Sharing power with partners

Under our strategy to 2030 – Our Feminist Future – we have five strategic goals.  The first goal is: Share power with partners.

Our first strategic goal is about Womankind’s partnerships and sharing power and resources with diverse feminist organisations and movements. Through this, we continue to build on our existing partnership approach to deepen and strengthen how:  

• we share power and resources; 
• we become more transparent and accountable to our partners through meaningful engagement in our development and decision-making; 
• we create opportunities for shared learning and collaboration between Womankind and our partners.  

Here’s how we did that in 2022/23.  

Building an inclusive movement across the Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda

Advancing Women’s Engagement: Strengthening Opportunities to Mobilise for Equality – (AWESOME) is a 5-year advocacy programme to support women’s movements in Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda to work in partnership, be strengthened and more representative of diverse groups of women, with a focus on women with disabilities. In 2022, the programme moved into its second year.  

Since the first learning event for AWESOME held August 2022 in Uganda, partners have been collaborating to strengthen their collective work. This is all with the aim to support the realisation of gender equality, advance women’s participation and leadership and to end to sexual and gender-based violence.    

Kenya   

Women Challenged to Challenge (WCC) and Federation of Women Lawyers Kenya (FIDA) had never worked together before AWESOME. Now the organisations work together and continue to strengthen each other’s capacities. For instance, WCC has supported FIDA to improve its accessibility practices and as a result FIDA translated materials for their events into braille for the first time in 2022. Meanwhile, FIDA held legals clinics for WCC’s constituents to improve their knowledge on their rights.   

Ethiopia  

In Ethiopia, Siqqee Women’s Development Association (SWDA) and Ethiopian Women with Disabilities National Association (EWDNA) now hold annual regional policy dialogues together, conducted an online panel discussion on Oromia television and are working together in their advocacy efforts to lobby policy makers. EWDNA are also providing support to SWDA for their accessibility and inclusion practices.  

“Networking with EWDNA became very supportive in influencing the policy makers and federal bodies of the Oromia region. From working in collaboration with EWDNA, we were able to mobilise the voices of women in the region and the region elected women leaders are very willing to work with us.” – SWDA  

Uganda  

In 2022, National Union of Women with Disabilities of Uganda (NUWODU) and Forum for Women in Democracy (FOWODE) worked together to conduct an annual policy forum at national level with over 100 participants.   

“Along with hosting the learning event in Uganda, we worked jointly with FOWODE in an Annual Sisterhood Forum in November 2022. The two events ignited the flames of partnership and provided an opportunity for the consortium members to meet, socialise, build relationships, learn from each other.” – NUWODU  

The cross-movement building work over the past year through AWESOME shows the strengthening of bonds between partner organisations. Diverse women’s organisations are sharing resources with each other to collaborate on advocacy initiatives, improve their accessibility and inclusion practices and this highlights the impact and power of this type of cross-movement strengthening. Womankind continues to lead the programme management but funds were used to ensure partners take the lead on the in-country collaborative initiatives, communication, and activities working together.   

AWESOME is funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands. 

Collective action for change in Zimbabwe   

In 2022/23, Womankind’s partners Women’s Coalition of Zimbabwe (WCoZ) and Women in Politics Support Unit (WIPSU) continued to work collaboratively on the Collective Action to Realise Equality (CARE) project.  

With funding from the CARE project, the women’s movement (through WCoZ) in Zimbabwe has expanded to three new rural areas over the last year – Seke, Zvishavane and Mount Darwin. In these areas, women are now coming forward to be active members of the coalition, driving narratives on economic equality and setting up savings circles to strengthen women’s economic rights.   

As a result of women’s training through their chapters, WCoZ have also seen women wanting to form their own groups and run for political office in Wange & Zvishavane. In addition, 20 women in Binga are now organising to address wildlife conflict in their area. 

Advocacy initiatives and consensus building as part of CARE led to WCoZ successfully petitioning parliament to implement the recommendation of the CEDAW* committee on Act 8 on trafficked persons. WCoZ demanded that the government provide an update on whether there is a new action plan on combatting trafficking since the last one expired in 2019. As a result, parliament summoned the ministries to respond. Following this, the Ministry of Home affairs launched a new action plan. This achievement shows the power, effectiveness and strength of the coalition’s work.  

Funding for this project under Comic Relief’s POWER UP portfolio is also enabling Womankind to shift resources to and share power with CARE partners and the Zimbabwe women’s movement spaces they are part of more proactively and flexibly. In addition, CARE has influenced the women’s rights agenda through the successful advocacy work of the coalition. Because of this, the CARE project is also contributing to our second strategic goal, Influence the Agenda. This demonstrates the interconnectedness of our work at Womankind in relation to our new strategy.  

*The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) is an international legal instrument that requires countries to eliminate discrimination against women and girls and promotes women’s and girls’ equal rights.