Advocating for gender equality in West Africa

  • Year: 2019
  • Duration: 29 months
  • Locations: Ghana, Sierra Leone
  • Grant stream: Archive projects
Issue

Little progress on global gender equality commitments and a regional backlash against women’s rights has made it harder for women in West Africa to advocate for gender equality and to present a unified voice.

Project partners
The Network for Women's Rights, Ghana
Advocacy Movement Network, Sierra Leone
West Africa Civil Society Institute
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How we are helping

Strengthening the capacity of individuals, organisations, and networks in Sierra Leone and Ghana to engage in governance processes and advocate for gender equality.

About the project

Women’s movements are stronger when they work together and share a common agenda. We are working in Ghana and Sierra Leone to strengthen women’s movements by providing technical support for coalition building as well as organising meetings for the exchange of knowledge and training on how to engage in policy processes.

This project aims to bridge some of the existing gaps in the women’s movement across rural, urban, and intergenerational divides to increase buy-in and public support for gender equality.

The project focuses on integrating an intersectional analysis. It intends to recognise the obstacles faced by younger, older, and rural women.

In Ghana, the project actively involves rural women by focusing on issues of importance to them and supporting them to advocate for the changes they want to see. We are hosting trainings and creating opportunities for the women to engage with duty bearers and other stakeholders during community dialogues and district-level roundtables. We hope to re-energise the women’s movement in Ghana by broadening not only the constituency base but also the issues to focus on.

In Sierra Leone, structured intergenerational dialogues in communities raise people’s awareness of gender issues and aim to identify priority issues; these interventions have the ultimate aim of getting individuals or groups to commit to taking action on gender discrimination. These are then amplified in creative, media and public information campaigns to influence public discourse on gender equality.

Participants in this project have also received support from the Commonwealth Foundation to voice their concerns at the Commission on the Status of Women’s annual two-week session at the United Nations Headquarters.

Project Partners
The Network for Women's Rights, Ghana

The Network for Women’s Rights in Ghana (NETRIGHT) is a network of civil society organisations and individuals who have a clear interest in working together to bring a gender perspective into national processes and advocate for policy change to strengthen women’s human rights.

Advocacy Movement Network, Sierra Leone

AMNet’s mission is to deepen right holders’ understanding about human rights and social justice as a means for them to reflect on their own lives and use their skills to make informed choices as agents of social change.

West Africa Civil Society Institute

The West Africa Civil Society Institute was established by the Open Society Initiative for West Africa in 2005 to reinforce the capacities of civil society in the sub-region.