African Women Development Fund disburses US$2.2m to women groups
The African Women Development Fund (AWDF), a pan-African women’s grant-making foundation, awarded a total of US$2,284,250 to 130 women’s rights organisations in 27 countries in 2013.
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It awarded the grants in six thematic areas, namely, economic empowerment and livelihoods, arts, culture and sports, governance, peace and security, health and reproductive rights, HIV/AIDS and women’s human rights.
The beneficiary countries included Ghana, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Mali, Morocco, Nigeria, Cameroon and Cote d’Ivoire.
The rest are DRC, Ethiopia, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somaliland, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Gambia, Togo, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The Communications Officer of the AWDF, Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah, told the GRAPHIC BUSINESS in Accra that in all, more than 397,020 women in 502 communities benefitted directly from the supported projects.
She said 57 per cent of the supported women’s rights organisations were small to medium sized operating on budgets of less than US$100,000 a year.
“For many of these organisations, AWDF was their only donor for 2013. AWDF has identified credible women’s groups across the continents who understand their local contexts very well. It is critical to work with such organisations that recognise and work to provide the needs of women in their communities,” she said.
She noted that it was important to strengthen the economic base of women, since they represent more than half of the world’s workforce and make critical contributions to the development of their communities.
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Specifically, in the period under review, she said 45 women organisations and groups were provided a total amount of US$673,200 under the Economic Empowerment and Livelihoods theme.
The supported initiatives and projects undertaken directly benefitted over 3,400 women and girls in 223 communities, she noted.
“These groups included street hawkers, unemployed women and young women, commercial sex workers, teenage mothers and women farmers. In order for women to attain financial and economic autonomy, the value of investments in the development and leadership processes of their communities must be publicly acknowledged and incorporated,” she acknowledged.