African Womens Development Fund - Essay Example

AWDF mobilizes human, material and financial resources in order to foster gender parity in Africa and to promote the rights of African women. AWDF believes that helping women organizations acquire enough skills, adequate livelihoods, information and the chance to actualize transformative decisions gives rise to all-inclusive, dynamic and healthy communities.

Question 2
The problems that AWDF seeks to address are oppression of women’s rights, minimal political participation, conflicts, HIV/AIDS prevalence, economic disempowerment of women, and the absence of health and reproductive rights of women. AWDF sees these problems as social challenges as stark manifestations of the position of powerlessness into which patriarchal African societies relegated the womenfolk. In this light, AWDF describes these issues as thematic areas (goals).

Question 4
The failure to democratize has exacerbated women’s problems. Undemocratic governments lack stable mechanisms for the peaceful transfer of power from one regime to another. Political violence readily erupts after elections in Africa, with women suffering the heaviest casualty. Likewise, these governments, because of the absence of checks and balances, suffer a lot of excesses from the executive wing; with corruption, ineptitude and inequitable distribution of resources being prevalent. Women suffer the most in these governments due to the absence of affirmative action.

AWDF should use these problems as its guidelines and the source of its operational frameworks. Therefore, AWDF’s gains are best measured by the extent to which these problems have been solved.
Question 5
AWDF identifies itself explicitly as feminist. Nominally, the second initial of the acronym AWDF stands for ‘women’. Secondly, the aim of the organization underscores the restriction of its services to women, since AWDF asserts that its chief intent is funding African women’s organizations. Thirdly, AWDF staff comprises women only. Some of its leaders are Professor Bene Madunagu (Nigeria), Prudence Mabele (South Africa), Dr. Rose Mensah Kutin (Ghana), Mrs. Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi (AWDF chief executive officer) and Dr. Hilda Tadria (AWDF, board chair and co-founder) 

Question 6
AWDF mainly exists to secure grants that are to facilitate African women’s organizations. Since its inception in 2001, AWDF has gathered 17 million US dollars as grants, to 800 organizations. These organizations are located in 42 African states. The grants are meant for tackling AWDF’s thematic areas. Read More