In Dakar, Senegal, to mark Africa Day, not-for-profit organization Speak Up Africa has brought together partners to celebrate the many actors in the development sector.
Almost a year after the launch of the African LeadHERs campaign, which aims to promote and amplify the voices and actions of African women, from all sectors of society, working daily for gender equality, and the first ever African LeadHERs Forum in March 2022, Speak Up Africa is launching its African LeadHERs podcast in collaboration with Entre-Elles, a platform for expression and sharing created by Tombany Kouloufoua.
"The Entre-Elles podcast is extremely proud to be working with Speak Up Africa to launch the African LeadHers podcast series. Amplifying the voice of the world’s women is at the heart of the Entre-Elles mission and we are delighted to be able to celebrate Africa Day alongside the African LeadHers of today and tomorrow."
Tombany Kouloufoua, founder of Entre-Elles
The first six-episodes series of the podcast will highlight the profiles and actions of participants in the Voix EssentiELLES initiative, which aims to support women and girls in all of their diversity, by meaningfully engaging them in decision-making processes and spaces that influence health policies and programs. At the podcast’s launch, the Senegalese slam poet Samira Fall took up the subject and developed an audio recital on the importance of women’s voices in the public space. This text echoes the African LeadHERs Forum manifesto to which Ysaora Thibus, fencer and French Olympic medallist, Diandra Tchouatchang, basketball player and French Olympic medallist and Badgyalcassie, choreographer and influencer contributed.
"The African LeadHERs Forum is a very important platform for us, professional athletes, to share our experiences with a focus on transmission and in a spirit of sisterhood. I met some great people there, such as the recipients of the Voix EssentiELLES initiative, who have inspired me enormously. These discussions have changed me and I am convinced that by reclaiming the narrative, we can break the bias."
Yasora Thibus in her interview at the Forum
On May 25, Speak Up Africa also presented the Union Sportive de Ouakam with a cheque for one million CFA francs from the Funds allocated to the organization at the first ever Sport Impact Award ceremony organised by Sport Impact. In March 2022, Speak Up Africa received the Jury Prize for the impact of the activity held in January 2021 during the celebration of World Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) Day. On that day, Speak Up Africa, along with the Yard agency, the Ministry of Health and Social Action and key partners in the fight against NTDs, organized the painting of a participatory fresco on the grounds of US Ouakam, at the foot of the Renaissance Monument, as well as the painting of portraits of Sadio Mané, Omar Sy, Issa Rae and Tacko Fall. The activation generated over 10 million impressions on social networks through the engagement of influencers Observateur and Fatou Guinea and the virality of the content.
"We were delighted to receive the Jury Award from Sport en Commun, which highlights Speak Up Africa’s work in the field of sport and influence, and we are now pleased to continue our collaboration with US Ouakam, enabling them to strengthen their activities and create an attractive environment for women’s sport in communities. The Kigali Summit on NTDs and malaria will take place next month in Rwanda and it is important for us to continue our advocacy through this mural so that everyone continues to say No to NTDs!"
Yacine Djibo, Speak Up Africa’s Executive Director
On that day, ahead of the World Menstrual Hygiene Day held every 28 May, Speak Up Africa gave its long-time partner, Special Olympics Senegal, a batch of 1,200 sanitary towels, intended for athletes living with an intellectual disability, to protect themselves better each month, during their menstrual cycle.
"I would like to thank Speak Up Africa for supporting our female athletes by distributing these sanitary towels. Menstruation is a natural reality, but girls and women living with intellectual disabilities often find it more difficult to manage their periods with dignity, and the first barrier is access to tools to help them manage. These sanitary towels will allow our athletes to better manage their periods and thus be able to live their lives more decently ."
Rajah Sy, Director of Special Olympics Senegal
From Ouagadougou and Abidjan, Farida Sonia Tiemtore and Pélagie Akoua Kouame took part in the conference to promote the Voix EssentiELLES pilot initiative, implemented by Speak Up Africa, a non-profit strategic communications and advocacy organisation based in Dakar, Senegal, and co-funded by the Global Fund and Fondation CHANEL.
"We are delighted today to meet the heroines working on a daily basis and in their respective communities for gender equality and more specifically the fight against HIV/AIDS and gender-based violence. Their stories and their voices are essential to advance our common goals and strengthen the capacity of organisations led by women and girls."
Françoise Vanni, Head of External Relations and Communications at the Global Fund
Voix EssentiELLES aaims to support women and girls, in all of their diversity, by meaningfully engaging them in decision-making processes and spaces that influence health policies and programmes in Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal. Through this pilot, Speak Up Africa and its partners aim to address four main challenges, namely (1) the limited political participation and representation of women and girls in decision-making spaces for policies and programmes that affect their health, (2) deep-rooted harmful socio-cultural practices, including various forms of violence, (3) insufficient and indirect resources dedicated to women-led community organisations, and finally (4) the limited capacity of small grassroots organisations to engage in advocacy work.
"Voix EssentiELLES allows us to carry out real advocacy, at our level and in our communities, in particular for women and young people, who are in my opinion the pillars of our development. We can eliminate HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, but to do so we need a collective solidarity that echoes across borders. From Burkina Faso to Abidjan to Dakar, we are fighting for what’s important, and we are keen to see this project scaled up across the entire sub-region."
Farida Sonia Tiemtore, Founder and President of Héroïnes du Faso
Because voice, decision-making and leadership are vital factors for the empowerment of women, the Héroïnes du Faso association works for the well-being of women in the land of honest men (and women). Its goal is to promote respect for women’s sexual and reproductive health rights, social engagement, education and the empowerment of women. Through the Voix EssentiELLES pilot initiative, in which it participates, a catalytic fund of 170 million CFA has been created to support selected women’s and girls’ organisations with achievable time-limited objectives.
"We are working tirelessly on common sustainable development goals for global health. To achieve them, we also need to think about and support the goals of women and girls at community level. Listen to them, support them and fund them, because their solutions and actions must be our guidelines for the development of our strategies and action plans."
Stéphanie Seydoux, France’s Ambassador for Global Health
This September, the Global Fund will hold its Seventh Replenishment Conference where at least $18 billion will be needed to fight HIV, TB and malaria and to strengthen health systems. Since its creation, the Global Fund has invested over US$53 billion, saving 44 million lives and reducing the combined death rate from the three diseases by more than half in the countries in which it invests. In 2022, we need a new impetus for global solidarity and leadership.
"Funding from the Global Fund is crucial to the well-being of our communities. The inputs and medicines that enable us to fight HIV/AIDS on a daily basis save lives. In addition to these inputs, we need support to carry out our day-to-day work with women and sex workers. Voix EssentiELLES is an initiative that funds us directly and helps us to go about our activities, therefore funding from the initiative is more than essential for us and our beneficiaries."
Pélagie Akoua Kouame, Founder and Director of COVIE in Côte d'Ivoire.
Ultimately, community health is critical to achieving gender equality and ending gender-based violence. To do this, innovative public-private partnerships are more than necessary to give voice, space and tools to organisations that work daily with and for the most vulnerable in our societies, women and girls in all their diversity. We need to change the narrative, change the paradigm and change behaviour, but above all, fight for what matters.
Marseille, 7 April 2022
To commemorate International Women’s Day, Speak Up Africa organized its first ever African LeadHERs Forum. The event took place March 7th and 8th and convened more than 260 participants online & in person in Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal including 26 experts and champions through 6 activations. Day one of the Forum focused on the Voix EssentiELLES initiative launched by Speak Up Africa in 2021 and co-funded by the Global Fund and the Fondation CHANEL.Through this initiative, female-led grassroots and community-based organizations have an opportunity to secure a grant of up to US$10,000, or up to XOF 5 million, to the entities or the organization leaders.
"We are thankful for organizations like Speak Up Africa, which support us by providing funding, technical support, and capacity-building opportunities such as the workshop on storytelling.
Fatimata Sy, President of the Senegalese Association for the Future of Women and Children (ASAFE) and a beneficiary of the Voix EssentiELLES fund in Senegal
The cost of gender discrimination and inequality has myriad ramifications. High incidences of gender discrimination tend to result in correspondingly higher percentages of human rights violations such as female genital mutilation (FGM) and sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV). FGM, a pervasive violation of bodily corporal rights, is estimated by UNICEF to have affected 200 million women across thirty countries.
Financial literacy is another challenge a lot of societies face. Advancing financial literacy reduces the number of the unbanked, which, in turn, helps empower women - by putting them on the pathway to financial independence. Yet financial literacy can help further empower women and mothers, by delaying the age at which girl children are married off. Often, girls are pressured to drop out of school and marry at very young ages, and are deterred from pursuing further education. In Ivory Coast, the Voix EssentiELLEs workshop focused on the power of financial inclusion of women to break the bias. Mariam Djibo, General Manager of Advans Côte d'Ivoire, a microfinance institution, while in Burkina Faso, beneficiaries of the project learned via Harouna Drabo, journalist and fact-checker the power of communication and story-telling. Day one of the Forum concluded with Nadia Mensah Acogny on the art of speaking publicly while emphasizing on the importance of self-condidence: " No one knows how to talk about your issues and your solutions better than you do", she concluded.
"Empowering women is a matter of economic, legal and moral common sense".
said Jean-Philbert Nsengimana, Africa Managing Director of the Commons Project during our high-level online conversation on women-led innovation in Africa
"Achieving sustainable health and gender equality on the continent
on day two of the African LeadHERs Forum. Organized in partnership with the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers (IFPMA), with whom we launched the Africa Young Innovators Award in 2020 and the Women Innovators Incubator in September 2021. The Incubator aims to address the blatant gaps in female-led innovation and tackle additional hurdles they have to face to help take their business ideas from concept to implementation.
Featured significantly in the forum was the importance of owning one’s narratives, a message also underscored by Speak Up Africa in their work. The second day of the Forum also discussed ways to advance gender mainstreaming, while highlighting diversity.
"Initiatives such as the African LeadHERs Forum help underscore the importance of positive movements,
noted Ysaora Thibus, fencer and Olympic silver medallist of the 2021 team, speaking on the importance of representation and sport in achieving gender equality.
"Most often than not, women are conditioned to imbibe harmful messaging about their place in society, both at work and at home. Women must see themselves represented and empowered in any room they walk into.
In 2020, Ysaora created Essentielle stories to support the narrative around women in sports by providing them with a platform to express themselves and tell their own stories. Alongside Ysaora during the final event of the Forum held under the theme "Sport, leadHERship and influence: the power of representation to break bias”, Diandra Tchouatchang, French basketball player and 2021 team Olympic silver medalist as well and Cassandra Ngbolonga, professional choregrapher, Founder of Beafrika and Instagram sensation. The panel and afternoon activities concluded with the painting of an African LeadHERs fresco, where the three women engraved their messages on the walls. Rajah Sy, Director of Special Olympics Senegal and Astou Ndiaye, WNBA champion also participated in the discussions in front of 30 young girls and women. " It is important we focus on celebrating our differences and see them for what they are: strengths," added Sy.
During the African LeadHERs Forum, Speak Up Africa launched their Gender and Social Inclusion strategy. The plan, with four strategic orientations and eight operational standards set for gender mainstreaming, details a multi-pronged approach to providing solutions to the most critical issues that African populations face when working to create a more equitable world
Globally, gender inequity and lack of parity has proven itself detrimental to advancing women’s rights and equality. The cost can be measured across various metrics, including jobs, opportunities, livelihood, and social perceptions.
"Discrimination needs action, as well as awareness raising and acknowledgment. We have identified six key guiding principles and four main strategic orientations that set the tone for our work in advancing gender mainstreaming.
"We also established a robust implementation framework, with eight minimum guiding standards. Setting clear, realistic targets makes the plan achievable, and spells out the way that each action matters."
Yacine Djibo, Founder and Executive Director of Speak Up Africa.
As part of the African LeadHERs Forum and to mark International Women’s Day, Speak Up Africa convenes “Voix essentiELLEs” organizations in Ouagadougou, Abidjan and Dakar, to break the bias and achieve gender equality.
The Essential Voices initiative was launched in 2021 to make a positive impact and amplify women's voice, leadership and decision-making power at different levels. It celebrates the diversity of women and girls and actively involves them in empowerment spaces set up to help combat the negative consequences of gender bias.
Gender bias has powerful implications in women’s careers and daily lives. In the event of work often carried out by women, societally that work is undervalued. Unfortunately, women face similar discrimination outcomes when doing work in typically underrepresented fields. Thus, women face gender discrimination across various areas- including salary, the perception of their commitment to work.
As a strategic communications and advocacy organization, Speak Up Africa is dedicated itself to fostering policy change and increasing awareness for sustainable development - particularly around Malaria, Neglected Tropical Diseases, sanitation and immunization. The organization is also invested in catalyzing leadership - particularly within the female demographic. To mark International Womens’ Day, Speak Up Africa launched its first ever African LeadHERs Forum to celebrate and promote women’s leadership, actions, voices and innovations across the continent.
On its first day, the Forum focused on the Voix EssentiELLEs initiative and its “University of ExcELLEnce”. In-person and online sessions were organized in Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal in order to raise the profile and provide platforms to community voices, highlight the power and crucial representation of community voices in the national, regional and global dialogues that impact their health and strengthen the leadership capacities - in communications, financial inclusion and public speaking.
The day began with a session facilitated by Harouna Drabo, a journalist and fact-checker in Burkina Faso, women's rights advocate and recipient of the Speak Up Africa 2021 Leadership Award, who was joined by 23 community-based organisations in person. The theme of the session "Breaking down bias in the media: the power of storytelling and communication" reinforced the importance of women's voices in the media as well as reclaiming the narrative.
" The African LeadHERs Forum is an excellent platform to build the profile of women in the media. Our session and discussions emphasized on the crucial need of a new narrative that will reveal the full potential of women, and above all, shed light on their meaningful to contributions to Africa’s overall development.” commented Harouna Drabo.
In Côte d’Ivoire, the session focused on financial inclusion was facilitated by Mariam Djibo, General Director of Advans Côte d’Ivoire and Dr. Emma Angoua, President of the Global Platform for Women Entrepreneurs in Côte d’Ivoire. “In Côte d’Ivoire, 9 million women actively participate to the country’s economy but only 1 million of them have a bank account. Providing financial services to these women is a crucial step to their financial and overall empowerment.” added Mariam Djibo.
The first day of the Forum ended with a session featuring Nadia Mensah-Acogny, Chief Operating Officer of Acosphere. Joined by more than 20 CBOs and special guests including Diandra Tchatchouang, French Basketball Player and winner of the Bronze medal with Team France during the last olympic grames in Tokyo, Ysaora Thibus, Fencer, three-time olympian and winner of a silver medal with Team France in Tokyo as well and Cassie Ngbolonga, Choregrapher and influencer from the Central African Republic. During the session on the power of speech and public speaking, Nadia Mensah Acogny highlighted: “Taking the floor is taking the power. But power is not given, it’s conquered. Mastering the art of speech enables us to transform the way others look at us, break the bias, rewrite history and write our future.”
As it stands, women are strongly disincentivized to take on the mantle of leadership. Whether culturally or economically, across numerous countries the cultural norms tend to favour women working in the home. Alongside this, young girls are often pressured to marry early, and discouraged from going to school. Thus these cultural attitudes inform the social norms, and contribute to the relatively smaller numbers of girls and women in business, a count which seems to get smaller in correlation to the company position.
These have economic as well as public health ramifications, with a lack of education, knowledge, emancipation and financial independence often leading to poorer health outcomes amongst women and girls - especially in regards to maternal, natal, and sexual health. Furthermore, community-transmissible viruses and other major public health diseases such as malaria, HIV and malaria have been a persistent scourge in certain climates.
"Through Voix EssentiELLEs, part of our mission is to help break this stigma," concludes Yacine Djibo, executive director of Speak Up Africa. "This involves creating a positive movement that allows women to not only see themselves represented in any room they enter - but to participate meaningfully in the decision-making spaces that affect their health."
Women's collective voice, when strategically directed, is critical to their ability to negotiate transformative change. The viability and sustainability of this collective voice depends on women's capacity to mobilise for strategic action and coalition building. To this end, on1 July Speak Up Africa launched the "Essential Voices" initiative, funded by the Global Fund and the CHANEL Foundation, in Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire and Senegal to strengthen women's and girls' community organisations by investing in their capacity and leadership.
As part of the initiative, Speak Up Africa brought together stakeholders working in the health, women, girls and youth sectors in Abidjan on 28 September to discuss the various challenges and actions that the Voix EssentiELLES initiative could bring about at national level to address gender inequalities.
More specifically, this meeting aimed to (1) present the Voix EssentiELLES programme and strategy to national decision-makers and actors active in the field of public health, (2) to include the Voix EssentiElles programme in the calendar of local actions in the field of health and gender and finally (3) to facilitate the implementation of future actions of the Voix EssentiELLES initiative.
"The role of women in our African societies is undeniable and they must be put forward to claim the rights that concern them directly! It is essential to support women's and girls' organisations, financially and technically, in order to increase their leadership and their involvement in decision-making. This is the only way to make concrete progress towards gender equality, i.e. all together.
Yacine Djibo, Executive Director of Speak Up Africa.
Creating synergies between actors is essential for women to be able to take part in decision-making and for effective policies to be applied to health problems that still represent an obstacle for women and girls. Indeed, solutions are taken concerning them, without their presence, although they are the ones who know best what is relevant to them.
"Nothing for us, without us.
Mr. Djely Arthur Attea, Executive Director of the organisation Anonymous Côte d'Ivoire.
Women contribute substantially to the economy of the African continent. Whether they are farmers or entrepreneurs, these women are more economically active than women in any other region of the world. Nevertheless, they remain the most vulnerable, especially in the context of the pandemic, in terms of socio-economic and health status. Particular attention must therefore be paid to their needs in order to support them in the face of these consequences.
"I welcome the Voix EssentiELLES initiative, whose philosophy corresponds to the search for sustainable solutions in which we, the women of Dabou, want to participate to get out of this rampant poverty.
Ms Colombe Tohbi, President of AFUG2 (Dabou)
The Voix EssentiELLES initiative will set up a dedicated fund offering financial support and technical support through the University of ExcELLEnce, in the form of a personalised training programme for women living in the three countries. The University aims to strengthen their organisational, advocacy, communication and leadership skills. Training modules will be provided to them, while being adapted to the needs of each selected organisation, based on the capacity assessment and the specific context of each country.
Based in Dakar, Senegal, Speak Up Africa is a non-profit strategic communications and advocacy organisation dedicated to catalysing African leadership, driving policy change and raising awareness around sustainable development in Africa. By keeping improved public health at the heart of our work, we support the achievement of MDGs 1-6, which include the transformation of African societies and ensuring that every man, woman and child is able to live a long and healthy life.
Website
Facebook
WhatsApp
LinkedIn
The Global Fund is a partnership designed to accelerate the end of AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria as epidemics. As an international organization, the Global Fund mobilizes and invests more than US$4 billion a year to support programs run by local experts in more than 100 countries. In partnership with governments, civil society, technical agencies, the private sector and people affected by the diseases, the Global Fund challenges barriers and embraces innovation.
Women's collective voice, when strategically directed, is critical to their ability to negotiate transformative change. The viability and sustainability of this collective voice depends on women's capacity to mobilise for strategic action and coalition building. To this end, on1 July Speak Up Africa launched the "Essential Voices" initiative, funded by the Global Fund and the CHANEL Foundation, in Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire and Senegal to strengthen women's and girls' community organisations by investing in their capacity and leadership.
As part of the initiative, Speak Up Africa brought together stakeholders working in the health, women, girls and youth sectors in Ouagadougou on 21 September to discuss the various challenges and actions that the Voix EssentiELLES initiative could bring about at national level to address gender inequalities.
More specifically, this meeting aimed to (1) present the Voix EssentiELLES programme and strategy to national decision-makers and actors active in the field of public health, (2) to include the Voix EssentiElles programme in the calendar of local actions in the field of health and gender and finally (3) to facilitate the implementation of future actions of the Voix EssentiELLES initiative.
"We know that there are many women's and girls' organisations that work with, for and with communities every day. These organisations are often overlooked and under-appreciated by national decision-makers, yet they are best placed to address the most pressing gender equality challenges. To meet these challenges, we need to strengthen their capacities but also their opportunities, whether in terms of funding or representation.
Yacine Djibo, Speak Up Africa’s Executive Director
Creating synergies between actors is essential for women to be able to take part in decision-making spaces and for effective policies to be applied to health issues that still represent a barrier for women and girls.
"I am very happy to see that Voix essentielle intends to promote the emergence of micro organisations, of which there are many in Burkina Faso and which unfortunately lack the funding opportunities to act more effectively. This initiative marks a revolution in the process of implementing health development programmes in Burkina Faso. Indeed, community-based micro-organisations, especially those led by young people and women, are a force for proposals and for the redistribution of relevant and sustainable actions that are poorly taken into account in the health policy-making process. We believe that, in the long run, the Essential Voices project will make it possible to achieve the health democracy that we so covet.
Stevie Reine Yameogo, Vice President of the Network of Young Ambassadors for Reproductive Health and Family Planning in Burkina (JASR-PF/Burkina).
Women contribute substantially to the economy of the African continent. Whether they are farmers or entrepreneurs, these women are more economically active than women in any other region of the world. However, throughout the ages, these same women have been systematically excluded from decision-making spaces and programmes that affect their health and well-being.
It is clear that men should not be excluded from the promotion of gender equality, as they have a role to play in the empowerment of women, particularly in relation to their health.
"The approach of integrating and empowering local organisations from the grassroots is a great initiative. If this Voix EssentiELLEs dynamic is maintained, I am convinced that the project will contribute to promoting a real capacity for action and for women to claim their health rights.
W. Cécile Thiombiano Yougbare, Lawyer, Population and Health Policy Analyst.
The Voix EssentiELLES initiative will set up a dedicated fund offering financial support and technical support through the University of ExcELLEnce, in the form of a personalised training programme for women living in the three countries. The University aims to strengthen their organisational, advocacy, communication and leadership skills. Training modules will be provided to them, while being adapted to the needs of each selected organisation, based on the capacity assessment and the specific context of each country.
Based in Dakar, Senegal, Speak Up Africa is a non-profit strategic communications and advocacy organisation dedicated to catalysing African leadership, driving policy change and raising awareness around sustainable development in Africa. By keeping improved public health at the heart of our work, we support the achievement of MDGs 1-6, which include the transformation of African societies and ensuring that every man, woman and child is able to live a long and healthy life.
Website
Twitter
Facebook
Instagram
WhatsApp
LinkedIn
The Global Fund is a partnership designed to accelerate the end of AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria as epidemics. As an international organization, the Global Fund mobilizes and invests more than US$4 billion a year to support programs run by local experts in more than 100 countries. In partnership with governments, civil society, technical agencies, the private sector and people affected by the diseases, the Global Fund challenges barriers and embraces innovation.
Women's collective voice, when strategically directed, is critical to their ability to negotiate transformative change. The viability and sustainability of this collective voice depends on women's capacity to mobilise for strategic action and coalition building. To this end, on1 July Speak Up Africa launched the "Essential Voices" initiative, funded by the Global Fund and the CHANEL Foundation, in Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire and Senegal to strengthen women's and girls' community organisations by investing in their capacity and leadership.
As part of the initiative, Speak Up Africa brought together stakeholders working in the health, women's, girls' and youth sectors in Dakar on 14 September to discuss the various challenges and actions that the Voix EssentiELLES initiative could bring about at the national level to address gender inequalities. More specifically, this meeting aimed to (1) present the Voix EssentiELLES programme and strategy to national decision-makers and actors active in the field of public health, (2) include the Voix EssentiElles programme in the calendar of local actions in the field of health and gender and finally (3) facilitate the implementation of future actions of the Voix EssentiELLES initiative.
"Through these collaborations, we can design meaningful and high-impact joint actions in the field of public health to enable women and girls to have access to quality health systems. Gender issues and access to health services cannot be separated. The involvement of communities is all the more essential as our ultimate goal is to provide them with solutions that respond precisely to their needs.
Yacine Djibo,
Executive Director of Speak Up Africa.
Creating synergies between actors is essential for women to be able to take part in decision-making spaces and for effective policies to be applied to health issues that still represent a barrier for women and girls.
"Equality between women and men can only be achieved in reality when women have access to economic autonomy. And this autonomy for women requires access to education. This is a necessary but not sufficient condition. Voix EssentiELLES is a timely initiative that I am delighted to support in order to improve the living conditions of our people in West Africa.
Prof. Ndioro Ndiaye
Coordinator of the Francophone Network for Gender Equality of the International Organisation of the Francophonie
Women contribute substantially to the economy of the African continent. Whether they are farmers or entrepreneurs, these women are more economically active than women in any other region of the world. However, throughout the ages, these same women have been systematically excluded from decision-making spaces and programmes that affect their health and well-being.
It is clear that men should not be excluded from the promotion of gender equality, as they have a role to play in the empowerment of women, particularly in relation to their health.
"We are aware of the inequalities we face in our country and women's access to decision-making bodies remains difficult. The Voix EssentiELLES initiative was created to contribute to this fight against inequalities in order to enable women and girls to live in well-being and sustainable development. Knowing that access to health care is intrinsically linked to the social determinants of health, we need to establish an open multi-sectoral dialogue on gender issues to have a long-term impact.
Mrs Ndèye Mingué Ndiaye Gacko
Coordinator of the Gender Unit of the Ministry of Health and Social Action.
The Voix EssentiELLES initiative will set up a dedicated fund offering financial support and technical support through the University of ExcELLEnce, in the form of a personalised training programme for women living in the three countries. The University aims to strengthen their organisational, advocacy, communication and leadership skills. Training modules will be provided to them, while being adapted to the needs of each selected organisation, based on the capacity assessment and the specific context of each country.
Based in Dakar, Senegal, Speak Up Africa is a non-profit strategic communications and advocacy organisation dedicated to catalysing African leadership, driving policy change and raising awareness around sustainable development in Africa. By keeping improved public health at the heart of our work, we support the achievement of MDGs 1-6, which include the transformation of African societies and ensuring that every man, woman and child is able to live a long and healthy life.
For more information:
Website
Twitter
Facebook
Instagram
WhatsApp: +221 77 187 76 94
The Global Fund is a partnership designed to accelerate the end of AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria as epidemics. As an international organization, the Global Fund mobilizes and invests more than US$4 billion a year to support programs run by local experts in more than 100 countries. In partnership with governments, civil society, technical agencies, the private sector and people affected by the diseases, the Global Fund challenges barriers and embraces innovation.
Dakar, 1 July 2021 - Today, the Dakar-based advocacy organization Speak Up Africa, in partnership with the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and the CHANEL Foundation, is launching the Voix EssentiELLES initiative, which aims to strengthen the voice of women and girls and thus promote their involvement in the processes and decision-making spaces that influence health policies and programmes.
Launched as part of the Generation Equality Forum, a global gathering for gender equality organised by the United Nations this week, Voix EssentiELLES aims to foster the involvement of women's organisations, leaders and groups in decision-making platforms. Applications are now open and 50 organisations will be eligible for technical and financial support. The project will aim to strengthen their skills and abilities to influence policies and programmes that directly affect their health and well-being.
Women's and girls' organisations and networks in Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire and Senegal are invited to apply for grants through the new dedicated fund. In a second phase, the initiative will be extended to other countries in Central and West Africa over the next three years. Each organisation can apply for a grant of up to 5 million CFA francs (US$10,000) to strengthen its voice in and contribute to the design of health programmes and policies in its country.
Through this initiative, the selected community-based organisations will be offered a customised training programme that will enable women and girls from Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire and Senegal to strengthen their organisational, leadership, advocacy and communication skills. The training modules, tailored to the needs of the selected organisations based on an assessment and the national context, in collaboration with an advisory board, will be delivered by the University of excELLEnce in the three countries.
Women and girls continue to be disproportionately affected by HIV, tuberculosis and malaria and the COVID-19 pandemic threatens to reverse our hard-won gains and progress towards gender equality
said Caty Fall Sow, Regional Director for West and Central Africa at the Global Fund
The Global Fund is honoured to be part of Essential Voices to continue to give voice to women and girls and to support their meaningful engagement in the development of health policies that affect their health and well-being.
Despite the progress made, our societies are still far from having made gender equality a permanent reality. It is estimated that it will take at least 135.6 years for women to achieve equality in work and pay. Yet gender equality is essential to building more sustainable societies and political and economic ecosystems.
The sustainable development of Africa will not become a reality without the active participation of women and girls. It is crucial to have initiatives such as Voix EssentiELLES, which aim to provide a rallying point for civil society organisations and federate energies in an endogenous dynamic of reflection based on different women's experiences at the micro and/or local level.
said Prof. Ndioro Ndiaye, Coordinator of the Francophone Network for Gender Equality, International Organisation of La Francophonie.
In partnership with ExcELLEnce University, Speak Up Africa will organise advocacy meetings in each country with key stakeholders and selected women and girls' organisations. The aim is to maximise their inclusion in national coalitions and decision-making spaces and processes in their respective countries.
As a women-led organisation in Africa, we are particularly passionate about the issues addressed by Voix EssentiELLES, and are therefore delighted to help manage and organise this important project. It is essential that women and girls take ownership of the issues that affect their health and are empowered to play their part in decision-making spaces to develop effective policies for them and future generations. We look forward to working with community-based women's organisations in Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire and Senegal, and I hope that many of them will take this opportunity to make a difference by applying now.
concluded Yacine Djibo, Executive Director of Speak Up Africa.
To mark the launch of this initiative and transformative fund, Speak Up Africa organised an inter-generational and inter-sectoral roundtable, with a keynote address by Professor Ndioro Ndiaye, former Minister of Women, Children and the Family in Senegal and Coordinator of the Francophone Network for Gender Equality at the International Organisation of the Francophonie. The round table brought together the following speakers:
Civil society organisations are key to ensuring that the voice of the people is heard. Projects such as Voix EssentiELLES will go a long way to supporting women and girls in local communities, ensuring that they have influence in wider health policies and programmes.
said Nogaye Sow, Bajenu Gox (neighbourhood sponsor), Thienaba, Senegal
As part of the launch of the Essential Voices project, community dialogues will be held in Thienaba in Senegal, Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso and Dabou in Côte d'Ivoire. These dialogues will support our engagement with the communities and help us to get feedback on the Essential Voices project and how the initiative can best serve the communities.
Voix EssentiELLES directly supports Sustainable Development Goal 5 and the commitment of the Equality Forum's Coalition of Action for Women's Leadership and Movements. The goal is to increase the participation and decision-making power of women, girls and feminist leaders, including trans, intersex and non-binary women, by 2026.
For more information on how to apply to Voix Essentielles, visit the website: www.voixessentielles.org or contact us by WhatsApp on +221 77 187 76 94.
Based in Dakar, Senegal, Speak Up Africa is a political action and advocacy group dedicated to catalysing leadership, driving policy change and raising awareness of sustainable development in Africa. With the health and well-being of all at the heart of our concerns, we support SDGs 1-6 by transforming societies across Africa and ensuring that every man, woman and child has the means to live a long and healthy life. Through our platforms and relationships, and with the help of our partners, we ensure that decision-makers meet implementers, that solutions are presented, and that every sector - from individual citizens and civil society groups to global donors and business leaders - contributes critically to the dialogue and works to develop plans for concrete action for public health and sustainable development.
The Global Fund is a partnership designed to accelerate the end of the AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria epidemics. As an international organization, the Global Fund mobilizes and invests more than US$ 4 billion annually to support locally managed programs in over 100 countries. In partnership with governments, civil society, technical agencies, the private sector and people affected by these diseases, the Global Fund addresses barriers and promotes innovation. Removing barriers related to gender and human rights is one of the Global Fund's strategic priorities; with meaningful community engagement at the heart of its strategy and related processes. For more information: www.theglobalfund.org.