New gender fund to benefit women and girls in Africa

Women in Kenya and Africa will benefit from a four-year programme aimed at strengthening their voices in influencing policies and decisions affecting them at the national, regional and global levels.

This follows a partnership between the African Women’s Development and Communication Network (Femnet) and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) – through the Embassy of Sweden in Lusaka, Zambia.

AUTONOMY

The two institutions on Friday entered into a strategic partnership focused on facilitating women’s leadership in policy influencing and advancing their rights for autonomy.

The 46 million Swedish Kroner (Sh563 million) multi-year programme is expected to boost the pan-African membership-based feminist network located in Nairobi in its role to advance women’s and girls’ rights and gender equality through a deliberate and intensified focus on sexual and reproductive health and rights.

FLEXIBLE

Femnet executive director Dinah Musindarwezo said the partnership would help in bringing out transformation in areas that disproportionately affected women and girls at a time women’s rights were under attack.

“This is timely and significant because the need for long-term, flexible, more and better funding going directly to women’s rights organisations and movements operating at different levels is key to achieving gender equality,” Ms Musindarwezo said.

She also called for the strengthening of women’s rights organisations to take leadership in calling for accountability.

MARGINALISED

The partnership came as the world marked International Women’s’ Day.

Femnet's board of directors’ chairperson Emma Kaliya lauded the pact and urged for more to be done in transforming the status of women and girls in Africa for sustainable development to be realised.

“We cannot speak of Africa rising when half of its population is still marginalised based on gender. We cannot be comfortable with Africa’s progress unless women and girls enjoy equal opportunities,” Ms Kaliya said.

SIX COUNTRIES

Ms Mikaela Hildebrand, Sida regional adviser in Zambia, stressed the need to strengthen women right movements in Africa.

In this first phase of the partnership, the programme will target six countries in four sub regions of Africa including Zambia, Mozambique, Tanzania, Rwanda, Liberia and Guinea.

Global advocacy will mainly focus on holding leaders accountable to the commitments made on women’s rights.