Africa: 16 days of activism campaign

The world will be marking 16 days of Activism Against Gender Violence from November 25th to December 10th 2004. Once again, women's organisations and human rights activists all over the world will come together in their various communities to do the following:

· Raise awareness on all forms of gender-based violence against as a human rights issue at the local, national, regional and international level.

· Strengthening local work around violence against women.

· Demonstrating the solidarity of women both locally and internationally to organise against violence against women.

· Creating tools to pressure governments to implement promises made to eliminate violence against women.

AWDF small grants will support activities such as printing of posters, tee shirts, organizing radio shows, one-day seminars, marches, rallies etc. Last year, the AWDF awarded a total of USD$15,000 in grants to the following 17 women’s organisations in Africa. The AWDF will award USD $15,000 to 17 organisations, namely:

Association pour la paix et la solidarite – Burkina Faso
Association pour le progres et la Defense des Droits des Femmes (APDF) – Mali
BAOBAB for Women’s Human Rights – Nigeria
Foundation for Female Photojournlists – Ghana
International Action for Development Initiatives – Ghana
Kaabong Women’s Group – Uganda
Nana Yaa Memorial Trust for Good Quality Maternity Service – Ghana
S.O.S Femmes Bibliotheque des Femmes - Mauritius
Women in Law and Development in Africa (WILDAF) – Ghana
Women Writers of Nigeria (WRITA) - Nigeria
Women’s Consortium of Nigeria (WOCON) – Nigeria
Uganda Health Empowerment Project (UHEP) – Uganda
Akina Mama Wa Afrika – Uganda
UWONET - Uganda
ISIS-WICCE - Uganda
Bayiral Rural Women’s Development

The AWDF is the first autonomous Africa-wide fundraising and grant-making organisation set up to provide grants to African women’s organisations. The vision of the AWDF is for African women to live in a world in which there is social justice, equality and respect for women’s human rights. The mission is to mobilize financial resources to support local, national and regional initiatives led by women, leading to the achievement of this vision.