• Africa Women Independent Forum
  • network of women
  • AWIF
  • women around Africa
  • excellence in women
  • Africa
  • african women

 

Who We Are

The Africa Women Independent Forum (AWIF) is a dynamic network of women and women’s organisations around Africa, committed to achieving gender equality, women’s socio-economic and human rights through strengthening the voice, impact and influence of women’s rights advocates, through lobbying, mentoring, networking, strategic alliances, and developing and recognising excellence in women. African Women Independent Forum creates interconnected networks committed to facilitating enduring transformation, through lobbying, mentoring, networking, strategic alliances, and developing and recognising excellence in women.

 

Vision

Promoting and empowering African women’s activism while contributing towards improving the quality of life of grassroots women and women's organisations.

Aim

Our aim is to strengthen our collective voice, consolidate women’s multi-dimensional thinking, by providing opportunities for women’s organizations to openly express their views.

Mission

Our mission is to rebuild women’s activism by advancing economic liberty, personal responsibility and political freedom and to act as a platform for mutual support and advancing human rights, gender justice and lobbying for social change.

Objectives:

  • Promote women’s contribution to fostering a culture of peace- building that will empower women to be the leading force for democratic and peaceful elections.
  • Provide a platform for constructive debate on human rights with a view to putting human rights at the foundation of the AWIF framework
  • Strengthening women’s movements according to own organizational forms and models and contributing to a broader activist intervention in political, social and economic life.
  • Popularize the Maputo Protocol and other AU and UN instruments like the CEDAW, UN Resolutions on Women with simplified publication and also translated into local languages, and through local media used by communities.
  • The forum stands as a platform for all women, women’s organisations and women’s institutions in Africa and stands to ensure that information are freely available amongst members and all women concerned and to ensure that there be a mutual understanding of all matters affecting women throughout their countries.
  • Provide a platform and opportunity for dialogue between numbers of this forum and other women and play a vanguard and catalytic roles in order to tackle regional and national issues.

Forum Goals are to:

 

  • To serve as an annual reflection space for a cross section of women in the region;
  • Become a hub of debate, sharing brainstorming and action where women from Africa can speak
  • Monitor influences international development policies particularly the AU women’s Rights Protocol as well as the solemn Declaration
  • Develop and support advocacy campaigns initiated by members at the local, national, and international levels;
  • Build solidarity among, and support, individuals and organisations engaged in democracy activism;
  • Increase interaction and communication among and between various transnational networks, including those working on women’s rights, human rights, peace, and environmental issues
  • To enhance collaboration with the African Union (AU), NEPAD; the African Commission on Human and People's Rights as well as other intergovernmental organizations; the various regional economic communities and institutions including the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the various United Nations agencies
  • Increase the participation of women in conflict resolution at decision-making levels and protect women living in situations of armed and other conflicts

 

 

Our approach to working with network members and strategic partners

  • Empowerment: Our members and allies are empowered and supported to take actions based on their own knowledge and experiences.
  • Grassroots & community led: Our actions are informed and led by grassroots and community organisations and the people whose lives are affected by such as Human Rights treaties, ICPD and the SDGs.
  • In partnership: We work globally, in partnership with members, SRHR activists and allies to strengthen its impact and work to achieve shared goals.
  • Information: Offering information, creating online resources centre and guidance that presents information and knowledge on the priority areas of the forum to women's organisations, grassroots movements and activists working on the ground to empower women and girls.
  • Knowledge sharing: Providing African women with an annual platform for sharing ideas, become a hub of debate learning and creating linkages to build up leaders in African society.
  • Participation: Facilitating the participation of women in national and local politics.
  • Monitoring : Evaluate and influences international development policies particularly the AU Women’s Rights, UNCSW and Protocol as well as the Solemn Declaration
  • Accountability: Producing an annual report as an audit of the status and condition of women in each African country.
  • Capacity building: Providing training and skills development to increase women's awareness and develop strategies for activism and create a supportive mechanism for women.

 

Our core values are consistent with activist values and include:

  • We foster growth and expansion through consolidating and strengthening the capacity of partners.
  • We use new information, networking and communication technologies to facilitate communication and sharing of knowledge and skills
  • Embracing women’s leadership-past, present and future
  • Respecting different points of view
  • Empowerment; Sharing knowledge of ideas
  • Supporting a global, national and local network of women leaders
  • Dignity , respect and opening possibilities
  • Nurture a new crop of future women leaders
  • Integrity; Solidarity and transparency