UAF-Africa makes a grant in Sudan.

After the Comprehensive Peace Agreement that ended Sudan's 22-year civil war, Sudan once again finds itself at a crossroads, with a referendum coming up in 2011 that could split the country into two - North and South - or unite it into one state. Either way the ramifications for women from the North and South are significant.
Women in Sudan have been proactive, working for peace and taking a pre-emptive approach rather than waiting to react after the referendum.  Many women have worked for peace with limited resources, little access to support or information. Their work has been fragmented therefore low in its impact and the women recognize the need to connect more and strengthen their initiatives.

Through their Sisterhood for Peace initiative, My Sister's Keeper  in collaboration with Sudanese Women Action Networks (SWAN) and Concern for Mothers and Children in Sudan both local organizations in Southern Sudan organized a conference, bringing women from the North, the South and the Diaspora for training and action planning. The conference dubbed; Pathways to Sustainable Peace, took place from the 25th - 30th July 2010 in Juba, Sudan. The conference was attended by 65 activists from 11 states in Sudan, Darfur, Abyei, Nuba Mountains and other volatile regions in Sudan. 10 of the participants were Sudanese women living in the diaspora (USA & Canada).

Uniquely, My Sister's Keeper included 2 refugee women leaders in this conference. This is uncommon and often refugee women are not recognized or included in the discussions on reconstruction, rebuilding and healing in their countries. As a result, on their return, many feel isolated and there have been recorded instances of hostility between refugee families who return home and the families that did not flee. Refugees have had a different  experiences in exile and on their return home, they are still displaced.
This conference was also a good opportunity to link Sudanese women living in Sudan and the Diaspora with refugee representatives in an effort to strengthen their peacebuilding skills and to collaborate for sustainable peace throughout Sudan. The participation of refugee representatives made this gathering unique and historic, with the potential of giving them new knowledge and skills to take back to the camps and enable them participate in shaping the future of their country.

Urgent Action Fund-Africa facilitated the participation of  the 2 refugee women leaders in the conference . They presented their views and experiences of the refugee community especially now that the country is getting ready for the  referendum.

Urgent Action Fund - Africa

Workshop with Women Human Rights Defenders:

“Money and Our Activism”

26-29 July 2010;

Nairobi Kenya

Activism for women’s rights is as old as the human race. It has taken different forms and shapes at different times in different societies. The goal has always been for the equality of women, for the freedom to participate in whatever social institution or space as equal members. The activism within communities, at national levels and across nations has sought to increase women’s access to knowledge, skills, and resources as tools to enable their equal participation at all levels. Although it has been slow in coming, there has been an international acknowledgement that all aspects of socio-political and economic life cannot move forward without the meaningful input of women. The Third Millennium Development Goal captures this as a global concern: the equality and empowerment of women and girls.
Patriarchy as a system has been the single greatest barrier to women’s equality. Patriarchy thrives on and promotes the subjugation of women and the denigration of female qualities, and perpetuates the myth that female is inferior in leadership, in responsibility, and other critical areas of social organization. As such, under patriarchal systems today, women become a workforce that is undervalued but exploited for production; excluded from decisions on how societies are structured but expected to implement the decisions; kept away from the centre of power yet expected to uphold the power structures that sustain this discrimination.
Women’s human rights defenders have tirelessly put up a fight against undermining the value of women as equal members of community. Much of this activism has emerged from an intense passion and dedication to see these systems and structures that are intent on putting women down overturned. The activists invest their passion, knowledge, and skills towards empowering other women to challenge laws, policies, processes, beliefs, attitudes, decision-making systems, cultural practices, political systems, and family structures that are barriers to women’s equality and participation in these institutions and processes. The activism of women human rights defenders has sought to increase access for women to economic resources, political spaces, and community development initiatives, where women are habitually excluded with negative results on their welfare, rights, participation, safety and dignity. Activism has been present for as long as society has elevated one or more groups, to the detriment of others.
Money has become a bedfellow of activism. Our activism as women human rights’ defenders is often driven by the passion and commitment to the change we seek to make. However, our engagement has increasingly been determined by the money we have and our ability to access more financial resources. Money has become central to the ‘success’ of activism for women’s rights. Money often determines who is listened to and who has influence. We often develop a love-hate relationship with money, and often it has the position of friend and foe in our work and lives. How we relate to money from early on affects how we continue to relate to it as activists and as women leaders. Money has played a part in determining who gets involved in activism; it has affected the structure of the organizations through which we work, how we meet, and how we organize. The world long ago became a cash economy and activism has not been left unaffected by money. Changes in the global economic climate have undermined our work and limited our activism. In addition to the clear threats that women human rights defenders face from their governments and their communities because of their activism, money can be a threat or a tool. But too often we do not talk about our activism and money, unless we are talking about raising funds from a donor.
This workshop allows women human rights defenders to explore their personal and organizational relationship to money, how it has affected the women’s human rights movement, and how it determines who is included and who is excluded, who speaks for women human rights actors and who has to stand in the shadows. We examine the language that money relationships give us, phrases such as “donors” and “grantees” which we have accepted without challenging the power dynamics they create, and how these shape our activism and the issues we prioritize. We also engage the fact that states are increasingly using the control of money to curtail activism and sabotage the work of women human rights defenders. In addition, money has affected the rights we choose to defend and those we exclude, such as the rights of sexual minorities.

WORKSHOP OBJECTIVES
1.    To examine the place of money in our activism for women’s human rights
2.    To interrogate personal, professional relationships with money
3.    To explore the full scope of resources at our disposal for activism and explore strategies for resource mobilization
4.    To consider the place of money and prioritizing activism for minority rights

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Urgent Action Fund-Africa makes 2 grants to respond to Trafficking of women during the world cup.

The 2010 World Cup begins on June 11 in South Africa and the excitement is high.  Countries and nationals surrounding the host nation expect to reap benefits from the event in different ways, particularly in infrastructure, tourism and economic development.

However, there are deep seated fears that the world’s most prestigious football event might negatively impact women and girls in the Southern African region, as increased acts of human trafficking for labour and sexual exploitation are already evident and are expected to increase, given the high levels of poverty in the surrounding region. The region remains one of the areas in the world with increasing trends of human trafficking for sexual exploitation

Women and girls have already travelled to South Africa from countries as far as Ethiopia, Mauritania, Kenya, and Uganda among others,  in pursuit of all the real and imagined opportunities associated with this major sporting event.

Malawi neighbours South Africa and is ranked among the world's most densely populated and least developed countries in Africa. The country is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labour and sexual exploitation. Because of the high levels of poverty, the incidence of sex work is very high, with women earning as little as a dollar for sex with a condom and three dollars for sex without a condom. However, poverty has never prevented men from frequenting sex workers, whose fees are charged according to the purchasing power of their customers.

In early 2010, several Southern African governments including Malawi and Swaziland claimed that there was not much they could do to curb the rapidly rising levels of trafficking, given that they had no tangible documents or data to base their interventions on. Women activists and organizations working on the issues were challenged to produce fact based evidence to which the governments could respond. Research by The  'Stop 2010 Human Trafficking' Campaign in South Africa predicts that 100,000 women will fall victim to human traffickers during the World Cup and be forced into the sex industry

Urgent Action Fund-Africa has given grants to two organisations in Malawi to respond to the trafficking of women and children and the challenges that the sex industry poses in a strategic manner. 
Public health experts and the growing evidence on HIV prevention suggest that sex work is best approached in a context where it is de-criminalized and where sex workers are empowered.

The two organizations Mzuzu Girls’ Coalition and Kachere Progressive Women’s Group have undertaken immediate and intensive advocacy actions aimed at addressing trafficking from the community level. In their actions, Mzuzu Girls Coalition intends to draw attention to the links between sexuality, HIV/AIDS, human rights, development and trafficking.  The group has targeted the youth, especially young women and included activities with young women and girls in schools, faith based meeting places and other institutions. They have also targetted parents, the local police and authorities and community leaders in their intervention.
The groups are working closely with the agents and middlemen who facilitate trafficking, although they admit that it is a daunting challenge.

In their advocacy actions, are working with local radio stations and theatre groups, using music, art and drama. They have also produced Information Education Communication (IEC) materials that they will use in their campaign to educate the local communities against trafficking.

On its part, Mozambique has launched a campaign called "Open Your Eyes" to combat child trafficking and unsafe child migration into South Africa as footballers and fans start arriving there ahead of the Soccer World Cup kick-off on 11 June.

Vacancy Announcement

African Grantmakers’ Network (AGN)

Coordinator


Responsibility:    Coordinate the African Grantmakers’ Network

Reports to:        AGN Steering Committee

Liaises with:    Member-organizations of AGN

Location:    The coordinator will preferably be based within one of the AGN member organizations, but other locations may be considered.

Specific Responsibilities

Working under the supervision of the Chairperson and Co-Chairperson of the steering committee of the AGN, the consultant will provide dynamic coordination of the network. Specifically, he/she will:

·    Efficiently manage and coordinate the core activities of the AGN, which include research and publications on philanthropy in Africa, advocacy for an enabling policy environment, peer learning and exchanges, workshops and convenings, and other membership services.

·    Take initiative in developing and implementing innovative ideas and plans to enlarge and sustain the network.

·    Develop and implement plans for raising the visibility of the AGN as well as building broad support for it.

·    Prepare reports and serve as rapporteur at steering committee meetings.

·    Work with the steering committee to build and strengthen collaborations between the AGN on one hand and philanthropy networks, forums and organizations elsewhere in the world on the other.

Qualifications and Skills

·    Degree and at least 5 years of experience in philanthropy, outreach, and network building.

·    Proven experience of managing membership organizations and networks.

·    Good understanding of international development work

·    Proven ability to function independently, take initiative and manage multiple tasks simultaneously, with prompt follow-through, careful attention to detail and an ability to meet deadlines.

·    Excellent computer skills and knowledge of Microsoft Office applications, including Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, and other fundraising tools.
·    Strong public-speaking skills, fluency in English and French (oral and written), and excellent knowledge of communication and advocacy strategies.

·    Sound judgment and commitment to AGN’s core values of collaboration, accountability and efficiency.

Background on the African Grantmakers’ Network

The Africa Grantmakers’ Network (AGN) was established in July 2009 in Accra, Ghana, as a collective of African grantmaking institutions. The main goals of the AGN are to:

1.    Serve as a platform for peer learning and good practice to enhance good standards and practices.

2.    Amplify local voices in development discourse and African perspectives in global platforms.

3.    Reinforce the tradition of African philanthropy.

4.    Advocate for long-term and sustainable support, including investments and endowments for African philanthropic institutions.

5.    Serve as a reference point for Africans in the Diaspora and affirmation of the identity of African philanthropic institutions.

6.    Cultivate productive relations with other civil society formations in Africa and increase networking for effective advocacy around the aid agenda and the legal environment, including the tax regime.

7.    Conduct pertinent research and capacity building to advance the field of African philanthropy.

How to Apply

To apply, please email resume, cover letter, and a writing sample to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . No phone calls or recruiters please. Deadline for applications: July 30, 2010.
The African Grantmakers’ Network is an equal opportunity employer. Women, minorities, and individuals from Africa are encouraged to apply.

View this announcement online at http://bit.ly/agncoordinator.

APFC in collaboration with national networks working on human rights issues affecting the persons living with HIV, the youth, persons living with disability and women’s human rights intends to advocate for the passing of the Bill as it is, as there are fears that parliament could introduce  amendments.

Urgent Action Fund-Africa makes a grant in Cameroon to advocate for the passing of an anti-trafficking  bill into law.

Cameroon is a source, transit, and destination country for women and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and commercial sexual exploitation. Children are trafficked within  Cameroon from Nigeria, Chad, the Central African Republic, Congo, Benin, and Niger for forced labor in agriculture, street vending and spare-parts shops. Cameroonian children are trafficked to Gabon and Equatorial Guinea for domestic servitude, and forced market and agricultural labor. Cameroon is a transit country for children trafficked between Gabon and Nigeria, and from Nigeria to Saudi Arabia. Cameroonian women are sent by sex trafficking rings to Europe, primarily France, Germany, and Switzerland. There are also reports that religious leaders in Cameroon's Northern Province hold slaves within their locked compounds.

Cameroon is on the Tier 2 Watch List for its failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts to combat human trafficking, particularly in terms of efforts to prosecute and convict trafficking offenders. While Cameroon reported some arrests of traffickers, none was prosecuted or punished; the government does not identify trafficking victims among vulnerable populations nor does it monitor the number of victims it intercepts. The government has neither taken steps to educate law enforcement officials and social workers about the law against child trafficking nor made efforts to finalize and enact the draft law prohibiting trafficking of adults. Moreover, the Cameroonian government has not investigated reports of hereditary slavery in the Northern Province.

Trafficking in women and children for forced prostitution or labor is exacerbated by war, poverty, and flawed or nonexistent birth registration systems in Cameroon and its neighboring countries. Because children who are not registered at birth never formally acquire a nationality, they are easily moved between countries. HIV/AIDS has left millions of Sub-Saharan African children orphaned. By 2010, an estimated 20 million children under the age of 15 in Sub-Saharan Africa have lost one or both parents from HIV/AIDS. These children are left extremely vulnerable to trafficking for forced labor, forced prostitution, or forced combat. Currently, there are increasing numbers of women and children being trafficked into, out of and through Cameroon on their way to South Africa, as these women seek to benefit financially from the 2010 World Cup.

Four of the women trafficked from Southern Cameroon to Gabon have  filed a court case seeking legal redress for the human rights violations they suffered. The women were allegedly forced into sex work and contracted HIV/AIDS, among other sexually transmitted illnesses. In addition, they were forced to use drugs and were physically abused during their stay in Southern Cameroon and Gabon. They eventually found a way to get in touch with their families, who rescued them and got them back to their homes.

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Kampala

End of Uganda’s draconian Anti-Homosexuality Bill?

A committee of Cabinet has made recommendations that could end Ndorwa West MP David Bahati’s proposal to have a separate law punishing homosexuality in Uganda. Media sources privy to the committee’s recommendations indicate that it is likely that Bahati’s Anti-Homosexuality Bill is will be dismissed in parliament.

The committee was put together to advise the government after the MP’s draft legislation put Uganda on the spotlight from the International Donor community and Human rights groups. Media sources indicate that the committee noted technical defects in form and content of the Bill and that nearly all of the clauses were found either redundant, repetitive of existing laws, or even useless.

The review of Bahati’s draft legislation, was started after President Museveni declared that anti-gay efforts at home were disrupting Uganda’s foreign policy after the international donor community threatened to cut foreign aid to Uganda if the Bill passed in parliament. US President Barack Obama termed the proposed legislation draconian and odious. President Museveni is reported to have received a lengthy phone call from US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton over the matter.

Bahati, the architect of the Bill, has repeatedly denied being in a hate campaign, but the human rights movement in Uganda say he lacked evidence to back claims that foreign gays were recruiting young boys in Uganda.
In his draft law, the legislator had proposed life imprisonment for consenting homosexuals. The Penal Code Act already criminalizes homosexuality.

It was hoped that the Cabinet committee would review and make amendments to the draft law but since they found the bill fundamentally flawed, no changes were proposed. Cabinet is yet to discuss the committee’s recommendations.

Urgent Action Fund-Africa gives USD$10,000  to the  Solidarity for African Women's Rights (SOAWR), to influence the African Union’s (AU) decision making processes.

The Solidarity for African Women’s Rights is a coalition of 36 civil society organizations across the African continent working to ensure that the Protocol to the African Charter on the Rights of Women in Africa remains on the agenda of policy makers and to urge all African leaders to safeguard the rights of women through ratification and implementation of the Protocol. 

Improving maternal health and reducing maternal mortality have been key concerns of several international summits and conferences since the late 1980s, including the Millennium Summit in 2000. One of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) adopted at the Millennium Summit is improving maternal health (MDG5).  Despite all the policy frameworks and declarations, maternal mortality rates in Sub Saharan Africa have continued to rise.

Of the estimated total of 536 000 maternal deaths worldwide in 2005, slightly more than half (270 000) occurred in the sub-Saharan Africa region alone. A total of 14 countries had Maternal Mortality Rates of at least 1000 for every 100,000 live births, of which 13 were in the sub- Saharan African region. Most of the deaths are from preventable causes such as unsafe abortions, obstructed labour and anaemia.

SOAWR intends to urgently convene a roundtable meeting of its 36 member-network and other stakeholders to develop a common position ahead of the African Union  Continental Conference on Maternal, Infant and Child Health experts meeting which is scheduled to take place later this month.
SOAWR hopes to influence the  outcome of meeting  which includes a Declaration that will be adopted by African health ministers in May and finally by Heads of State and Government in July 2010. This is the only opportunity to influence governments’ commitments ahead of the AU Summit on Maternal and Child Health in July 2010.

The roundtable will seek to promote strategies, action and accountability by leaders, civil society, UN agencies, the private sector and the wider public to:
·         Strengthen African civil society’s input into the AU policy-making processes;
·         Accelerate the reduction of maternal, neonatal and child morbidity and mortality through provision of services that safeguard women’s and young peoples’ sexual and reproductive health and rights;
·         Increase advocacy, sensitization, mobilization and allocation of adequate resources inoder reduce maternal and child mortality through provision of high-quality emergency obstetric care and neonatal care services and facilities
·         Renew commitment for implementation of the Maputo Plan of Action in Africa during the African Women’s Decade (2010-2020);
·         Renewed commitment to ratification, domestication and implementation of the Protocol on African Women’s Rights by Uganda and other African countries;
·         Strengthen participation of rural women and young people on SRHR issues at national and AU levels;

Urgent Action Fund-Africa makes 5 grants to 5 women organizations in Madagascar.

5  women’s human rights organizations from Madagascar have received grants from UAF-Africa amounting to USD$5,000 each to enable them carry out various strategic activities that enhance the rights of women in their country.
The grants will enable the women organizations carry out the following activities that will strengthen the women’s rights movement and enable them respond with one voice on critical issues that affect women in Madagascar. 


•    apping and documentation exercise that will show the links among the various ongoing economic, political and food crises and their effects on the human rights of women. This information will provide a current and accurate picture of the actual situation in the country and will be used to push forward the women’s agenda regarding transitional justice and reparations, representation and leadership.

•         Legal and legislative strategy- this will includes strategies to seek for legal reforms currently scheduled to take place in the country. It is also expected that the peace agreement that was signed in 2009 may have to be revised in order to accommodate the demands of the two main parties.  The women want to ensure that their needs and views are taken into account in the process.

•         Media strategy- This strategy will increase awareness on the need for respect for women’s human rights,

•         Women’s movement – The women’s movement in Madagascar is said to be divided along various lines including political, religious, generational and class. The grants will seek to  strengthen the women’s movement  by addressing the current issues  among the women. In this way, the women will be united and speak in one voice when seeking to access leadership and decision making in the transitional justice process.

•         Insecurity, impunity, torture, illegal arrests and detention; These atrocities have been on  the rise despite the presumed  peace that is reported in the country. Women’s groups in  Madagascar have reported that ‘a culture of impunity’  is creeping in.

A statement on Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Bill 2009

The Urgent Action Fund-Africa, a Pan-African women’s human rights organisation, notes with great concern Uganda’s draconian Anti-homosexuality Bill 2009, the ongoing parliamentary debates and the suggested amendments to the Bill. We acknowledge that people have different personal persuasions on the question of homosexuality. However, we are deeply concerned that by enacting this law, the State will set a precedent where anyone different from the mainstream can be legally demonized, stripped of their dignity and rights and persecuted, at a time when we seek to establish democratic societies of tolerance and equality. There will be no limit to a state’s tyranny and manipulation of laws to oppress any group of people considered different, dissenting or a minority. We underscore the fundamental principle that people are different in their beliefs, orientation and opinions YET equal in their rights, dignity and worth.
UAF-Africa asserts that all human rights are equal, inalienable, interdependent, and indivisible, and should be promoted, protected, and respected by all states. UAF-Africa holds further that the proposed Anti Homosexuality Bill 2009 is not only in contravention of, but violates Articles 3 (right to life, liberty and security of person), 5 (No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment), 11(presumption of innocence) and 19 (right to freedom of expression) of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights.  The Bill also violates Uganda’s Constitution, the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights, The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and other international and regional human rights treaties to which Uganda is signatory.

In line with the work Urgent Action Fund-Africa has done over the past nine years to raise the visibility of the discrimination and marginalization faced by gays, lesbians, and bisexuals in Eastern, Central and Southern Africa, we stand in solidarity with the gay and lesbian community in Uganda, which is already marginalised since homosexuality is criminalised and punishable by a maximum sentence of life imprisonment (Uganda’s Penal Code 145). The proposed Anti-Homosexuality Bill as it stands empowers the state to impose heavy fines, life imprisonment and death sentences based on an individual’s sexual orientation. The bill further criminalises relatives, counsellors, healthcare providers, religious leaders, and individuals for knowing and not reporting practitioners of homosexuality, imposing a fine of 5 to 7 years on any person who ‘aids, abets, counsels, or engages in the promotion of homosexuality’.
We are alarmed that the Bill proposes that Uganda withdraws from any international agreements to which the country already is a party, or file reservations to them, if they are re-interpreted to include protection for homosexual behaviour, or that promote same-sex marriage, or that call for the promotion or teaching about homosexuality as being healthy, normal, or an acceptable lifestyle choice, or that seek to establish sexual behaviour, sexual orientation, gender identity, or sexual minorities as legally protected categories of people.  This is in contravention of international law which prohibits States from doing such a thing.  Article 26 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties requires that “Every treaty in force is binding upon the parties to it and must be performed by them in good faith.”  

We are greatly concerned that the Anti-homosexuality Bill in its current form or various amendments conflates personal values with state values, creating a never ending downward spiral in legislative practice.  It will lead to widespread and unjust persecution of persons based on their sexual orientation, and will lead to widespread censorship among organizations, the media, and individuals, as they seek to avoid heavy fines or criminal prosecution. We are also alarmed by the Bill’s effect on Uganda’s HIV programming.  Through stigmatizing a certain sector of Uganda’s society, the bill practically drives this sector underground, denying it the right to access health care and other public resources.  This Bill will create an environment of intimidation, fear, and hostility, narrowing the spaces for private and public debate, as well as the principles of freedom of expression.

UAF-Africa is further concerned that the Anti-Homosexuality Bill demonstrates a growing trend in several African countries to enact retrogressive legislation that violates the human rights of minority groups in their countries, in contravention of Article 26 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.  

Urgent Action Fund-Africa therefore calls upon:
•    Hon. David Bahati, the architect of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, to promptly withdraw it from Parliament
•    The Parliament of Uganda not to waste tax-payers’ money debating the bill; and certainly to ensure its defeat if debated, in the interests of safeguarding the values of democracy, tolerance and equality.
•    The Parliament of Uganda to repeal the existing provision of ss.145 of the Uganda Penal Code that criminalizes homosexuality
•    The Ugandan public to be open and debate sexuality issues with the view to understanding that people of different sexual orientations do exist, not only in Uganda, but in ALL communities and countries across the world
•    All Ugandans to unite in publicly condemning this draconian Bill in the interests of their own democratic freedom
•    The international community to stand in solidarity with this group of Ugandan citizens, and other such citizens in different African countries
•    African states to cease drafting and passing similar draconian laws on homosexuality and stop discrimination against fellow citizens on grounds of sexual orientation.  

REFLECTIONS ON THE DONOR ROUNDTABLE: FUNDING THE INTERSECTION BETWEEN CONFLICT AND HIV/AIDS


Adopting a strategy for funding women that takes into account the intersection between conflict and feminization of HIV/AIDS

The convening brought together 55 women from Zimbabwe, Liberia and Uganda, and put them face to face with donors who fund either HIV/AIDS interventions or actions about Gender Based Violence (GBV). For years, donors /INGO’s/NGO’s have dealt with HIV/AIDS, conflict and GBV as separate problems having little or no relation to each other. A two - year project by Urgent Action Fund Africa and Isis-WICCE on “Addressing the intersection between conflict and HIV/AIDS” showed the gap that exists in funding and programming strategies by donors, INGO’s and civil society groups on the twin pandemics. The 2 - year project also revealed that women at the grassroots see little of the large amounts of money that is put into conflict reconstruction, GBV, or HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention projects.

Making the link between the feminisation of HIV/AIDS and conflict

Though Uganda, Liberia and Zimbabwe are different with regards to the type and the stage of conflict or post conflict reconstruction in each country, a similar thread ran through the stories told by the women survivors.
Uganda is described as having a mature epidemic which is a situation in which the government, civil society and donors undertake significant and widespread actions to educate and sensitise the population on the HIV/AIDS pandemic. However from the testimonies of women survivors from Uganda, it was evident that previous initiatives have largely failed to trickle down to the women survivors in Northern and North Eastern Uganda, areas torn apart by the 20-year conflict between the Uganda government and the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA).  In these regions, knowledge on HIV/AIDS, its treatment, and funding for ARVs is limited. This has resulted in high levels of stigma, lack of access to treatment, and loss of livelihood for women who contracted HIV/AIDS as a result of sexual violations faced during the conflict.  
One survivor from Uganda narrated her experience.
She had married into the Teso tribe in Eastern Uganda, a tribe different from her own. During the conflict she was raped several times by LRA soldiers. At the end of the war she learned that she had contracted HIV/AIDS. When her husband’s family discovered her status, they shunned her and accused her of wanting to kill their son (her husband). They kicked her out of her marital home. Though she thought of returning to her ancestral home this was impossible as her family had been killed during the war.
Liberia is described as having a young epidemic.  14 years of civil war resulted in widespread rape, sexual slavery, and other forms of sexual violence that exacerbated HIV/AIDS in the country.  Unfortunately, the volatile situation also meant that little attention was paid to HIV/AIDS by either the government or external actors. At the end of the civil war women survivors of HIV/AIDS faced stigma and isolation. Though the government of Liberia instituted a programme to provide free ARVs, most of the affected women could not access the drugs due to the stigma attached to the infection. 
In Zimbabwe, also a mature epidemic, extreme political violence and the breakdown of the economy has seen many women forced into transactional sex to enable them meet the basic needs of their families. The breakdown in both the economic and physical infrastructure has meant that women have lost their sources of livelihood and those infected, especially women, have been unable to access treatment.

Putting Women at the centre of funding for HIV/AIDS

Increasingly women’s bodies have become the site on which war is waged. Violent conflicts, whether physical or structural, expose women to sexual violence. Yet few donors, INGO’s, and civil society make the link or put women survivors of violence in conflict situations at the centre of their HIV programming. Very few of the HIV initiatives are informed by the lived experiences of women survivors of HIV/AIDS, especially those in situations of armed conflict.  The 2 - year project spearheaded by Urgent Action Fund and Isis-WICCE sought to do just this: to put women at the centre of the decision making with regards to HIV programming. Women survivors of conflict living with HIV/AIDS from the three countries: Uganda, Zimbabwe and Liberia, were consulted about what they needed to improve their lives.  Their ideas informed the small grants that were disbursed to their groups.  They were also trained in self documentation and given cameras, tape recorders and notebooks to enable them record their stories of hope.

Small Grants Work: Putting money directly into the hands of women

Initially, the women in Liberia were reluctant about being part of the project. Several times since the end of war, several people and organisations had come to take their stories and promised help, yet none had been forthcoming. The women were angry and tired of broken promises and did not want to repeat the cycle. The consultant for the project said the breakthrough came when she shared her own story of contracting and living with HIV/AIDS. She stated that sharing her story broke the barriers as it made them see her not as one of the many who had come to take their stories, but as a woman survivor; one of them.  Soon after the preliminary visit in which UAF-Africa and Isis-WICCE participated, the funds were disbursed to 11 different groups and the results have been amazing.
In Liberia the women used the money to start several income generating projects in three groups: One of the groups made laundry and bathing soap and this is now in the market in Liberia. Another group bought foodstuffs and opened stalls in the local markets, and others went into the interior of the country to get palm oil which they sold in the market. The women were educated on the importance of having bank accounts. These small businesses have enabled the women to support themselves and their families with the proceeds from the income generating activities they started. The initiatives have also enabled the women to break stereotypes about women living with HIV/AIDS, sensitise members of their communities on HIV/AIDS and begin to gain acceptance in their communities.
In Zimbabwe the women used the funding to operate a mobile clinic in three growth points in rural Zimbabwe.  Using nurses from the local hospital, they were able to go to different areas in the community providing drugs for opportunistic diseases, as well as educating both women and men on HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention, and reproductive and sexual health practices. In a country where the political violence has destroyed the infrastructure and severely curtailed the ability of women to access treatment, the mobile clinic offers a life line to the members of the community living with HIV/AIDS.

Still more needs to be done
As a pilot, the project revealed that there is a clear link between violent conflict and the feminisation of HIV/AIDS in the three countries. The project also revealed that:
•    This link needs to be programmed into HIV/AIDS funding and intervention strategies
•     Women are particularly affected and it is essential to place them at the centre of the decision making while     programming for and funding GBV and HIV/AIDS intervention strategies.
•    When women are put in the centre of decision making in HIV programming and funding is put directly in their hands, it makes a big difference in enabling survivors of conflict living with HIV/AIDS to create sustainable livelihoods that provide not only for them but for their families and communities.
This project has touched the lives of women involved in a significant way. The activities in the three countries are still in their infancy and need more funding in order to be sustainable.  The success of these projects will enable the survivors of HIV/AIDS participating in them to be free from stigma, and get more empowered to continue participating in the leadership of their communities. 
Unfortunately, these women represent only a small proportion of the women survivors of conflict living with HIV/AIDS.  A lot more needs to be done to ensure that money gets into more women’s hands to make a differenc

RESPONDING TO GENDER BASED VIOLENCE AND HIV/AIDS IN CONFLICT AND POST CONFLICT SETTINGS IN AFRICA.
Dates:  7TH December 2009 - 9TH December 2009
Venue: Nairobi, Kenya

Since 2007, Urgent Action Fund-Africa (UAF-Africa) and Isis-WICCE have implemented a Ford Foundation (FF) supported project on the intersection between HIV/AIDS and Gender Based Violence (GBV). The project focuses on conflict and post conflict settings in Africa and its overall goal is to contribute to a more engaged and informed policy discourse on the connection  between HIV/AIDS and Conflict.

In situations of conflict, sexual and gender based violence has been used to exercise power, humiliate, exact revenge on opponents and systematically destroy the fabric of society to dehumanize communities. In these contexts, the risk of contracting and spreading HIV/AIDS, especially among women and girls, is heightened.

As the project draws to a close UAF-Africa and Isis-WICCE will convene a 3- day international conference on December 7-9, 2009, in Nairobi, Kenya.  The deliberations will focus on:

    Sharing the findings of the 2 year project.

    Highlighting the experiences of women living with HIV/AIDS in conflict and post conflict settings.

    Discussing funding priorities and processes of funding institutions that support HIV/AIDS work, conflict, and women’s rights, in order to encourage a more focused response to the specific needs of women living with HIV/AIDS in Africa.

    Promoting open dialogue between positive women’s organizations and networks with funders supporting HIV/AIDS work.

    Exploring better ways of funding and interaction between institutions that support interventions on HIV/AIDS and positive women.

Participants will include the project grantees, representatives of key funding and donor agencies and experts on conflict, security, HIV/AIDS and GBV.

Nothing for Us, Without Us

While facts reflect current realities, they are an opportunity to interrogate societal perspectives and influence the notions that underpin them. The following were revealed in the course of Day 1 of the UAF-Africa regional workshop on engendering the security sector agenda; Without security, little else can be achieved. It is however evident that ‘SSR remains the last bastion of exclusion for women’.  This is because as these important discussion progresses, women are rarely included and a gender lens is hardly employed, rendering the reform agenda defective. In light of these grim projection, participants at the convening are determined that there can be ‘nothing for us, without us.’ Hence, day 2 of the workshop focused on the gender dimensions in a stable, conflict and post conflict reconstruction contexts vis-à-vis the security sector. This set the stage for the identification of opportunities for engagement as regards engendering the SSR agenda in Africa.
Critical considerations center on the traditional patriarchal identity of the security sector which informs the character of SSR.  Generally, they reflect the structural and institutionalized discrimination against women. Some of the challenges enumerated include; Career progression within the security sector which makes it difficult for women to scale the ranks outside of support and administrative roles. Women being considered ‘spoils of war’ hence normalizing violence against them in conflict situations. The design of disarmament, demobilization, reconstruction and reintegration (DDRR) programmes which do not take into consideration women’s needs. Non-inclusion of women in key decision making processes post-conflict. Non-existence of engendered legal and policy frameworks.
Beyond outlining the pitfalls above, participants identify action points that will form the basis of the strategy session on day 3 of the meeting. We are in agreement that multi-pronged approaches will be more useful in integrating gendered concerns within the SSR agenda.  Since discussions on SSR are technical, any successful engagement requires an appreciation of understanding the nexus between women’s empowerment and security. One of the ways to do this is investing in the creation of a knowledge base. While it is important to form strategic linkages and networks at all levels, it is clear women’s rights actors need to be astute in their selection of forums/partners to engage with as a means of ensuring their goals are met and sustained.
At the end of day 2, it is clear that this workshop is not lacking in dynamic forces needed to transform the SSR agenda.

'The meek will NOT inherit the earth'

Liberian President Ellen Sirleaf Johnson.

And to echo her words women human rights actors in Africa want to get actively involved in security sector reforms in their countries.  This in view of the fact that few women have been involved in discussions around security, because security is seen as an arena for men.  Now, more than ever, women are questioning how power is accessed, controlled and exercised.  Women’s participation in security sector reforms will make a strategic difference and they can only do this if they are equipped with knowledge.
This workshop is designed to provide women rights organizations from Africa with a knowledge sharing opportunity as to why gender issues are important and why it is important to integrate them in the Security Sector Reforms . This workshop also provided us with an opportunity to enhance our  understanding of SSR,  and the meaning of security from a gendered lens.
Today was the first day of the three day workshop bringing 30 participants from 13 African countries. From today’s deliberations it emerged that one of the most vital steps to establishing and managing peace during and in post conflict times, is to transform the institutions, policies and people who are responsible for the security of communities.
Security Sector Reform (SSR) centers around those institutions with the capacity and authority to legitimately use force, the military, police and other law enforcement institutions.  While various components of security reform, such as disarmament programs, was the preserve for the post-conflict reconstruction, SSR seems to be moving up the regional agenda and is increasingly shaping peacekeeping and peacebuilding missions.
Women rights organizations are demanding that the reform activities must be engendered in terms of gender-sensitive training, recruitment of women, and facilities for dealing with gender-based violence. These activities to gender mainstream SSR seem to distinctly split those focused on reforming international policies and people (troop and police contributing countries), and those focused on transforming domestic security sectors in post-conflict societies.
In its simplest form, SSR means transforming the security sector/system. It is the transformation of all the security sector actors, their roles, responsibilities and actions to form a system in which members of the security sector working together with citizens manage and operate the security system in a manner that is consistent with democratic norms and sound principles of good governance, contributing to a well-functioning security framework. Security sector reforms (SSR) are informed by various perspectives, in the context of post conflict countries and emerging democracies in Africa, SSR are a critical part of enhancing public confidence in the institutions responsible for governance and ensuring human security for all sectors of society. SSR opens a window of possibility to transform security policies, institutions and programmes, creating opportunities to integrate gender issues.

With increased knowledge and interest in rights as well as governance issues, more stakeholders are increasingly confronting and addressing SSR. Where states have engaged, most discussions have been and continue to be gender neutral; women have been viewed mainly as recipients of security sectors services and not actors in it. The gender neutral discourse on SSR ignores fact that women, men, girls and boys have different security experiences, needs, priorities and actions depending upon both their gender and sex.

The integration of gender issues is crucial to operational effectiveness, local ownership and strengthened oversight of the security sector. For example, increasing the recruitment of female staff, preventing human rights violations, and collaborating with women’s organisations contribute to creating an efficient, accountable and participatory security sector, which responds to the specific needs of men, women, girls and boys.

A Gender Conscious Reform Agenda

From 29th July to 31st July 2009, Urgent Action Fund-Africa will bring together women human rights actors from the African region to reflect on the pertinent Security Sector Reform (SSR) issues and engage the gender aspects of SSR. It is becoming evident that in post conflict countries as well as emerging democracies in Africa, reforms in the security sector are a critical part of enhancing public confidence in the institutions responsible for governance and the delivery of security. The reforms are an opportunity to formulate ways of increasing civilian, and, particularly, women’s oversight of the actions of the security sector. UAF-Africa’s aim is that, at the end of the workshop, participants will be familiar with the language of SSR, the issues that states and civil society organisations are considering, and the key gender issues that should be a part of the SSR programmes. We seek to enhance the awareness and engagement of women’s organisations in Security Sector Reforms as they relate to the human rights actors and their areas of work.

OBJECTIVES OF THE WORKSHOP

1. To enhance awareness among women human rights actors on security sector discourses and Security Sector Reforms
2. To equip women human rights actors to engage in the discussions on policy making, institutional structures, accountability and resource management in Security Sector Reforms in conflict, post conflict, politically volatile and growing democracy settings
3. To contribute to a gender-aware approach on Security Sector Reforms

This workshop was financed by the MDG3 GRANT.

Recognizing the linkages between conflict, sexual violence and HIV/AIDS in Mt. Elgon District

June 2009

Urgent Action Fund – Africa, Rural Women’s Peace Link, Women for Justice and the Gender Violence Recovery Center of the Nairobi Women’s Hospital carried  out a medical and psychosocial intervention to address the sexual and psychological consequences of conflict on women in the Mt. Elgon District of Kenya.
The intervention,provided an opportunity for survivors of sexual violence to access expert sexual health services with the aim of improving their conditions following their experiences during conflict. VCT services were also availed.
The medical camp was a follow up of an intervention carried out by the Kenyan alumni of the 2009/2010 Isis – Women in Cross Cultural Exchange Institute; "Human Rights, Human Security and Participation: Documenting Women's Experiences in Situations of Armed Conflict".  The country project assessed the violations that women and girls went through during armed conflict in Mt. Elgon District with the aim of analyzing the magnitude of sexual violence that had happened during the armed conflict in the area. Following documentation of the findings, the organizations realized that there was an urgent need to respond to the lack of access to medical services for survivors of sexual violence.
The objective of the camp was to ensure that survivors of sexual violence have enhanced capacity to participate in post conflict reconstruction as well as improving their conditions and restoring dignity.
The medical camp was made possible through the generous support of Isis- Women in Cross Cultural Exchange and the Ford Foundation Office for Eastern Africa.

Tales from the Mountain of Horror.

June 2009

Our journey to Mt Elgon from Eldoret town began at 6am on Saturday June the 20th.  A team of six journalists equipped with their tools of trade; determined to document stories from the survivors of various forms of violence meted out on them by both the SLDF and the Kenyan military.
I was expecting to find the army roaming the streets and deserted farms. But to my pleasant surprise, Mt Elgon is beautiful and very fertile. But for the past three years the land has not produced any food. People were on the run getting away from the terror of a local militia.  
Schools were closed and the health care system collapsed.
Injuries inflicted by the rebels, such as the cutting of ears and other body parts, as well as rape, went untreated. Women and children bore the brunt of the violence from the Sabaot Land Defence Force.

Vicky Karimi, Program Officer UAF-Africa with one of the women whose ear was chopped off because she could not  give the militia 15 Dollars. She only afford 5.

The Kenya army arrived in Mt Elgon in March 2008 to stop the killing sprees that had become synonymous with the militia. The local people were delighted, they hoped for some peace and quiet. Three days later the beatings and torture began as the military smoked out the SLDF from among the civilians. In the process the army committed grave human rights violations. Soldiers raped women and killed those suspected to be members of the militia.

Our journey took us to Cheptais village.  Here we met Mrs Salome Matakwei, wife of the slain SLDF leader Wycliffe Matakwei.  Her story is that of rejection from her neighbours. They see her as having contributed to their suffering.  
“I met my husband 10 years before the conflict over land begun. And when I got married to him I had no idea he would turn out to be a militia leader. What was I to do when he formed the militia? Do you now see what I have been through? I have suffered like all the women of Mt Elgon but some see me as being part of their problem.  I feel for those whose husbands and sons were killed. I am a mother like them and I feel their pain.  The villagers have ostracized me. I feel lonely and dejected. My children are also treated as outcasts.  I am trying like the rest of the community to pick up the pieces and reconstruct my life!.

Salome Matakwei with her children.

“For now the Ministry of Health is training me as an HIV counselor. This, I hope will help me feed the children Matakwei left behind and keep me busy since I have no land to till.”

Mary *, discovered she was HIV positive during a routine antenatal check-up. The pregnancy, and the HIV infection; are the result of rape by members of the militia.
She narrated her ordeal to us: “I was preparing dinner for my family when we heard footsteps, and before we knew what was going on, our door was kicked open by five men carrying all manner of weapons. They accused my husband of being a traitor, and they dragged the two of us out of the house. They then raped me in turns saying I should pay the price on behalf of my husband. They beheaded him as I watched and fed his head to my neighbours dogs.
“Those of us who turned HIV positive after the rapes by the military and the SLDF have been dying in silence because we are stigmatized. It has been a double tragedy for us.  

Janice*  narrated her own experience,  “At night the soldiers would come and rape us. I heard commotion next door. I woke up and came outside. As I was hiding in the bushes, I saw my neighbor there on the ground outside her house. Three soldiers all took their turn. We cannot forget the trauma we have gone through in the hands of the SLDF and the military. We have been wondering what kind of generation of children we are raising because our sons and daughters witnessed these atrocities.”

We thought we had heard the worst… Until we met Gladys Ndiwa (below). Her story shocked us all. She looks eight months pregnant but she is not. She is only 29, and in her own words she has been to hell and back. Her belly has been growing since 2007. She was examined at a local dispensary but the health workers could not establish what the problem was. The Rural Women Peace link with the support of Urgent Action Fund-Africa sent her for treatment at the Moi Referral Hospital in Eldoret.  Gladys has been admitted at the Hospital for the past one week. Doctors say she is responding well to treatment.

Gladys*

“We are hurting as women because we gain nothing from conflict.  As women we have no tribal boundaries.  Our husbands were taken away. Some crawled back while others have never come back”, Margaret* told us.
At Chekue Primary school,  we met Josepk Kemboi. This is what he told us . “ I was sleeping in my house one night when hell broke loose. There were gunshots and every in direction I looked I saw people being rounded up by the army.  My wife was raped and killed as they tortured me and crushed my genitals. She was eight months pregnant with twins.  Sometimes I ask myself why they left me to live.  I have four young children to take of and am ailing from the torture.
We left Mt Elgon burdened by the tales from these simple citizens, but determined to make sure that their stories are known by others. We must work together to ensure that the day comes soon when women will not have to pay with their bodies for the mistakes made by men!

Kenyan Women and children bear the brunt of the Mt Elgon Conflict
June 2009

Dr Caroline Mwangi of Nairobi Women's Hospital examines Chepkiror Ng'irongle  during the medical camp.

Leadership training with sex workers!

There is nothing conventional about this workshop. From the title, to the group of participants, to the structure of the workshop, to the substance of the discussions, to the time we are keeping. Nothing is conventional.

Yet this is possibly one of the most empowering spaces I have been in. We spent day one reflecting on who we are and why we are here. I like to call it leveling the playing field. Hope, the ever versatile facilitator, took us out of the room to the outdoors. Standing in a circle, with no front or back, with no leader and followers, as women we realized that however different our journeys, our experiences, our possibilities in life, our common experiences as women united us. To be exact our relationships with our vaginas across the world makes our standing as women common, similar. Of course when we learned the proper translation of the word vagina in Swahili, nyeti, no one could stop saying Nyeti. Every conversation was punctuated with the word Nyeti. It signified a sense of liberation, taking ownership of our vaginas, and celebrating them as the core of our womanhood.


Back indoors, we began a body mapping exercise, in which we first sat in groups and talked about the stories, the journeys that have shaped us, and for the sex workers, the journeys that have set them on this path. It was a profound session. Amidst the tears that flowed, the bursts of laughter, the nods of understanding, we as women talked about the things that have shaped us and set us on the path of life we now walk. Of course having a counselor present, one who is not judgmental, is one of the best things we included in this workshop.

With the tears gone and life stories laid out on the table, we embarked on an exercise of drawing an outline of our bodies. Not symbolically, literally! We joined sheets of flipchart paper together and one by one we laid down on the flip chart sheets and had a partner draw an outline of each woman’s body while she lay on the sheets of paper. Thereafter, each of us filled in the sketch with words, drawings and descriptions of who we are; celebrating our femininity.

What a powerful exercise!

The result was lifesize portraits of 30 women hanging all over the wall, with clear drawings of the breasts, vagina and celebratory messages of who we are as women. With the drawings hang up, we went round the room and one by one each woman talked about herself, got a chance to boast, to celebrate her womanhood, her attributes, her difference, her power and her work. Every woman left the room empowered, knowing that she is not alone. Other women have been through similar joys and challenges. Further, every woman has something special about her, something that makes her unique, something that she can boast about. The work we do does not define us, who we are inside and out defines us.
The intense day ended with an evening meal that we shared while sitting on cushions on the floor in a circle and eating in whatever way was comfortable. 
Nothing is conventional about this workshop. And perhaps by walking a ‘crooked path’ we are charting a course that we all need to walk, bringing along with us honesty and acceptance of each other without trying to change the essence of who we are as women, without trying to get anyone to conform to what you think is acceptable. A celebration of our diversity.

Urgent Action Fund-Africa has partnered with Akina Mama Wa Afrika to make this training possible.

News: In  Nov 2008 UAF-Africa hosted consultations with two UN Special Rapporteurs:

UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences;
PROF. YAKIN ERTURK
And
The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights Defenders
MRS. MARGARET SEKAGGYA.
Date: 5th -6th Nov 2008
Location: Nairobi


The conference brought  together Women Human Rights and peace activists, regional networks, policy-makers as well as scholars and researchers to share experiences and strategize for more effective networking and partnership with the Special Mandate holders of the United Nations Human Rights Council.

This conference sought to

Identify various methods of improving communication on the rapporteurs’ mandate, reporting and follow up with a wide range of local, national and regional human rights organisations and networks of NGOs within the Great Lakes Region. 

Support the collaboration and cooperation between Special Mandate holders for the benefit of advancing a wide range of concerns on women’s human rights within Africa and particularly the Great Lakes Region.
*
Examine the relationship between women’s and human rights organisations, governments, donors and multilateral and regional entities. Participants will explore how the nature of these relationships encourages or hinders women’s access to civil society spaces and to decision-making in order to address violations of women’s human rights.
*
Establish the strengthening of relationships with regional mechanisms for the protection of human rights in Africa and with National Human Rights Institutions.