the urgency and relevance of
feminist activism in Africa, the ways that African feminists are responding
to backlash and asserting African feminist politics in different spheres.
16th November 2008
The Great Debate
We have wasted our time pushing for more women in decision making positions, they have not made a difference
11:30-13:00
The debate about whether change can be made from within political structures or advocated for from without is a longstanding one, and feminists around the world continue to exchange views on this. There is also the issue of not only dealing with access to decision making, but also the need to strengthen women’s leadership within hostile, patriarchal structures. There have been several notable gains in the Africa region over the past ten years. There are more women in parliament (Rwanda has a world-breaking record of over 50%), more women holding non-traditional portfolios, a female President for the Pan-African Parliament and there is the first democratically elected female President.
In this lively, fun, yet serious Great Debate, we will be addressing the following questions:
• What difference has having women in decision making made in our countries?
• Is having more women in political office the answer to the need for accountability?
• Can we count on women in decision-making to stand up for women’s rights?
• What is our responsibility as a women’s movement towards our colleagues in positions of decision-making?
16th November 2008
Frontline Feminisms: African experiences of activism in times of conflict
11.30-13:00
Moderator: Ndeye Sow (Senegal/UK)
Speakers: Mary Wandia (Kenya), Shereen Essof (Zimbabwe), Jessica Nkuuhe (Uganda)
While armed conflicts in Africa often make international media headlines,
few reports cover the strategic, brave and critical work of African women's
rights activists who expose and respond to violations, negotiate for peace
and fight for democratic change during and after conflict. This session will
feature African feminists who have joined and mobilised others in
confronting recent conflicts and political crises in their countries. They
will share strategies and challenges, and engage participants around
effective activism on conflict, peace and security.
ENDS
The African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF) is a grant-making foundation which supports local, national and regional organisations in Africa working towards women’s empowerment. AWDF through institutional capacity building and programme development seeks to build a culture of learning and partnerships within the African women’s movement.
Enquiries
Nana Sekyiamah – Programme Officer (Fundraising & Communications)
Email: nana@awdf.org
Website: www.awdf.org
Blog: www.awdf.org/blog
Highlights of AWDF’s activities at AWID are:
11th & 12th November 2008
Women’s Political Participation and Transformational Leadership
Whilst much has been done to increase women’s entry points into politics, it is clear that much more needs to be done. Further measures need to be taken to safeguard women’s participation and further reflection is required on what kind of leadership will enable effective participation on an agenda that advances women’s rights.
This workshop will assess women’s participation in political processes at local, national and regional levels with a view of developing strategies to deal with challenges and barriers facing women in politics and strengthening qualitative and quantitative participation of women at all levels.
14th November 2008
‘Celebrating African Feminists and our Feminist Ancestors’
19.30
This is an evening reception hosted by AWDF and representatives from the African Feminist Forum, in celebration of African women's movements and
feminist activism. The event will feature African women's music and the launch of the African Feminist Ancestors Project, documenting the rich herstory of African women's struggles for autonomy and change. There will also be information about the grant making and movement-building activities of the African Women's Development Fund.
15th November 2008
Feminists, No 'Ifs' not 'Buts': Mobilising feminist activism in Africa
14.30-16:00
Talk show host: Hope Chigudu (Zimbabwe/Uganda)
Talk show guests: Muthoni Wanyeki (Kenya), Coumba Toure (Senegal), Bene
Madunagu (Nigeria), Sarah Mukasa (Uganda/Ghana)
This lively talk show explores the regional African Feminist Forums and
national feminist forums as new platforms for re-energising and focusing
Feminist activism in the region. Talk show guests include sexuality
trainers, story tellers, human rights advocates and community mobilisers
from across generations. They will reflect on the urgency and relevance of
feminist activism in Africa, the ways that African feminists are responding
to backlash and asserting African feminist politics in different spheres.
16th November 2008
The Great Debate
We have wasted our time pushing for more women in decision making positions, they have not made a difference
11:30-13:00
The debate about whether change can be made from within political structures or advocated for from without is a longstanding one, and feminists around the world continue to exchange views on this. There is also the issue of not only dealing with access to decision making, but also the need to strengthen women’s leadership within hostile, patriarchal structures. There have been several notable gains in the Africa region over the past ten years. There are more women in parliament (Rwanda has a world-breaking record of over 50%), more women holding non-traditional portfolios, a female President for the Pan-African Parliament and there is the first democratically elected female President.
In this lively, fun, yet serious Great Debate, we will be addressing the following questions:
• What difference has having women in decision making made in our countries?
• Is having more women in political office the answer to the need for accountability?
• Can we count on women in decision-making to stand up for women’s rights?
• What is our responsibility as a women’s movement towards our colleagues in positions of decision-making?
16th November 2008
Frontline Feminisms: African experiences of activism in times of conflict
11.30-13:00
Moderator: Ndeye Sow (Senegal/UK)
Speakers: Mary Wandia (Kenya), Shereen Essof (Zimbabwe), Jessica Nkuuhe (Uganda)
While armed conflicts in Africa often make international media headlines,
few reports cover the strategic, brave and critical work of African women's
rights activists who expose and respond to violations, negotiate for peace
and fight for democratic change during and after conflict. This session will
feature African feminists who have joined and mobilised others in
confronting recent conflicts and political crises in their countries. They
will share strategies and challenges, and engage participants around
effective activism on conflict, peace and security.
ENDS
The African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF) is a grant-making foundation which supports local, national and regional organisations in Africa working towards women’s empowerment. AWDF through institutional capacity building and programme development seeks to build a culture of learning and partnerships within the African women’s movement.
Enquiries
Nana Sekyiamah – Programme Officer (Fundraising & Communications)
Email: nana@awdf.org
Website: www.awdf.org
Blog: www.awdf.org/blog
Monday, November 3, 2008
A letter from Malawi
Hello Sisters,
For the next few weeks you will be reading from me from Southern Africa. I give you a peep into my diary for the week ending October 31st, 2008. I write from the city of Lilongwe (Are you wondering where the hell that city is?) Wonder no more, it is the capital of Malawi in Southern Africa. A city that appears to be lightly populated with virtually no traffic, if you compare it to the city of Accra not to mention the city of Lagos, you are virtually in heaven. I arrived in the afternoon of the 27th of October, after about 6.5 hours flight to the city of Jo’burg and a wait of about 4 hours in transit. I could not help but soak in my first impression of Malawi, a dry and low densely populated land (At least from my impression on the long stretch of the highway leading from the airport to the city centre). I was also caught off guard with the left hand drive system in the country. I can never get over the fact that some countries drive on the left, I always get the impression that the vehicle in which I am riding will be involved in a headon collision with oncoming cars. And how do they manage to change gears with their left hand especially for right handed people? Anyway it all has to do with diversities of culture and systems.
I go straight into a meeting with one of the partners after I have managed a quick shower and eventually get to enjoy my hotel room at about 7.00pm dead tired, not before I have had a brush with a young Indian guy with an attitude, whose vehicle I was hiring for the next day’s trip to another city, Blantyre. It was one of the times I regret not taking lessons from Bisi on how to do the “dance”. Questioning me as if I was highly out of his league of customers or that I had the trait of somebody who was going to escape without settling the bill. It was only after I had retorted sharply to him that I was paying in cash that he changed his attitude. Malawi has a large Indian population and they appear to dominate the business landscape in Lilongwe. I had earlier tried to fly to Blantyre only to be told by Air Malawi that they had unilaterally decided that there was not going to be a flight to Blantyre the next day. I guess they are not really different from our very own dear erratic Ghana Airways or Virgin Nigeria; it must be a kind of virus on the continent.
Malawi really stands up to its slogan “Warm heart of Africa” the place is warm in all senses of the word. The weather is actually hot and the people friendly. The city of Lilongwe is very well set out into sectors with clearly demarcated areas and well numbered and named streets, there is no way a visitor will miss her way around the city (Remember it is a comparatively new city built after independence).
The next day is another marathon for me rushing to the Mozambican embassy to put in an application for an urgent visa (There is no Mozambican consulate in Ghana) through to attending a convening with some very dynamic women which was quite refreshing, to meeting with another grantee in her office immediately after. I finally picked up the Mozambican visa and headed for the city of Blantyre which used to house the capital of Malawi during the colonial era. By the time I arrived in Blantyre after 6.00pm I was ready to collapse. The trip to Blantyre was however eventful for me. Just outside the city of Lilongwe in the Dedza district are these awe inspiring, very nicely arranged and cultured range of mountains as if a gardener has the task of keeping them prim and proper with clusters of huts beneath their base. As usual, traveling along country roads you do not miss the quest of man to be seen and heard. I saw the ingenuity of (wo) man with product adverts carved into the hill sides and huge boulders, as well as all kind of billboards. Some interesting ones that caught my attention include “herbalist of the century” and “Beerman cave” you can imagine what happens in those two places with its resultant effect on women.
I also saw some of the effects of colonialism when in the town of Nhyehox, my self- imposed tour guide points out to me that the right side of the road is Mozambican while the left side belongs to the people of Malawi. But wait a minute, if you want to fly from Malawi to Mozambique, you will have to fly for two hours first to Johannesburg before connecting to a flight to Mozambique which is likely to take about one hour and ten minutes, that is Africa for you.
The city of Blantyre appears more densely populated and bursting with activity than Lilongwe. After a radio interview and a convening with women’s groups the next day, I go to visit one grantee and I noticed that the elevators in Malawi appear to work better than those in Accra, perhaps they do not have the power problems Ghana perennially experiences. After, I endure the long drive back to Lilongwe (About 4 hours) that afternoon and for the first time after arriving in Malawi I appear to have some respite, your guess is very right this is about 7pm. I recheck into the hotel Cresta Cross Roads, collect my luggage from storage and decide to take a stroll around the vicinity of the hotel which is within a huge complex of other businesses (Malawi is a comparatively safe city). The next morning I get an anti climax when I visit a grantee in Lilongwe who has over under performed, I just could not keep myself in check, well God was good as usual, He helped me to control my disappointment and after a lengthy discussion in their office I request to see the shop AWDF is suppose to be supporting. The shop has been so abandoned, infact it has never been put to use, and after wasting time and fuel to go to the place they could not open the doors to the shop so mission unaccomplished, remember this is a live grant. After this anti climax I had to rush to the airport enroute to my next destination.
The next time you read from me I am probably going to have another identity, till then hold the fort tightly.
With all the warmth I can gather in Malawi,
Beatrice
For the next few weeks you will be reading from me from Southern Africa. I give you a peep into my diary for the week ending October 31st, 2008. I write from the city of Lilongwe (Are you wondering where the hell that city is?) Wonder no more, it is the capital of Malawi in Southern Africa. A city that appears to be lightly populated with virtually no traffic, if you compare it to the city of Accra not to mention the city of Lagos, you are virtually in heaven. I arrived in the afternoon of the 27th of October, after about 6.5 hours flight to the city of Jo’burg and a wait of about 4 hours in transit. I could not help but soak in my first impression of Malawi, a dry and low densely populated land (At least from my impression on the long stretch of the highway leading from the airport to the city centre). I was also caught off guard with the left hand drive system in the country. I can never get over the fact that some countries drive on the left, I always get the impression that the vehicle in which I am riding will be involved in a headon collision with oncoming cars. And how do they manage to change gears with their left hand especially for right handed people? Anyway it all has to do with diversities of culture and systems.
I go straight into a meeting with one of the partners after I have managed a quick shower and eventually get to enjoy my hotel room at about 7.00pm dead tired, not before I have had a brush with a young Indian guy with an attitude, whose vehicle I was hiring for the next day’s trip to another city, Blantyre. It was one of the times I regret not taking lessons from Bisi on how to do the “dance”. Questioning me as if I was highly out of his league of customers or that I had the trait of somebody who was going to escape without settling the bill. It was only after I had retorted sharply to him that I was paying in cash that he changed his attitude. Malawi has a large Indian population and they appear to dominate the business landscape in Lilongwe. I had earlier tried to fly to Blantyre only to be told by Air Malawi that they had unilaterally decided that there was not going to be a flight to Blantyre the next day. I guess they are not really different from our very own dear erratic Ghana Airways or Virgin Nigeria; it must be a kind of virus on the continent.
Malawi really stands up to its slogan “Warm heart of Africa” the place is warm in all senses of the word. The weather is actually hot and the people friendly. The city of Lilongwe is very well set out into sectors with clearly demarcated areas and well numbered and named streets, there is no way a visitor will miss her way around the city (Remember it is a comparatively new city built after independence).
The next day is another marathon for me rushing to the Mozambican embassy to put in an application for an urgent visa (There is no Mozambican consulate in Ghana) through to attending a convening with some very dynamic women which was quite refreshing, to meeting with another grantee in her office immediately after. I finally picked up the Mozambican visa and headed for the city of Blantyre which used to house the capital of Malawi during the colonial era. By the time I arrived in Blantyre after 6.00pm I was ready to collapse. The trip to Blantyre was however eventful for me. Just outside the city of Lilongwe in the Dedza district are these awe inspiring, very nicely arranged and cultured range of mountains as if a gardener has the task of keeping them prim and proper with clusters of huts beneath their base. As usual, traveling along country roads you do not miss the quest of man to be seen and heard. I saw the ingenuity of (wo) man with product adverts carved into the hill sides and huge boulders, as well as all kind of billboards. Some interesting ones that caught my attention include “herbalist of the century” and “Beerman cave” you can imagine what happens in those two places with its resultant effect on women.
I also saw some of the effects of colonialism when in the town of Nhyehox, my self- imposed tour guide points out to me that the right side of the road is Mozambican while the left side belongs to the people of Malawi. But wait a minute, if you want to fly from Malawi to Mozambique, you will have to fly for two hours first to Johannesburg before connecting to a flight to Mozambique which is likely to take about one hour and ten minutes, that is Africa for you.
The city of Blantyre appears more densely populated and bursting with activity than Lilongwe. After a radio interview and a convening with women’s groups the next day, I go to visit one grantee and I noticed that the elevators in Malawi appear to work better than those in Accra, perhaps they do not have the power problems Ghana perennially experiences. After, I endure the long drive back to Lilongwe (About 4 hours) that afternoon and for the first time after arriving in Malawi I appear to have some respite, your guess is very right this is about 7pm. I recheck into the hotel Cresta Cross Roads, collect my luggage from storage and decide to take a stroll around the vicinity of the hotel which is within a huge complex of other businesses (Malawi is a comparatively safe city). The next morning I get an anti climax when I visit a grantee in Lilongwe who has over under performed, I just could not keep myself in check, well God was good as usual, He helped me to control my disappointment and after a lengthy discussion in their office I request to see the shop AWDF is suppose to be supporting. The shop has been so abandoned, infact it has never been put to use, and after wasting time and fuel to go to the place they could not open the doors to the shop so mission unaccomplished, remember this is a live grant. After this anti climax I had to rush to the airport enroute to my next destination.
The next time you read from me I am probably going to have another identity, till then hold the fort tightly.
With all the warmth I can gather in Malawi,
Beatrice
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Why don't feminists work with humans?
I can't tell you the number of times I have had conversations (read arguments) with people (read men) about why Feminists focus on women. A few days ago a friend said to me ' Why don't feminists work with humans...soon the script will flip...'
Well guess what I found when I was sorting through my files from my days at LSE's Gender Institute? Answers to this very question in the form of fantastic quotes which I will share below:
' What women are challenging is something everyone can see. Men's grievances, by contrast seem hyperbolic, almost hysterical; so many men seem to be doing battle with phantoms and witches that exist only in their own overheated imaginations. Women see men as guarding the fort, so they don't see how the culture shapes men. Men don't see how they are influenced by the culture either; in fact, they prefer not to. If they did, they would have to let go of the illusion of control.' (Susan Faludi, Stiffed: The Betrayal of the Modern Man, p.14)
'(I)t has become commonplace to see powerful and successful men weeping in public - Ronald Reagan shedding a tear at the funeral of slain U.S. soldiers, basketball player Michael Jordan openly crying after winning the NBA championship. Most recent, the easy manner in which the media lauded U.S. General Schwartzkopf as a New Man for shedding a public tear for the U.S. casualties in the Gulf War is indicative of the importance placed on styles of masculine gender display rather than the institutional position of power that men such as Schwartzkopf.'(Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo and Michael A.Messner 'Gender Displays and Men's Power: The 'New Man' and the Mexican Immigrant Man,' in Theorizing Masculinities)
'There has also been, alongside the survival of what we might call routine popular misogyny, evidence of the partial reversal of the traditional evaluation of stereotypical masculine and feminine traits...This is not evidence of the arrival of sexual equality in material or ideological terms, but it is evidence of dramatic change...This suggests that popular discussion of the 'crisis' in masculinity and changes in the prospects that face men, or the popularity of appeals to rediscover 'the deep masculine' proferred by Robert Bly(1991) are more than anti-feminist backlash. They are evidence of the material and ideological weakening and collapse of patriarchy. It is a bad time to be a man, compared to the supremacy men have enjoyed in the past - and this is a thoroughly good thing. (John mcInnes, The End of Masculinity, p. 55)
' The feminine mystique's collapse a generation earlier was not just a crisis but a historical opportunity for women. Women responded to their 'problem with no name' by naming it and founding a political movement, by beginning the process of freeing themselves. Why haven't men done the same? This seems to me to be the real question that lurks behind the 'masculinity crisis' facing American society; not that men are fighting against women's liberation, but that they have refused to mobilize for their own-or their society's-liberation. Not that traditional male roles are endangered, but that men are in danger of not acting.' (Susan Faludi, Stiffed: The Betrayal of the Modern Man, p.41)
What are your thoughts on the quotes?
Nana Sekyiamah
Programme Officer
Fundraising & Communication
Well guess what I found when I was sorting through my files from my days at LSE's Gender Institute? Answers to this very question in the form of fantastic quotes which I will share below:
' What women are challenging is something everyone can see. Men's grievances, by contrast seem hyperbolic, almost hysterical; so many men seem to be doing battle with phantoms and witches that exist only in their own overheated imaginations. Women see men as guarding the fort, so they don't see how the culture shapes men. Men don't see how they are influenced by the culture either; in fact, they prefer not to. If they did, they would have to let go of the illusion of control.' (Susan Faludi, Stiffed: The Betrayal of the Modern Man, p.14)
'(I)t has become commonplace to see powerful and successful men weeping in public - Ronald Reagan shedding a tear at the funeral of slain U.S. soldiers, basketball player Michael Jordan openly crying after winning the NBA championship. Most recent, the easy manner in which the media lauded U.S. General Schwartzkopf as a New Man for shedding a public tear for the U.S. casualties in the Gulf War is indicative of the importance placed on styles of masculine gender display rather than the institutional position of power that men such as Schwartzkopf.'(Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo and Michael A.Messner 'Gender Displays and Men's Power: The 'New Man' and the Mexican Immigrant Man,' in Theorizing Masculinities)
'There has also been, alongside the survival of what we might call routine popular misogyny, evidence of the partial reversal of the traditional evaluation of stereotypical masculine and feminine traits...This is not evidence of the arrival of sexual equality in material or ideological terms, but it is evidence of dramatic change...This suggests that popular discussion of the 'crisis' in masculinity and changes in the prospects that face men, or the popularity of appeals to rediscover 'the deep masculine' proferred by Robert Bly(1991) are more than anti-feminist backlash. They are evidence of the material and ideological weakening and collapse of patriarchy. It is a bad time to be a man, compared to the supremacy men have enjoyed in the past - and this is a thoroughly good thing. (John mcInnes, The End of Masculinity, p. 55)
' The feminine mystique's collapse a generation earlier was not just a crisis but a historical opportunity for women. Women responded to their 'problem with no name' by naming it and founding a political movement, by beginning the process of freeing themselves. Why haven't men done the same? This seems to me to be the real question that lurks behind the 'masculinity crisis' facing American society; not that men are fighting against women's liberation, but that they have refused to mobilize for their own-or their society's-liberation. Not that traditional male roles are endangered, but that men are in danger of not acting.' (Susan Faludi, Stiffed: The Betrayal of the Modern Man, p.41)
What are your thoughts on the quotes?
Nana Sekyiamah
Programme Officer
Fundraising & Communication
Monday, October 13, 2008
Feminist Quotes at the African Feminist Forum
I was reading through some of the notes I took at the 2nd African Feminist Forum recently held in Kampala, Uganda and just have to share some of the great quotes which struck me (some funny, some spot on, some simply controversial...' Enjoy!
‘Feminism is like Christianity, you have to convert people.’ Hope Chigudu quoted by Dr Hilda Tadria
‘Retired, still not tired’ Dr Hilda Tadria
‘Many of us have learnt to settle for the world as it is, not the world that ought to be’ Michelle Obama quoted by Dr Hilda Tadria
‘Integrity is what you do when no one is watching’ Rotary speaker quoted by Dr Hilda Tadria
‘Have you ever heard of inviting your oppressor to join you? In every sense of the word they have screwed us up’. Solome Nakaweesi Kimbugwe
‘If someone hasn’t felt how it feels to eat last, to work more and to earn less how do you expect them to support you…’ Solome Nakaweesi Kimbugwe
‘Arguments below the waist beads…a kick in the ovum’s’ Zeedah
‘Patriarchy is a system so men are not the enemy’ Pregs Govender
Nana Sekyiamah
Programme Officer
Fundraising & Communications
‘Feminism is like Christianity, you have to convert people.’ Hope Chigudu quoted by Dr Hilda Tadria
‘Retired, still not tired’ Dr Hilda Tadria
‘Many of us have learnt to settle for the world as it is, not the world that ought to be’ Michelle Obama quoted by Dr Hilda Tadria
‘Integrity is what you do when no one is watching’ Rotary speaker quoted by Dr Hilda Tadria
‘Have you ever heard of inviting your oppressor to join you? In every sense of the word they have screwed us up’. Solome Nakaweesi Kimbugwe
‘If someone hasn’t felt how it feels to eat last, to work more and to earn less how do you expect them to support you…’ Solome Nakaweesi Kimbugwe
‘Arguments below the waist beads…a kick in the ovum’s’ Zeedah
‘Patriarchy is a system so men are not the enemy’ Pregs Govender
Nana Sekyiamah
Programme Officer
Fundraising & Communications
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Sexual Violence in the DRC: Part 2
As my colleague Rissi said to me ‘We can be blogging about our mission to DRC for years’. We really could do that but rather than blog for years we shall blog for the rest of the month on the DRC and our experiences from undertaking a Mission to the DRC with colleagues from other donors including OSISA and Global Fund for Women as well as women’s rights activists from Swaziland, Zimbabwe and Guinea.
Personally one of the visits that will forever stick in my mind will be the one to ‘Hopital de la Muya’ where we met a doctor and nurse working with sexual violence survivors who gave us very detailed information on the challenges with sexual violence in the Mbuji Mayi province.
Hopital de la Muya has been supported by donor agencies particularly the UNFPA to provide free services and medication to survivors of sexual violence. Nurses and doctors have been trained to provide basic treatment to survivors of sexual violence. Survivors come from a variety of backgrounds. Child victims are brought in by the police or their parents and street children come in by themselves or with a delegation. 95% of the victims are female with victims sometimes being as young as 3 years old. A 2007 report by the hospital cited the following statistics for sexual violence.
Ages 1 – 9: 105 cases
Ages 10 – 17: 515 cases
Ages 18 – 24: 127 cases
50+: 6 cases
On the day we visited the hospital, there had been 7 survivors of sexual violence who had attended the hospital the previous day. Being fully aware that our delegation was visiting the hospital the doctor had asked the 7 patients and their parents whether they will be willing to meet with the delegation. The youngest survivors we met were 3 and 5 years old. There are no words to describe how one feels when you come across a 3 year old rape survivor. Just think about any 3 year old you know…As the doctor explained, many of these young girls end up with collapsed vaginas as a result of the assault they have endured. For some women their uterus becomes damaged after rape. We were told about one such case of a woman who had been so severely raped that her uterus was damaged but only came to the hospital 2 months after the incident. She refused to admit that she had been raped by several men as traditionally raped women are divorced by their husbands.
The Doctor cited attitudes towards women in the Kasai region as the cause of the high levels of rapes and sexual violence. In his words:
‘Violence happens because men in the Kasai regard women as objects. I can say this because I am Kasai…families want dowries replaced when girls have been raped’.
The hospital has been doing some sterling work on sexual violence apart from providing free services and medication to sexual violence survivors. A commission has been set up and part of what they have been doing includes trying to explain that a raped woman has not committed adultery (which is the traditional view). Traditionally if a man decides to ‘take back’ his raped wife, the dowry will have to be repaid to the man. The belief is that the man will die if he doesn’t take back the dowry.
The room in which we met with the Doctor and Nurse working on sexual violence, was the same room where survivors of sexual violence are seen and on the wall is a poster which shows the various punishments for committing sexual assaults. As was pointed out to us, the laws are not upheld and several aggressors are released after being held in jail for a day or two. We were all emotional after we left the hospital and one of the (two) a male member of our delegation was so angry that he was advocating for the penises of all rapists to be chopped off! That reminded me of a previous post by Bisi on the Ugandan woman who had cut off the penis of a man whom she had caught red-handed in the process of violating her daughter. What are your thoughts?
Nana Sekyiamah
Programme Officer
Fundraising & Communications
Personally one of the visits that will forever stick in my mind will be the one to ‘Hopital de la Muya’ where we met a doctor and nurse working with sexual violence survivors who gave us very detailed information on the challenges with sexual violence in the Mbuji Mayi province.
Hopital de la Muya has been supported by donor agencies particularly the UNFPA to provide free services and medication to survivors of sexual violence. Nurses and doctors have been trained to provide basic treatment to survivors of sexual violence. Survivors come from a variety of backgrounds. Child victims are brought in by the police or their parents and street children come in by themselves or with a delegation. 95% of the victims are female with victims sometimes being as young as 3 years old. A 2007 report by the hospital cited the following statistics for sexual violence.
Ages 1 – 9: 105 cases
Ages 10 – 17: 515 cases
Ages 18 – 24: 127 cases
50+: 6 cases
On the day we visited the hospital, there had been 7 survivors of sexual violence who had attended the hospital the previous day. Being fully aware that our delegation was visiting the hospital the doctor had asked the 7 patients and their parents whether they will be willing to meet with the delegation. The youngest survivors we met were 3 and 5 years old. There are no words to describe how one feels when you come across a 3 year old rape survivor. Just think about any 3 year old you know…As the doctor explained, many of these young girls end up with collapsed vaginas as a result of the assault they have endured. For some women their uterus becomes damaged after rape. We were told about one such case of a woman who had been so severely raped that her uterus was damaged but only came to the hospital 2 months after the incident. She refused to admit that she had been raped by several men as traditionally raped women are divorced by their husbands.
The Doctor cited attitudes towards women in the Kasai region as the cause of the high levels of rapes and sexual violence. In his words:
‘Violence happens because men in the Kasai regard women as objects. I can say this because I am Kasai…families want dowries replaced when girls have been raped’.
The hospital has been doing some sterling work on sexual violence apart from providing free services and medication to sexual violence survivors. A commission has been set up and part of what they have been doing includes trying to explain that a raped woman has not committed adultery (which is the traditional view). Traditionally if a man decides to ‘take back’ his raped wife, the dowry will have to be repaid to the man. The belief is that the man will die if he doesn’t take back the dowry.
The room in which we met with the Doctor and Nurse working on sexual violence, was the same room where survivors of sexual violence are seen and on the wall is a poster which shows the various punishments for committing sexual assaults. As was pointed out to us, the laws are not upheld and several aggressors are released after being held in jail for a day or two. We were all emotional after we left the hospital and one of the (two) a male member of our delegation was so angry that he was advocating for the penises of all rapists to be chopped off! That reminded me of a previous post by Bisi on the Ugandan woman who had cut off the penis of a man whom she had caught red-handed in the process of violating her daughter. What are your thoughts?
Nana Sekyiamah
Programme Officer
Fundraising & Communications
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Kinshasha to Mbuji Mayi
My colleague Nana (Communication and Fundraising Programme Officer) and I had been in Kinshassa for 2 days as part of a mission organized by the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA) in partnership with AWDF, Global Fund for Women and Women’s Rights Activists from Swaziland, Zimbabwe and Guinea. As part of our mission and together with other members of the delegation, we were to travel to the province of Mbuji Mayi, a mining town in the Democratic Republic of Congo to witness the appalling working conditions of women in the mines. Our flight was scheduled for 10 am and because of the heavy traffic on the road to the airport it was advisable to leave for the airport at 7 .15am. When we arrived at the local airport, policemen dressed in light and navy blue welcomed us with “Montrez votre billet” which translated into English means “Show me your ticket”. I asked myself ‘when will security personnel ever stop intimidating innocent civilians'? We were allowed in the main hall where there was a huge gathering around 2 or 3 people who were the check out staff. It looked as if there was a commodity of high demand and low supply being sold and everybody wanted a share of it. After the long, drawn out check in process, all members of the team were directed to the passengers’ lounge, where we were all required to produce our passports (as if it was written on our foreheads that we were foreigners in the country) although this was a domestic flight. I could see from the face of the immigration officer that he was just looking for the slightest mistake to start drama. This whole scene reminded me of the revolutionary period in Benin, where one had to apply for an exit visa before traveling. Luckily for us everything was ok and we went to our boarding gate to wait for the flight, which eventually landed around 1pm and we took off around 2.45pm. All appointments scheduled for 2pm in Mbuji Mayi had to be postponed as we had no control over the flight schedule. Once on board I noticed the presence of an intimidating body guard with a huge gun and my mind started wandering again. So many scenarios crossed my mind but I remained optimistic. Then I was told that the governor of the province was on the flight. Well, all I wanted was to reach my destination without having to go through any complications.
As the plane was about to land, I noticed to my surprise some men in uniform lined up as if the Head of State was landing. I thought such grandiose welcomes for governors stopped when African states achieved their independence. At least this is what I know of in the Republic of Benin. My colleague Nana could not believe what she saw and confessed she had never seen such a spectacle in her life.
We were also given VIP treatment as from the plane we were ushered through the VIP lounge by members of the local organizing committee of the mission. We were also considered as important personalities after all. As we were about to enter the car to go to our first meeting in Mbuyi Mayi, people started running from all corners. I said to myself,’I hope this is not the beginning of public unrest in the province’, then we realized that security personnel dressed as civilians as well as other people had to run into their cars to join the convoy following the Governor to his residence. All this was part of the ceremony to welcome the Governor of the province. I wondered what it would be like if it were the President of the country visiting the province. I have seldom seen such protocol given to even Prime Ministers. Unbelievable!!!
From the airport the delegation paid a courtesy visit to the President of the National Assembly of Mbuji Maye, Hon Xavier Kabala Ilunga who was really impressed by this solidarity initiative taken by sisters from other countries and who expressed concern about the plight of women in the Democratic Republic of Congo. I was quite impressed to see that the Vice Chair of the provincial Assembly and the Treasurer were both elegant and eloquent women. However women’s representation in the provincial assembly structure was quite low and personally I still hope that one day our struggle for women’s liberation will yield sustainable results including parity in political structures.
Rissi Assani-Alabi
Francophone Programme Officer/Executive Assistant
AWDF
As the plane was about to land, I noticed to my surprise some men in uniform lined up as if the Head of State was landing. I thought such grandiose welcomes for governors stopped when African states achieved their independence. At least this is what I know of in the Republic of Benin. My colleague Nana could not believe what she saw and confessed she had never seen such a spectacle in her life.
We were also given VIP treatment as from the plane we were ushered through the VIP lounge by members of the local organizing committee of the mission. We were also considered as important personalities after all. As we were about to enter the car to go to our first meeting in Mbuyi Mayi, people started running from all corners. I said to myself,’I hope this is not the beginning of public unrest in the province’, then we realized that security personnel dressed as civilians as well as other people had to run into their cars to join the convoy following the Governor to his residence. All this was part of the ceremony to welcome the Governor of the province. I wondered what it would be like if it were the President of the country visiting the province. I have seldom seen such protocol given to even Prime Ministers. Unbelievable!!!
From the airport the delegation paid a courtesy visit to the President of the National Assembly of Mbuji Maye, Hon Xavier Kabala Ilunga who was really impressed by this solidarity initiative taken by sisters from other countries and who expressed concern about the plight of women in the Democratic Republic of Congo. I was quite impressed to see that the Vice Chair of the provincial Assembly and the Treasurer were both elegant and eloquent women. However women’s representation in the provincial assembly structure was quite low and personally I still hope that one day our struggle for women’s liberation will yield sustainable results including parity in political structures.
Rissi Assani-Alabi
Francophone Programme Officer/Executive Assistant
AWDF
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Sexual Violence in the DRC
Today we visited 'L'union des femmes violees veuves et enfants orphelis victime de la guerre' (UFEVEOVIG)which loosely translates as the Union of Raped Women, Orphans and Victims of the War. (I now wish I had taken my French lessons more seriously)By the end of our meeting, half our delegation were in tears.
The centre is run by Madam Zawadi, herself a victim of sexual violence. Her mother was buried alive and her sister also violated sexually which is her motivation for the work she does. The centre had to leave their downtown offices when it was taken over by the transitional authorities and were given space by a pastor in a run down part of town.
Personal testimonies by a young girl of 10 and an older woman was the reason for the delegation ending up in tears. Initially when we were told a young girl wanted to testify we were concerned but reassured that the girl was doing this of her own volition and with the permission of her parents who were at the meeting.
This is the story of the young girl paraphrased to the best of my ability.
On the 16th of May 2007, I went to school and upon my return a man from the neighbourhood asked me to come for a piece of cloth which my Dad would use to sew a shirt for him. When I went to his house, he took the cloth which he said he was going to give to me, covered my mouth and cuffed me. He threatened me with a knife and took me to his bedroom. I was there for three days and abused constantly. I left on the 18th of May at about 10pm. He took me on his back and left me about 100 meters from my house. When I got home my father asked me where I was coming from and I told him that the man had kept me at his house. We went to the police station and returned to the neighbour's house where he was arrested.
The next morning the man came with his lawyer and took me to the hospital without any members of my family. The lawyer told me that if you continue to testify when we go back to the police station I will kill you and throw you in the river. When we returned to the police station I was beaten and intimidated. I was detained and only released two days later at 11pm. We went to another police station where we filed a report. The man was then taken to prison but released a month later. This was when I met Madam Zawadi who came to see me and took me to hospital where I got tested but had no sexual diseases.
Personally what I found most heart rending was the look in this young girl's eyes. There was no light behind her eyes, her eyes were dead and it is impossible to imagine the pain she has been through. Her case is currenly back in the courts.
The second testimony was by an older woman who hails from the Eastern part of the country. Again I will try to paraphrase her story.
I was arrested in 2005. We were arrested and beaten by about 200 men. On weekends, mostly Saturdays they will give us charcoal and dirt to eat. They will also bring their children who will undress us and finger us. They would beat us and cut us with knives. I had a 5 year old child who was killed and cut into pieces. I was asked to cook the meat and eat it. They threatened to kill me so I was forced to eat a piece of my own child.
One day we were able to escape. We run for days until we reached Kinsanga where we reported to the authorities. They said there is no room here, your captors will follow you so I was put into a boat. I was very sick...the boat broke down and we changed boats until we docked at a harbour. I don't know which harbour it was. I was taken somewhere and someone rang the lady (referring to Madam Zawadi). I was wearing sacks. The lady came over with some t-shirts and cloths. My friends who I had left behind had their mouths and vaginas cut. We have no one to help us. I was really sick and for 8 months could not leave my room.
After hearing these two testimonies the majority of the delegation decided that they could not bear to hear anymore. The members of UFEVEOVIG then told us that they worked on plantations and wanted to present us with gifts from their labour which included cabbage, rice, eggs, groundnuts and an envelope filled with cash. We were overwhelmed and not quite sure what to do. Here were the donors being given money. My initial instinct was to accept the food and not the money but I was assured by the interpreter that would be inappropriate as it was the cultural practice so we quickly got together and responded with a gift in return.
What we really impressed me about Madam Zawadi was her quiet passion and dedication to her cause. She shared pictures with us...in one photo were 3 women speakng up about sexual violence and in the far right hand side was a man armed with a machete. She told us that the man had tried to prevent them from speaking up but they were not scared. Organisations like UFEVEOVIG need financial, technical and moral support. Madam Zawadi's one request was that if we ever held any conferences or workshops to invite her to participate and share her story.
Nana Sekyiamah
Programme Officer
Fundraising & Communications
The centre is run by Madam Zawadi, herself a victim of sexual violence. Her mother was buried alive and her sister also violated sexually which is her motivation for the work she does. The centre had to leave their downtown offices when it was taken over by the transitional authorities and were given space by a pastor in a run down part of town.
Personal testimonies by a young girl of 10 and an older woman was the reason for the delegation ending up in tears. Initially when we were told a young girl wanted to testify we were concerned but reassured that the girl was doing this of her own volition and with the permission of her parents who were at the meeting.
This is the story of the young girl paraphrased to the best of my ability.
On the 16th of May 2007, I went to school and upon my return a man from the neighbourhood asked me to come for a piece of cloth which my Dad would use to sew a shirt for him. When I went to his house, he took the cloth which he said he was going to give to me, covered my mouth and cuffed me. He threatened me with a knife and took me to his bedroom. I was there for three days and abused constantly. I left on the 18th of May at about 10pm. He took me on his back and left me about 100 meters from my house. When I got home my father asked me where I was coming from and I told him that the man had kept me at his house. We went to the police station and returned to the neighbour's house where he was arrested.
The next morning the man came with his lawyer and took me to the hospital without any members of my family. The lawyer told me that if you continue to testify when we go back to the police station I will kill you and throw you in the river. When we returned to the police station I was beaten and intimidated. I was detained and only released two days later at 11pm. We went to another police station where we filed a report. The man was then taken to prison but released a month later. This was when I met Madam Zawadi who came to see me and took me to hospital where I got tested but had no sexual diseases.
Personally what I found most heart rending was the look in this young girl's eyes. There was no light behind her eyes, her eyes were dead and it is impossible to imagine the pain she has been through. Her case is currenly back in the courts.
The second testimony was by an older woman who hails from the Eastern part of the country. Again I will try to paraphrase her story.
I was arrested in 2005. We were arrested and beaten by about 200 men. On weekends, mostly Saturdays they will give us charcoal and dirt to eat. They will also bring their children who will undress us and finger us. They would beat us and cut us with knives. I had a 5 year old child who was killed and cut into pieces. I was asked to cook the meat and eat it. They threatened to kill me so I was forced to eat a piece of my own child.
One day we were able to escape. We run for days until we reached Kinsanga where we reported to the authorities. They said there is no room here, your captors will follow you so I was put into a boat. I was very sick...the boat broke down and we changed boats until we docked at a harbour. I don't know which harbour it was. I was taken somewhere and someone rang the lady (referring to Madam Zawadi). I was wearing sacks. The lady came over with some t-shirts and cloths. My friends who I had left behind had their mouths and vaginas cut. We have no one to help us. I was really sick and for 8 months could not leave my room.
After hearing these two testimonies the majority of the delegation decided that they could not bear to hear anymore. The members of UFEVEOVIG then told us that they worked on plantations and wanted to present us with gifts from their labour which included cabbage, rice, eggs, groundnuts and an envelope filled with cash. We were overwhelmed and not quite sure what to do. Here were the donors being given money. My initial instinct was to accept the food and not the money but I was assured by the interpreter that would be inappropriate as it was the cultural practice so we quickly got together and responded with a gift in return.
What we really impressed me about Madam Zawadi was her quiet passion and dedication to her cause. She shared pictures with us...in one photo were 3 women speakng up about sexual violence and in the far right hand side was a man armed with a machete. She told us that the man had tried to prevent them from speaking up but they were not scared. Organisations like UFEVEOVIG need financial, technical and moral support. Madam Zawadi's one request was that if we ever held any conferences or workshops to invite her to participate and share her story.
Nana Sekyiamah
Programme Officer
Fundraising & Communications
Mission to the DRC
My colleague Rissi (Francophone Programme Officer) and I arrived in the DRC on the 22nd of September for our scheduled mission in partnership with the Open Society Initiative for South Africa (OSISA). I have to admit that the DRC is not a country that has ever been on my list of ‘countries to visit before I die’ but here we were and what a welcome we got. Even before you leave the airport tarmac and enter the airport building you are asked for your yellow fever certificate. Fortunately I had mine (although no official has asked to see this document in so many years) although my colleague had accidentally left her certificate in her suitcase…Obstacle number 1.
Although our host had assured us that arrangements were going to be made for us to be issued with visas on arrival, immigration said they had no knowledge of this and all the evidence was pointing to us being put on a return flight to wherever we had arrived from. To be honest I was going to have had no issue with this. I was tired, hadn’t slept for more than 5 hours a night for a week and was feeling rather intimidated by the armed men and the harsh immigration officers who were barking questions at us in French (a language I don’t speak very well). Just as it seemed we were homebound for Ghana, a lady arrived with our names written on a sheet of paper and presented immigration with the official papers that said we could be issued with visa papers, but that was not the end of obstacle number 2. We still had to pay ‘facilitation fees’ to the customs officer, retrieve our baggage and resolutely ignore all the men who ‘tried to help us with our luggage’ and were hounding us for money when we left the airport. I have never in my life seen such a chaotic airport; Kotoka International seems heavenly in comparison. You would think Obstacle number 2 would be over by now but no, our transportation was a pick up and our guide said it would be unsafe to put our suitcases in the back (which was open) yet there was no way Rissi and I were going to be able to fit in the back with our two huge suitcases so we had to spend the journey to our hotel watching the back of the pick up in case anyone tried to lift the suitcases. Leaving your suitcases in the back of an unsecured pick up is obviously not the thing to do in the DRC as passengers in a trotro which was driving parallel to us all turned to look at us and point at our pickup. By now I was getting more and more nervous.
Eventually we get to Hotel Memling only for the receptionist to tell us that our reservation had been cancelled (they were expecting us earlier) and that there were no vacancies so we lug our suitcases back into the open back of the pickup and our guide takes us to where the rest of our delegation is meeting. After an urgent phone call by one of the organizers to the hotel, a room mysteriously becomes available which my colleague and I share. Obstacle number 3 has now been overcome.
We are in the DRC not only to show solidarity with Congolese women’s rights organizations but also to get a clearer understanding of the challenges that women face in the country and to understand how best we can support women’s rights work in the country. Today, the 23rd of September, we met with the Network for Gender and Equality which is a mixed network of male and female parliamentarians. Interestingly all MPs are members of this group although according to the President of the Network 50% of members (300) are active. In the light of discussions at the AFF about whether men can be feminists and part of the African women’s movement it was very interesting to be handed a card by a man which described him as an ‘expert’ on gender. Hmm…
We followed this meeting with a separate meeting with the Women’s Caucus of parliament where women MPs outlined some challenges they faced which were similar to some of the issues raised by the women in the Gender and Equality network. Some of the issues in common were the challenges of resources needed for running for office, women’s lack of confidence which was shown in a reluctance to speak up in discussions or sometimes being uncomfortable about expressing themselves in French which is the language used in parliament. Both sessions were very informative and personally it was good to hear from the women’s caucus that there were particular issues which united women MPs across party lines. This included issues of sexual violence, HIV/AIDS and women’s political participation. As someone who argues passionately for gender parity in politics this was welcome news.
The day ended with a visit to the office of UNIFEM to learn more about the work that UNIFEM is doing in the DRC. The Officer in charge of UNIFEM DRC is a man and to date I have never met a man who is as knowledgeable and passionate about gender issues as he was. What was also very refreshing was his candour and willingness to share information even when we were asking questions which could be perceived as critical of his organization. It was also useful to find out that some of the challenges AWDF faces in regards to impact measurement is also shared by agencies such as UNIFEM. As our colleague at UNIFEM pointed out it is very hard to compile quantitative impact indicators for Sexual Violence. Before starting a project you will not have access to baseline figures about numbers of rape victims for example and after the project you may find that the numbers rise as more women then are more likely to report rape. In his words, the high sexual violence figures are on its own an impact indicator of the consequence of doing nothing.
Nana Sekyiamah
Programme Officer
Fundraising & Communications
Although our host had assured us that arrangements were going to be made for us to be issued with visas on arrival, immigration said they had no knowledge of this and all the evidence was pointing to us being put on a return flight to wherever we had arrived from. To be honest I was going to have had no issue with this. I was tired, hadn’t slept for more than 5 hours a night for a week and was feeling rather intimidated by the armed men and the harsh immigration officers who were barking questions at us in French (a language I don’t speak very well). Just as it seemed we were homebound for Ghana, a lady arrived with our names written on a sheet of paper and presented immigration with the official papers that said we could be issued with visa papers, but that was not the end of obstacle number 2. We still had to pay ‘facilitation fees’ to the customs officer, retrieve our baggage and resolutely ignore all the men who ‘tried to help us with our luggage’ and were hounding us for money when we left the airport. I have never in my life seen such a chaotic airport; Kotoka International seems heavenly in comparison. You would think Obstacle number 2 would be over by now but no, our transportation was a pick up and our guide said it would be unsafe to put our suitcases in the back (which was open) yet there was no way Rissi and I were going to be able to fit in the back with our two huge suitcases so we had to spend the journey to our hotel watching the back of the pick up in case anyone tried to lift the suitcases. Leaving your suitcases in the back of an unsecured pick up is obviously not the thing to do in the DRC as passengers in a trotro which was driving parallel to us all turned to look at us and point at our pickup. By now I was getting more and more nervous.
Eventually we get to Hotel Memling only for the receptionist to tell us that our reservation had been cancelled (they were expecting us earlier) and that there were no vacancies so we lug our suitcases back into the open back of the pickup and our guide takes us to where the rest of our delegation is meeting. After an urgent phone call by one of the organizers to the hotel, a room mysteriously becomes available which my colleague and I share. Obstacle number 3 has now been overcome.
We are in the DRC not only to show solidarity with Congolese women’s rights organizations but also to get a clearer understanding of the challenges that women face in the country and to understand how best we can support women’s rights work in the country. Today, the 23rd of September, we met with the Network for Gender and Equality which is a mixed network of male and female parliamentarians. Interestingly all MPs are members of this group although according to the President of the Network 50% of members (300) are active. In the light of discussions at the AFF about whether men can be feminists and part of the African women’s movement it was very interesting to be handed a card by a man which described him as an ‘expert’ on gender. Hmm…
We followed this meeting with a separate meeting with the Women’s Caucus of parliament where women MPs outlined some challenges they faced which were similar to some of the issues raised by the women in the Gender and Equality network. Some of the issues in common were the challenges of resources needed for running for office, women’s lack of confidence which was shown in a reluctance to speak up in discussions or sometimes being uncomfortable about expressing themselves in French which is the language used in parliament. Both sessions were very informative and personally it was good to hear from the women’s caucus that there were particular issues which united women MPs across party lines. This included issues of sexual violence, HIV/AIDS and women’s political participation. As someone who argues passionately for gender parity in politics this was welcome news.
The day ended with a visit to the office of UNIFEM to learn more about the work that UNIFEM is doing in the DRC. The Officer in charge of UNIFEM DRC is a man and to date I have never met a man who is as knowledgeable and passionate about gender issues as he was. What was also very refreshing was his candour and willingness to share information even when we were asking questions which could be perceived as critical of his organization. It was also useful to find out that some of the challenges AWDF faces in regards to impact measurement is also shared by agencies such as UNIFEM. As our colleague at UNIFEM pointed out it is very hard to compile quantitative impact indicators for Sexual Violence. Before starting a project you will not have access to baseline figures about numbers of rape victims for example and after the project you may find that the numbers rise as more women then are more likely to report rape. In his words, the high sexual violence figures are on its own an impact indicator of the consequence of doing nothing.
Nana Sekyiamah
Programme Officer
Fundraising & Communications
Saturday, September 20, 2008
A song for Love: For Lovetta Warner, Liberian AIDS Activist
Part of what I have enjoyed the most at this year's AFF has been the sheer creativity unleashed. Jessica Horn who is a member of the AFF working group has kindly agreed that I can reproduce this poem which she wrote in honour of Lovetta Warner and read during one of the workshops I attended:
Call her love
call her brave
call her anytime
you dare
renegade butterfly in the forest
of men's endless hunger
scarlet lipped militant feeding
our days from her endless
harvest of laughter
she doesn't want bones
no burnt endings at the bottom
of life's pot, bring her the flesh
of life and she will feast
calling on all earth's children to
come, nourish, grow
call her now
call her later
call her anytime you dare
'cos til now
no man has succeeded
in silencing thunder
no way no man
is going to do it today
Nana Sekyiamah
Programme Officer
Fundraising & Communications
Call her love
call her brave
call her anytime
you dare
renegade butterfly in the forest
of men's endless hunger
scarlet lipped militant feeding
our days from her endless
harvest of laughter
she doesn't want bones
no burnt endings at the bottom
of life's pot, bring her the flesh
of life and she will feast
calling on all earth's children to
come, nourish, grow
call her now
call her later
call her anytime you dare
'cos til now
no man has succeeded
in silencing thunder
no way no man
is going to do it today
Nana Sekyiamah
Programme Officer
Fundraising & Communications
Friday, September 19, 2008
African Feminist Forum: 'I can't believe it is only Day 2'
Today has been day 2 of the African Feminist Forum and what an experience it has been. This is the very first time I have attended a conference organised solely by African women and where the speakers, moderators and participants have all been African women. I am used to attending conferences where you have the token black speaker so it has felt empowering, refreshing and sometimes awe inspiring to be surrounded by some famous, some infamous, some ordinary, but in total extraordinary women united in a belief and passion for African Feminism.
In these first two days highlights for me has included the opportunity to listen to Abena Busia speak on the subject of feminist knowledge production and recite inspirational poetry inspired by conversations with her Mother. I could listen to Abena for days on end, she has such a beautiful melodious voice...
Another highlight has been the great debate on 'Can Men be Feminists and involved in the African Feminist Movement?'. This is a crucial question which the women's movement keeps coming up against and it was great to look at this question from a fun and light hearted approach. We had people like Sarah Mukasa, Director of Programmes at AWDF for the motion and people like Solome Nakaweesi Kimbugwe firmly against the motion.Sarah came up with a great slogan for her argument which was 'women organising with feminist men' and the response from Solome's camp was 'Have you ever heard of inviting your oppressor to join you! In every sense of the word they have screwed us up'. Personally, I am firmly against the motion. Sarah, are you really for the motion or were you playing devil's advocate?
This is only Day 2 I have to repeat but we have had a book launch of Pregs Govender's book 'Love and Courage'. I have my autographed version which I am not giving up for love or money and I have also had the opportunity to interview Leymah Gbowee who led a movement of Liberian women who successfully agitated for peace in Liberia as well as interviewed Dr Musimbi Kanyoro,a long standing friend of AWDF and Director of the Population Programme at The David and Lucille Packard Foundation.
I am looking forward tomorrow to the 'Feminists on Trial' session and multi-generational dinner...details on a later blog.
Nana Sekyiamah
Programme Officer
Fundraising & Communications
In these first two days highlights for me has included the opportunity to listen to Abena Busia speak on the subject of feminist knowledge production and recite inspirational poetry inspired by conversations with her Mother. I could listen to Abena for days on end, she has such a beautiful melodious voice...
Another highlight has been the great debate on 'Can Men be Feminists and involved in the African Feminist Movement?'. This is a crucial question which the women's movement keeps coming up against and it was great to look at this question from a fun and light hearted approach. We had people like Sarah Mukasa, Director of Programmes at AWDF for the motion and people like Solome Nakaweesi Kimbugwe firmly against the motion.Sarah came up with a great slogan for her argument which was 'women organising with feminist men' and the response from Solome's camp was 'Have you ever heard of inviting your oppressor to join you! In every sense of the word they have screwed us up'. Personally, I am firmly against the motion. Sarah, are you really for the motion or were you playing devil's advocate?
This is only Day 2 I have to repeat but we have had a book launch of Pregs Govender's book 'Love and Courage'. I have my autographed version which I am not giving up for love or money and I have also had the opportunity to interview Leymah Gbowee who led a movement of Liberian women who successfully agitated for peace in Liberia as well as interviewed Dr Musimbi Kanyoro,a long standing friend of AWDF and Director of the Population Programme at The David and Lucille Packard Foundation.
I am looking forward tomorrow to the 'Feminists on Trial' session and multi-generational dinner...details on a later blog.
Nana Sekyiamah
Programme Officer
Fundraising & Communications
Thursday, September 18, 2008
No longer a voice in the Wilderness
AWDF in association with our partners Akina Mama wa Afrika are currently convening the 2nd African Feminist Forum in Uganda. At the opening ceremony this morning Dr Susan Kiguli, a lecturer at the Institute of Languages, University of Makarere shared a powerful poem which she wrote specifically for this occasion.
NO LONGER A VOICE IN THE WILDERNESS
together a vision of the times
spreading revolution
creating change
No longer a voice alone
a voice in the wilderness
thunder rumbling in a distance
a mysterious noise hidden in dark clouds
wrecking the calm.
No longer a voice alone
A voice without family
Without audience
Without country
together a vision of the times
spreading revolution
creating change
We have swallowed the might of the sky
to speak language yet unspoken
unheard
to rip way the edges of time
to say yesterday, now, tomorrow
to look into the clouds of time
and speak courage together,
women unafraid
to build a dwelling of voices
assembling as song, will , action.
together a vision of the times
spreading revolution
creating change
We reach back into the memory of time
marching single file with Nyabingi
Irene Druscilla Namaganda, Pumla Kisosonkole, Rebecca Mulira.
Rhoda Kalema, Joyce Mpanga, Sarah Ntiro
and the multitudes of women
named and nameless
holding the yellow crystal of the
noon day sun
letting it bathe us in the
magic of saying
NO, NO, NO
to dictums we do not understand
standing up to the governor
to say freedom back
We want our right to choose
We need our families intact
We are planting the seed of revolution
of speech
of marching to tangible change
of breaking ranks
using language familiar and unfamiliar
to occupy citadels whose doors
have been securely locked.
we are marching revolution
we are marching change
together a vision of the times
spreading revolution
creating change
We are scattering the sunlight
rising with dawn
wearing the resplendent deep blue
of the sky
holding out with Miria Matembe, Sylvia Tamale, Akina Mama wa Afrika,
Fida Uganda and the whole company of women
Lifting the flame of fearlessness
Burying the ghosts of dictators
With their insane decrees
“Single women must marry immediately
and don’t you ever name your bodies in public
it is pure indecency
nurse your babies and dreams,
But it is in your interest not
to provoke us.”
We refuse you to take
more than we are able to supply
together a vision of the times
spreading revolution
creating change
My question to you here is 'Will you continue to be a voice in the wilderness?'
Nana Sekyiamah
Programme Officer
Fundraising & Communications
NO LONGER A VOICE IN THE WILDERNESS
together a vision of the times
spreading revolution
creating change
No longer a voice alone
a voice in the wilderness
thunder rumbling in a distance
a mysterious noise hidden in dark clouds
wrecking the calm.
No longer a voice alone
A voice without family
Without audience
Without country
together a vision of the times
spreading revolution
creating change
We have swallowed the might of the sky
to speak language yet unspoken
unheard
to rip way the edges of time
to say yesterday, now, tomorrow
to look into the clouds of time
and speak courage together,
women unafraid
to build a dwelling of voices
assembling as song, will , action.
together a vision of the times
spreading revolution
creating change
We reach back into the memory of time
marching single file with Nyabingi
Irene Druscilla Namaganda, Pumla Kisosonkole, Rebecca Mulira.
Rhoda Kalema, Joyce Mpanga, Sarah Ntiro
and the multitudes of women
named and nameless
holding the yellow crystal of the
noon day sun
letting it bathe us in the
magic of saying
NO, NO, NO
to dictums we do not understand
standing up to the governor
to say freedom back
We want our right to choose
We need our families intact
We are planting the seed of revolution
of speech
of marching to tangible change
of breaking ranks
using language familiar and unfamiliar
to occupy citadels whose doors
have been securely locked.
we are marching revolution
we are marching change
together a vision of the times
spreading revolution
creating change
We are scattering the sunlight
rising with dawn
wearing the resplendent deep blue
of the sky
holding out with Miria Matembe, Sylvia Tamale, Akina Mama wa Afrika,
Fida Uganda and the whole company of women
Lifting the flame of fearlessness
Burying the ghosts of dictators
With their insane decrees
“Single women must marry immediately
and don’t you ever name your bodies in public
it is pure indecency
nurse your babies and dreams,
But it is in your interest not
to provoke us.”
We refuse you to take
more than we are able to supply
together a vision of the times
spreading revolution
creating change
My question to you here is 'Will you continue to be a voice in the wilderness?'
Nana Sekyiamah
Programme Officer
Fundraising & Communications
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
What you need to be a successful fundraiser
One of the things I had promised to do this week is to blog about my experiences at the 'Women Raising Millions' training course being held in San Francisco by the Women's Funding Network. Part of what has been great about this course has been the opportunity to learn from all the other women who lead and work for women's funds across the world. I found myself yesterday starting to make a note of 'What do you need to be a successful fundraiser?' and compiled my list based on what people were saying and ideas that struck me during the day. Part of what I think is really interesting at this point in time is that AWDF in association with Resource Alliance(UK) and the Ghana Institute of Management and Professional Association (GIMPA) is currently running in Ghana a fundraising course with trainers including Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi, Executive Director of AWDF, Abigail Burgesson, Senior Program Manager for Special Programs and Joan Koomson, Donor Liason Officer.
So here is my list so far:
To be a successful fundraiser you need to :
* Be passionate about your cause
* Have an extensive network of friends and supporters
* Be knowledgeable about your organisation and have key figures and facts about your organisations to hand
* Have a compelling story about why your organisation should be funded
* Research your prosepctive donors
* Ask for advice not money ( I think I will need to write a separate blog about this)
* Understand that 'No' only means 'Hello'
* Track the impact of your work and be prepared to show the results of your work
* Think of innovative ways to raise money
* Work hard to establish connections and good relationships with your funders
* Cultivate your prospects (this could be a separate blog too!)
* Find opportunities to learn more about your prospective donors
* Not worry about making mistakes - see mistakes as learning opportunities
* Dedicate time and resources to fundraising
* Find out what issues your prospects emotionally connect with
Nana Sekyiamah
Programme Officer
Fundraising & Communications
So here is my list so far:
To be a successful fundraiser you need to :
* Be passionate about your cause
* Have an extensive network of friends and supporters
* Be knowledgeable about your organisation and have key figures and facts about your organisations to hand
* Have a compelling story about why your organisation should be funded
* Research your prosepctive donors
* Ask for advice not money ( I think I will need to write a separate blog about this)
* Understand that 'No' only means 'Hello'
* Track the impact of your work and be prepared to show the results of your work
* Think of innovative ways to raise money
* Work hard to establish connections and good relationships with your funders
* Cultivate your prospects (this could be a separate blog too!)
* Find opportunities to learn more about your prospective donors
* Not worry about making mistakes - see mistakes as learning opportunities
* Dedicate time and resources to fundraising
* Find out what issues your prospects emotionally connect with
Nana Sekyiamah
Programme Officer
Fundraising & Communications
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Accra - London - San Francisco
My flight left Accra, Ghana at about 22.30pm GMT and finally arrived in San Francisco, California at about 15.00(about 20.00 GMT) the following day. It took at least an hour to get through immigration...going through US immigration is probably one of the things I hate most about travelling to the US. I always find that I get asked the most inane questions (maybe the questions are not inane and I just hate being quizzed). One of the questions I got asked this time was 'You've been to Turkey?'. I had a Turkish stamp in my passport from a holiday there a year ago and 'Have you been to the US before?'. My answer, 'several times' and the follow up question from the Immigration Officer was ' Was this on this passport or your previous passport'. I guess it was in my previous passport as my current passport was issued in 2006 and I had no US stamps in there. Actually I just realised I probably have it easy when it comes to US immigration.I have dual nationality and carry a British passport...I can only imagine what life would be like if I travelled on a Ghanaian passport.
I am in San Francisco to participate in the 'Women Raising Millions' training program which seeks to enable women's funds to leverage millions. I have been looking forward to this course but also slightly concerned about the fact that the majority of participants are Executive Directors of their own organisations whereas I am a programme officer. After Day 1 of this course, that concern has gone. I still think the other participants have an advantage over me because they are the primary decision makers in their own organisations but the good thing is I haven't felt out of my league at all which was one of my concerns. Part of what I want to do on this blog this week is to share some of my key learnings from this course.
Key learning for me today has been:
* A reminder about the importance of 'story-telling'. When you tell a donor or potential donor about your fund you are able to connect with them at a deeper level than when you state what your mission is.
* Some of the most exciting results we get from the work we fund are 'unexpected' and may not always come across in grantee reports. A good way to get this information is to ask ' What were your unexpected results?'
* Do not ask potential donors for money straightaway. Ask instead for advice. A useful quote that the guest presenter Tuti shared is ' When you ask for money you get advice. When you ask for advice, you get money'.
If you are a fundraiser reading this blog I am really curious to find out what you have learnt about leveraging major funding from individuals? What has had to be in place for you to raise major gifts from individuals?
Nana Sekyiamah
Programme Officer
Fundraising & Communications
I am in San Francisco to participate in the 'Women Raising Millions' training program which seeks to enable women's funds to leverage millions. I have been looking forward to this course but also slightly concerned about the fact that the majority of participants are Executive Directors of their own organisations whereas I am a programme officer. After Day 1 of this course, that concern has gone. I still think the other participants have an advantage over me because they are the primary decision makers in their own organisations but the good thing is I haven't felt out of my league at all which was one of my concerns. Part of what I want to do on this blog this week is to share some of my key learnings from this course.
Key learning for me today has been:
* A reminder about the importance of 'story-telling'. When you tell a donor or potential donor about your fund you are able to connect with them at a deeper level than when you state what your mission is.
* Some of the most exciting results we get from the work we fund are 'unexpected' and may not always come across in grantee reports. A good way to get this information is to ask ' What were your unexpected results?'
* Do not ask potential donors for money straightaway. Ask instead for advice. A useful quote that the guest presenter Tuti shared is ' When you ask for money you get advice. When you ask for advice, you get money'.
If you are a fundraiser reading this blog I am really curious to find out what you have learnt about leveraging major funding from individuals? What has had to be in place for you to raise major gifts from individuals?
Nana Sekyiamah
Programme Officer
Fundraising & Communications
Thursday, September 4, 2008
WHERE IS THE PEACE?
The Northern Region of Ghana has seen so much violence in recent times. The Bawku conflict has been the most prominent but now there appears to be new conflicts as a result of politics. For a relatively peaceful nation like Ghana this is a tragedy!
Political campaigns should be focused on issues which are developmental and should not result in the destruction of meager developmental gains chalked over a rather long period. At the end of the day which group of people suffers most from conflict? Your guess is as good as mine - the grandmothers, the mothers, and the children. No wonder the Regional Minister wept after visiting the scene of chaos, burnt houses and destruction as a result of fighting between supporters of Ghana’s largest political parties. (As depicted by September 4, 2008 edition of the Daily Graphic, one of the major newspapers in Ghana).
That reminds me of a visit Hilda Gorlluh (Program Assistant, Grants) and I carried out in October 2007 when we visited a widows group, ‘Winampang Widows group’ near Bawku, the capital city of the Upper-East Region of Ghana. We broke down and wept after we visited the group. Why did we weep? We were simply overwhelmed with the poverty, misery, agony, disease, food insecurity and all the other challenges facing widows in the group. It is my sincere hope that despite the challenges of living in conflict affected zones, the recent grant provided to ‘Winampang Widows group’ group by AWDF for economic empowerment activities will enable beneficiaries to make a better life for themselves.
People of the Northern Region of Ghana, People of West Africa and people of the African continent, let us give peace a chance. Let us acknowledge the fact that we are all one people with a common destiny. There is no doubt that our continent, countries and regions are very rich in natural and human resources. Let us direct our resources and concert our efforts to development instead of destruction and the vehicle for such a process is nothing, but PEACE.
Grace Amenyogbeli
Administration Manager
Political campaigns should be focused on issues which are developmental and should not result in the destruction of meager developmental gains chalked over a rather long period. At the end of the day which group of people suffers most from conflict? Your guess is as good as mine - the grandmothers, the mothers, and the children. No wonder the Regional Minister wept after visiting the scene of chaos, burnt houses and destruction as a result of fighting between supporters of Ghana’s largest political parties. (As depicted by September 4, 2008 edition of the Daily Graphic, one of the major newspapers in Ghana).
That reminds me of a visit Hilda Gorlluh (Program Assistant, Grants) and I carried out in October 2007 when we visited a widows group, ‘Winampang Widows group’ near Bawku, the capital city of the Upper-East Region of Ghana. We broke down and wept after we visited the group. Why did we weep? We were simply overwhelmed with the poverty, misery, agony, disease, food insecurity and all the other challenges facing widows in the group. It is my sincere hope that despite the challenges of living in conflict affected zones, the recent grant provided to ‘Winampang Widows group’ group by AWDF for economic empowerment activities will enable beneficiaries to make a better life for themselves.
People of the Northern Region of Ghana, People of West Africa and people of the African continent, let us give peace a chance. Let us acknowledge the fact that we are all one people with a common destiny. There is no doubt that our continent, countries and regions are very rich in natural and human resources. Let us direct our resources and concert our efforts to development instead of destruction and the vehicle for such a process is nothing, but PEACE.
Grace Amenyogbeli
Administration Manager
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