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Current Projects
Feminist Alternatives or FEMALFEMAL is a group of feminist activists who are driven by the need to find meaningful alternatives to leadership and power and for real social transformation where women, and all people, can be free to realize their full potential and humanity. Geographically located in South Africa and Southern Africa, they have worked and organized nationally and globally against sexism and oppression. Through the entity of Feminist Alternatives, they have collectively committed to building initiatives that help unite the voices and actions of women in poor and working class communities across national boundaries and borders for more cohesive and louder impact. Feminist Alternatives is run by a collective comprised of Shereen Essof, Sipho Mthathi, Rukia Cornelius and Nosipho Twala and supported by a reference group of feminists in South Africa and other parts of the African continent. The vision of FEMAL is as follows: Out of our collective experience of organizing comes a formation that seeks to create an autonomous feminist space from which to confront patriarchy and all forms of oppression resulting in a freer world. The focus is on challenging received notions of politics and organizing in order to disturb the status quo; to amplify the voices, experiences and organizing power of women and to challenge and overcome patriarchy through confronting power, living alternatives and prioritizing women’s health and well being. The seed funds from the Joint Gender Fund are in support of the setting up of the office infrastructure and some of the activities of FEMAL. back to topSocial Change Assistance Trust (SCAT)The Social Change Assistance Trust is a 24 year old rural development and community grant making organisation working in the Northern Cape, Eastern Cape, Western Cape and North West Province. One of the funding criteria central to its partnerships with rural community based organizations is that 50% of the leadership must be women and there must be a gender balance at all levels of the organisation. Scat coordinates an HIV and AIDs programme which supports community driven initiatives as well as a local economic development strategy focused on food security and promoting organic practices. Scat’s Mission is to partner with rural community based organizations in order to contribute effectively to rights based endeavours that improve the quality of life in their communities. The target group for the gender programme is marginalized women. The programme aims to give attention to elevating the status of women through capacity building, local economic development and HIV and AIDs interventions. The objectives of the programme are: to improve the status of women through the promotion of women in leadership in rural communities; to decrease the incidence of violence against women and children, domestic violence through well run campaigns and provision of access to justice services; to increase the understanding of people in rural communities of the relationship between gender and HIV and AIDs and promote partnership between men and women in the prevention of, care and support for people infected and affected by HIV and AIDs. SCAT's Websiteback to top Women’s Net – Keep Your Chats Exactly That! campaignWomen’s Net is a well known, vibrant and innovative feminist networking support programme that was originally started in 1998 as a project of the Commission on Gender Equality and SANGONET. Girl’s Net was launched in 2004 and it focuses on training girls on how to use technology for self expression, and has established tech schools in four provinces. Women’s Net works in South Africa and Southern Africa more broadly. The nature of the work of Women’s Net has enabled them to develop a regional, continental and international profile and reputation as a project that disseminates relevant information and supports feminist and gender-aware organizations in their work to advance gender equality. Women’s Net is an active partner within an Africa-wide network of women in ICTs that have taken on the challenge of promoting ICTs for social development and gender transformation. The aim of the Keep Your Chats Exactly That campaign is to educate young people, with a focus on girls, about their rights and responsibilities when using online and mobile applications. The change that they are working towards through the campaign is for girls to actively and safely participate in online and mobile social networks so that they have increased access to information, points of support and are part of the information society. In addition they would like to see an increase in parent’s understanding of the warning signs of abuse, and action from parents to create a safer environment for children using online and mobile social networks. Through the year long campaign workshops will be held at schools in at least three provinces, information kits will be distributed and curriculum for lessons on digital safety to schools and public access point in at least 200 schools. An SMS “help line” offering advice for girls, boys, parents and teachers on safety will also be established. The Joint Gender Fund will be contributing to the core and programme costs of the campaign. back to top Namakwaland Ontwikkeling (NAMKO) Sentrum “A group of individuals with little money is more powerful, than one individual with a lot of money” NAMKO which is based in O’Kiep, a small community located in the Namakwaland region of the Northern Cape was first conceptualized in 1992. The Rural Development Support Project played a role in the inception of the organisation and assisted them to conduct a baseline assessment. The same organisation provided organizational development support which resulted in the birth of a youth development programme governed by a local community governance structure. The effect of the mine closures which started in 1998 in the Namakwaland area adversely affected the livelihoods of people and hence the need for a vibrant and responsive civil society. NAMKO has identified the need for change around unequal gender relations and have opted for economic empowerment through savings as a strategy to assist women to become economically independent so that they are enabled to make choices about their lives. There are three programmes managed by NAMKO, all of which have a women centred approach. The three programmes are: The Women Empowerment Programme which has a capacity building focus; the Savings Movement and the Inspirited Programme which supports women who have experienced trauma. Action groups have been formed within the savings groups to assist some of the women to deal with gender based violence and HIV and AIDS. These groups provide a safe space for sharing and building solidarity amongst the women. There are approximately 800, mostly unemployed women from four surrounding communities, participating in the Savings Movement. Through their involvement in the Savings Movement the women have access to a support structure, space to share challenges and to learn skills such as budgeting and saving towards a goal. An elderly woman whose Identity Document was being withheld by a cash loan provider for a period of nearly 10 years is part of the savings group and she has managed to pay off her debt and obtain her Identity Document from the lending institution. NAMKO is working collaboratively with Lawyers for Human Rights, You and Your Money, Women on Farms, Surplus People’s Project and KOOR. The overall goal of NAMKO is: “To empower and build self reliance of communities in the Namaqualand region.” The organisations’ objectives are to build a savings and economic movement; to reduce reliance on money lenders and thereby avoid debt and to develop a culture of savings. One of the spin offs of the savings movement is that more and more youth who are the children of some of the women are taking an avid interest and participating in the savings group. The grant from the Joint Gender Fund will contribute to the organizational running costs and programme costs of the three programmes and staff capacity building. In 2001, AIDS Response was started as a project of the Grail Centre Trust in collaboration with DELTA and with funding from CORDAID and MISSIO. The Faith Based Organisation (FBO) programme which has now been integrated into the Care for the Caregiver programme and the Linking, Lobbying and Learning programme.was initiated to address the growing stigma attached to the AIDS pandemic within faith communities by helping FBOS to develop healthier responses to HIV and AIDS. The second programme coordinated by AIDS Response is the Care for the Caregiver programme. This is the core programme of the organisation and it focuses on providing good quality psycho-social support to organizations working in the HIV and AIDS sector, targeting home based carers, Voluntary Counselling and Testing counselors, those working in the OVC and children’s sector and other health practitioners providing prevention, treatment and care services in the Western Cape and beyond. The work with caregivers has extended to the Eastern Cape, Northern Cape and Limpopo, as well as partnerships with organizations such as the Treatment Action Campaign, the South African Red Cross Society, the Social Change Assistance Trust and the Network AIDS Community of South Africa (NACOSA). In 2007 AIDS Response became independent from the Grail. AIDS Response works on the premise that care work is gendered as it is mainly women that are caregivers and the role of caregivers is undervalued. Some caregivers are living with HIV and have to confront their own challenges while providing care. The Linking, Learning and Lobbying programme is aimed at influencing decision makers and policy makers on the value of care work through drafting and submitting a policy that addresses this issue. Gender based violence is a known stressor to many caregivers participating in the AIDS Response workshops, affecting both their work and their personal spaces. The trauma methodology used by AIDS Response has been used with positive effects in many countries where rape and other acts of violence with the common machinery of war. The ultimate goal of AIDS Response is to strengthen healthcare systems at the local level and beyond. The grant from the Joint Gender Fund will support the core programme costs and institutional costs for the Care for the Caregiver Programme and the Lobbying, Linking and Advocacy Programme. Ikhwezi Women’s Support Centre Ikhwezi Women’s Support Centre is based in the Eastern Cape was started in 1997 in response to the high rates of violence in the community. With mentoring support from Masimanyane Support Centre Ikhwezi was initiated. Ikhwezi is a small rural farming town between East London and Queenstown with a population of approximately 32 000 people. There is a shelter for abused women that is being coordinated and run by Ikhwezi Women’s Support Centre with funds from the Department of Social Development. A satellite office is run in Toise, a smaller community which is about 20 km from the Ikhwezi office. The organisation targets women and girls from the rural parts of Cathcart, out of school youth, boys and men. Ikhwezi offers support to people living with HIV through a counseling service. A home based care programme is also being coordinated by Ikhwezi. Support is provided to women and girls who have been abused and infected by HIV and AIDS through education and training, legal advice and advocacy. Currently the organisation is working with men in its HIV prevention work by educating them on the Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission Programme. The organisation plays a monitoring role on the implementation of legislation to ensure that the police and courts are carrying out their duties with regards to sentencing, bail and general attitudes and responses to cases of gender based violence. The grant from the Joint Gender fund is in support of the institutional and programme costs of the gender based violence and HIV and AIDS programmes. The One in Nine Campaign arose out of a response to a particular set of circumstances and within a specific national context which demonstrated the dire need for feminist analysis and action. The Campaign was established in February 2006 at the start of the rape trial of Kwezi, to ensure the expression of solidarity with the woman involved in the trial and other women who speak out about rape and sexual violence. The Campaign is a national advocacy campaign that stimulates feminist activism around sexual rights and sexual violence and HIV and AIDS. The development goal of the One in Nine Campaign is to work towards achieving social justice in a society where the sexual rights of women are respected, upheld and advanced. One of the objectives of the One in Nine Campaign is: To increase State accountability to women survivors of rape and ensure that the State’s programs and services respond to the intersection of sexual violence and HIV and AIDS. The One in Nine Campaign which is hosted by POWA is lead by a Working Group which is made up of 10 member organizations viz. People Opposing Women Abuse; Gender AIDS Forum, Positive Women’s Network, Forum for the Empowerment of Women, OUT LGBT Well-being, Rhodes University Treatment Action Campaign, men as Partners/Engender Health, AIDS Legal Network, AIDS Consortium, Treatment Action Campaign and Masimanyane Women’s Support Centre. A few results of the Campaign include the successful mobilization of individuals and organisations around the rape case of Kwezi; deepened the level of debate on the issue or rape and sexual violence; informed and engaged with mass media around the ability to engage with the issues of speaking out. The vision of the One in Nine Campaign is that it works for social justice in a society where the sexual rights of women are respected, upheld and advanced. Greater Rape Intervention Project (GRIP) GRIP was established in 2000 in Nelspruit Mpumalanga in response to the high levels of rape, and the concordant high levels of HIV and AIDS infection. Initiated by volunteers GRIP offers services to all rape and abuse survivors, seeking to empower all women, men and children through the process of counseling, education, advocacy and lobbying. GRIP provides suitable facilities, volunteers, counselors, protocols, staff and resources for collecting and processing viable medico-legal evidence, to aid in the conviction of rapists. GRIP participates in collaborative networks within the health care sector, law enforcement and police sectors within the Criminal Justice System. GRIP reaches between 2000 and 3000 survivors each year. The survivors receive holistic and intensive rehabilitation and support services as a means of reducing the secondary trauma within the Criminal Justice System. Sixteen Victim Friendly facilities have been established by GRIP in police staions in and around Nelspruit. Additionally there are Victim Friendly Facilities (Care rooms) at a few hospitals and courts. The Care rooms are operated by volunteer counselors who are called Defusers and each Care room has 4 Defusers and 1 Volunteer Coordinator. Pre-court training is conducted with survivors which prepares survivors for the court experience. GRIP is in the process of opening a shelter for abused women, who will be allowed to bring their children to the shelter. The grant from the Joint Gender Fund is a contribution to the institutional and programme costs. The main objective of UMVOTI is to bring care and hope to their community which is situated within the Umvoti District Municipality in Greytown KwaZulu Natal. 80% of the people from this rural area have limited or no access to water, proper sanitation or electricity. The Centre was established in 2004 and has expanded its reach from five to 11 districts. A total of 20 392 people have been supported by the Centre in 2008. The core focus of the work of the AIDS Centre is on home based care, support to Orphans and Vulnerable Children through providing psycho-social support to children who have lost one or both parents. UMVOTI AIDS Centre has provided mentoring to two community based organizations that are now on their way to becoming independent. The Gender Equality Programme is an extension of the HIV and AIDS focused work of the Centre. The gender based violence angle of the organisation’s work will focus on prevention and support services through a place of safety, education and training on women’s rights and through working with men so that they understand gender norms and its relation to gender based violence and patriarchy. Support groups have been initiated for people living with AIDS, self help groups focused on micro lending have been started and the Centre operates scouts and cub packs as well as community gardens. The changes that UMVOTI would like to bring about through the Gender Equality Programme includes a greater degree of independence through economic empowerment of men and women; assist women who have been abused because of their HIV and AIDS status; build a network of women who have been affected by and are survivors of gender based violence and to promote more co-operation between men and women so that they are better able to understand each other, care for each other and contribute to a community free of violence. The grant from the JGF will support the programme and institutional costs of the new Gender Equality Programme. Thusanang Advice and Development Centre Thusanang Advice Centre was established in 1995 in Qwaqwa, a former homeland, in response to the high levels of violence against women, specifically sexual violence. Qwaqwa was declared a presidential nodal area in 2000 due to the dire socio-economic challenges in the area. The overall aim of the organisation states:”to contribute towards the reduction of high levels of gender based violence associated with poverty and HIV and AIDS through the application of human and women’s rights approaches and the promotion of social justice.” The target groups are women, young girls, men and boys from the surrounding villages of Mabolela, ThabaBosiu, Thanana Tsoana and Tsheseng. The changes that they would like to bring about through this project include more effective service delivery provision by the relevant government departments and to set up a women’s forum that will apply pressure where there is poor service delivery. The gender dynamics in the area are such that there are inequalities between men and women that are systemic due to the patriarchal nature of many of the traditional systems and practices. There are practices that enfringe on women’s sexual and reproductive rights, right to education, economic rights and land rights. The Centre recognizes the importance of involving tribal local authorities and churches in challenging gender inequalities, norms and stereotypes. The role of men in achieving gender equity and equality has been identified as pertinent by the organisation. Through a joint initiative with Sonke Gender Justice Network the Centre 34 men have been trained as CATS, which has resulted in a decrease in violence in Lusaka the area where they were working. A place of safety is managed by the Advice and Development Centre. The overall vision of the organisation is to “to be a leading human rights organisation in our community which contributes towards the creation of a sound and viable environment in which all people’s rights are protected and respected especially the vulnerable group(s).” The grant from the JGF is in support of the programme and institutional costs. back to topSinamandla was established in 2003 in Durban and registered as a Non Profit Organisation in 2007. The newly established office is based in Pietermaritzburg and is working in partnership with 16 organisations across the Eastern Cape, Mpumalanga, KwaZulu Natal and Limpopo. The Self Help Group programme focuses on the social and economic empowerment of women who have become vulnerable through the impact of poverty and HIV and AIDS. The programme values social moblisation of women within local communities as a way of bringing about social change. The women targeted are mainly from rural areas with an income of less than R500 per month. There are 8000 women involved in this initiative across KwaZulu Natal, Mpumalanga, the Eastern Cape and Limpopo. The objective of the programme is to build capacity of the implementing partners in the Self Help Group Programme. Ultimately they would like to strengthen the responses of the women in the Self Help Groups to HIV and AIDS and gender based violence in their communities. The women involved are able to save money collectively and gather regularly to discuss issues confronting them in the home. Through the savings initiative they are able to access micro credit. From 2003 to 2009 the total amount of money saved was R1 m and 20 000 loans were granted that totaled R2 m. Through this initiative women are able to lessen their levels of economic dependence on their partners and make a contribution to the household income. The Joint Gender Fund will contribute towards the programme and core costs of the organisation. back to topJustice and Women was founded in 1996 through a consultative process with women and the Department of Justice. Justice and Women (JAW) is a gender-justice organisation working in Piertermaritzburg in the Msundusi and Umgungundhlovu Districts and in Melmoth. The organisation is committed to building local women’s leadership capacity and draws staff members from the communities served to work towards gender and social justice. JAW uses a rights based approach to its programmatic work. The aim of the programme supported by the Joint Gender Fund is to break the cycle of gender based violence and HIV and AIDS in the lives of rural women. A campaign called “Community Care Campaign” will be used as the strategy to mobilize the community to challenge community practices that stigmatise and discriminate against women living with HIV. Legal support is provided to women and families affected by gender based violence and HIV and AIDS. The changes that JAW is working towards is increased awareness of the rights of women living with HIV and providing support to the women to access and enforce these rights; increased support for women living HIV to enable them to access health care services; reduced gender based violence against women living with HIV and an increase in the number of people going for voluntary counseling and testing. JAW participates in networks and forums such as the Victim Empowerment Forum, Gender@work network, the South African Feminist Forum and CINDI network. The Joint Gender Fund contributes towards the programme and core costs of JAW. back to top POWA and Creative Media International – Crime, it’s a way of Life Creative Media International, the producers of Crime, it’s a way of Life and POWA have joined hands to raise awareness of the context and impact of rape on the lives of ordinary South Africans in the way only visual media can do on this sensitive matter. The context in which rape takes place in South Africa is outlined below: The film is set in Johannesburg and stars well known local actors Kim Cloete, Tsepo Desando, Sibusiso Mamba and Kevin Smith. “By talking about what happens in the film we can move rape from being a women’s issue to being a significant community challenge shared by us all, one that we should not turn a blind eye to or avoid confronting”. The Joint Gender Fund is supporting the cost of the launches of the movie and the production of the DVDs. Creative Media International has allocated 60% of the sales of DVDs to POWA over the next five years. back to top |
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