WUNRN
FUND
FOR GENDER EQUALITY ANNOUNCES MORE THAN
US
$9 MILLION IN GRANTS TO ADVANCE WOMEN’S
ECONOMIC
AND POLITICAL EMPOWERMENT WORLDWIDE
Gender
Equality Efforts by Civil Society and Governments in 26 Countries
The UNIFEM-managed Fund for Gender Equality announced in January 2010 its initial allocation of more than US$9 million to 27 initiatives in 26 countries. The grants fall into the Fund’s Catalytic Grant category — one of two types of grants aimed to accelerate the efforts of initiatives on the ground.
The Fund received 1,240 applications, out of which 543 were for the Catalytic Category. A technical committee of regional experts selected 27 proposals for grants ranging from US$100,000 to US$500,000. Of the selected projects, 89 percent are led by civil society organizations and 11 percent by government agencies.
Africa
(6) | Americas
& the Caribbean (6) | Arab
States (4) | Asia
& the Pacific (7) | Central
& Eastern Europe (4)
Africa
Forum for Women in
Democracy (FOWODE)
Project Title: Gender Budget Program
Country: Uganda
Description: A recent decision by the Government of Uganda to
introduce gender budgeting requires all government entities to demonstrate how
resources allocated to them will address gender issues. The Gender Budget
Program (GBP) intends to advance gender accountability within the government by
introducing gender analysis and audits to the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO)
and legislatures. The proposal builds on past GBP efforts and provides new
strategies for engagement with parliamentary actors.
Alliance Nationale
Contre le Sida (ANCS) in partnership with SWAA SENEGAL
Project Title: Economic and Political Independence of Women
Living with HIV in the Draft Legislation Dedicated to HIV
Country: Senegal
Description: The project aims at the integration of provisions
to augment the political and economic autonomy of HIV-positive women into
national legislation on HIV and AIDS in Senegal, taking especially into account
women sex workers. The implementing organizations are well known in the region
as powerful agents of change and, through this programme, will undertake
advocacy, establish coalitions, and generate accountability mechanisms that can
serve as a model in the region and beyond.
ABANTU for
Development in partnership with Ghana Gender and Climate Change Coalition
Project Title: Building Capacities to Influence Climate
Change Policies from a Gender Perspective
Country: Ghana
Description: In Ghana, women are on the frontline in key
productive sectors such as agriculture that are particularly vulnerable to the
impacts of global warming. The project seeks to tackle the
gender-differentiated impact of climate change through innovative and
precedent-setting advances in policy-making, mitigation and adaptation
measures. It will contribute to a growing body of knowledge on climate change
as a development issue with gender implications that cut across all sectors.
Horizons Femmes in
partnership with Nouveaux Droits de l'Homme (NDH)
Project Title: The Socio-Judicial Revaluation of Domestic
Employment in Cameroon
Country: Cameroon
Description: The project seeks to improve the conditions of
domestic workers, who often endure systematic and socially-accepted abuse,
exploitation and stigmatization. Through empowerment, mobilization,
awareness-raising and legislative advocacy, the project aims for stronger legal
protections for this particularly marginalized group of women, who as a more
unified and mobilized force will be better positioned to claim their rights and
advocate on their own behalf.
BAOBAB in
partnership with Kudirat Initiative for Democracy (KIND)
Project Title: Capacity Building and Empowerment through
Political Education for Nigerian Women
Country: Nigeria
Description: Considering that in the 2007 Nigerian elections,
women were only able to claim 6 percent of state and federal legislative seats,
the project seeks to increase women's political participation in Nigeria by
training and mentoring young women with political aspiration to be competitive
candidates in future elections. A cadre of young, politically informed
candidates for political office will be developed — women who will be part of a
supportive political network and therefore better able to negotiate the world
of male-dominated political processes.
MUGEDE – Mulher,
Gênero e Desenvolvimento
Project Title: Fighting for Women's Rights
Country: Mozambique
Description: The project aims to improve the living standards
of approximately 30,000 rural women by enhancing their capacity to capitalize
on recent legislative advances that promote gender equality. In so doing, it
aspires to increase the involvement and participation of women, and rural women
in particular, in political processes.
Americas
& the Caribbean
Fundacion Waaponi
in partnership with Municipalidad de Cuenca
Project Title: Governability and Institutionalization of a
Focus on Equity and Gender in the Cuenca District
Country: Ecuador
Description: In order to promote gender equality standards
within decision-making bodies, particularly within rural parish governing
boards, the project builds upon existing social networks linked to rural parish
communities to disseminate information and catalyze momentum for progress
towards gender equality.
Asociación Nacional
de Empresas Comercializadoras de Productores/as del Campo, A.C.
Project Title: Empowering Rural Women for Gender Equality
Country: Mexico
Description: The project aims to leverage its broad network of
civil society and government partners in 18 Mexican states to increase rural
and particularly indigenous women’s economic opportunities. Towards this end,
ANEC has and will continue to develop strategies and activities designed to level
the playing field for women’s economic activities, particularly in the
agricultural sector.
Asociación de
Mujeres por la Dignidad y la Vida. Las Dignas in partnership with Asociación
Movimiento de Mujeres Melida Anaya Montes LAS MELIDAS
Project Title: Strengthening Public Institutions in favor
of Equality and to Combat Discrimination
Country: El Salvador
Description: The primary objective is to catalyze the passage
of a national gender equality law that enables public institutions to improve
their gender sensitivity and practices. This project proposes support for
legislation that mandates the integration of gender specific considerations and
provisions in all public policies, as a step towards securing further, more
specific rights.
Corporación Sisma
Mujer
Project Title: Political Empowerment for Women Displaced by
War to Hold the Government Accountable
Country: Colombia
Description: The project focuses on empowering female
internally displaced people (IDPs) in the districts of Bolivar, Chocó,
Cundinamarca, Tolima, and Valle del Cauca to strengthen their agency in holding
the national government to account regarding the incorporation of
gender-sensitive frameworks into public policy. It seeks to catalyze support
for measures to prevent further internal displacement for Colombians and to
generate better provisioning for existing IDPs.
International
Indigenous Women's Forum/Foro Internacional de Mujeres Indígenas in partnership
with ENLACE: Continental Network of Indigenous Women of the Americas
Project Title: Strengthening Governance Systems and
Indigenous Women's Networks
Regions: Latin America, Africa and Asia
Description: The primary objective is to engage relevant
stakeholders in a process of dialogue, consultation and advocacy in order to
infuse gender equality perspectives into the work of the indigenous people’s
movement and indigenous governance systems. Through the strengthening of
indigenous women's networks, the project will increase indigenous women's
participation, visibility and leadership capacity at the local, regional and
international level.
Centro de
Investigación para la Acción Femenina (CIPAF)
Project Title: Genderizing the National Strategy for the
Information Society in the Dominican Republic: e-dominicana
Country: Dominican Republic
Description: The primary objective is to increase women’s
participation in the Dominican Republic’s Information Society, as outlined in
the National Strategy: e-dominicana (2007-2010), a policy currently under
revision and review for extension. The strategy has the potential to redress
several gender-specific dimensions of the digital divide, and to augment the
potential of information technologies to ameliorate women’s economic and
socio-political exclusion.
Arab
States
Bisan Center for
Research and Development
Project Title: Enhancing Palestinian Women Opportunities
Country: Occupied Palestinian Territory
Description: The project seeks to consider the specific
restrictions and conditions faced by Palestinian women (living under occupation,
living under Islam), and develop a model cooperative specifically designed to
use economic empowerment as a tool for their political and social empowerment.
Al-Shehab
Organization for Comprehensive Development in partnership with Egyptian Society
for Economic and Social Rights
Project Title: Promotion of General Policies to Protect the
Rights of Domestic Workers in Egypt
Country: Egypt
Description: The objective is to empower and improve the
socio-economic conditions of domestic workers in two disadvantaged zones of
metropolitan Cairo. Given the high levels of physical abuse and legal
exploitation to which domestic workers are subjected, the organizations will
establish relationships of cooperation with service providers (NGOs and the
Ministry of Manpower) to offer referral services to these girls and women,
including pyschological counseling, medical care, and legal services.
Palestinian Human
Rights Organization – PHRO
Project Title: Advancing Palestinian Refugee Women in
Lebanon Gender Equality
Country: Lebanon
Description: A recent study of semi-permanent Palestinian
refugee settlements revealed that female Palestinian refugees feel “buried
alive,” facing double discrimination based on gender and refugee status. The
project is an innovative effort to carve political space for these women to
claim leadership positions and promote a women’s rights agenda in the camps.
Agence du Sud
Project Title: The Strengthening of Women’s Role in Local
Governance through Community Development Plans
Country: Morocco
Description: The primary objective of this programme is to
support 13 rural and urban communities in the Guelmim-Es Smara region in
drafting Community Development Plans, in order to improve the role and status
of women in community planning processes and include provisions for the
socio-economic empowerment of women.
Asia
& the Pacific
Women and Media
Collective
Project Title: Changing Minds: Nominations and Votes for
Women
Country: Sri Lanka
Description: The project will work to increase political parties’
nominations of women across political party lines from 2 percent (the lowest in
South Asia) to 20 percent in the 2011 Local Council elections, giving
particular attention to women from minority Tamil and Muslim communities. This
project will not only contribute directly to women’s political empowerment in
general, but by focusing on minority women candidates, it will also play a role
in fostering political stability in Sri Lanka.
Rajasthan Network
for People Living with HIV and AIDS in partnership with IMPACT Partners in
Social Development
Project Title: Ensuring Specific Rights of Women Living
with HIV
Country: India
Description: The project seeks to build support for, draft and
submit a policy document to the Government of Rajasthan that would establish a
package of services and protections for women living with HIV and AIDS, taking
into account the multiple levels of discrimination and vulnerabilities they
face.
HomeNet Southeast
Asia
Project Title: Women in the Informal Economy Advocating for
Right-Based Policies Amidst the Crises
Country: Philippines
Description: The project works to advance the advocacy
initiatives of women home-based workers and other informal workers, whose
livelihoods are increasingly threatened by the changing global employment
system, economic and financial crisis, and devastating disasters caused by
global warming. It will make use of the opportunity provided by the upcoming
2010 national election campaign to expand the advocacy agenda.
Gender at Work in
partnership with DSS project of the Mitra Service Society
Project Title: The Dalit Women’s Livelihoods Accountability
Initiative
Country: India
Description: Dalit women, the poorest of the Indian poor, are
subject to the triple discrimination of class, caste and gender. The project
aims to build a strategic network between Dalit women’s organizations and
organizations that work for Dalit women’s rights in two states, to bring Dalit
women's voices and perspectives into social accountability mechanisms and right
to food advocacy.
Women and Children
Legal Research Foundation
Project Title: Access to the Right to Property,
Inheritance, and Land for Women
Country: Afghanistan
Description: While extensive attention has been paid to
violence against women in Afghanistan, the denial of women’s economic rights —
and particularly women’s property, inheritance, and land rights — has been
largely ignored, in spite of the strong linkages that exist between violence
against women and insecure economic rights. As part of a holistic approach to
women’s rights, the project seeks to strengthen their rights in those areas,
which, in spite of certain legal protections under Sharia, are denied by
traditional practice and customs.
Association of
Community Radio Broadcasters Nepal
Project Title: Promoting Gender Equality in and through
Community Radio of Nepal
Country: Nepal
Description: Recognizing the transformative power and broad
reach of radio broadcasting in Nepal, and accepting the social responsibility
of such influence, the project aims to strengthen awareness of women’s rights
through institutionalizing a gender-sensitive policy in all 164 member
community radio stations and the production and broadcasting of special radio
programmes.
Pacific Islands
Forum Secretariat
Project Title: The Catalytic Fund for Gender Equality in
Small Island States
Countries: Cook Islands, Kiribati, Niue, Nauru, Republic of
Marshall Islands and Tuvalu
Description: The project is based on the understanding that in
small island states, strategic action plans for gender equality face extra
implementation difficulties due to limited capacity and vulnerable
environments. The project will therefore provide special assistance to the
participating countries to develop and implement an action plan for advancing
women’s political and economic empowerment, to complement their respective
National Strategic Development Plans.
Europe
& the CIS
KULT Assocation in
partnership with BH Experts Association (BHXP)
Project Title: Strengthening Women Youth Leaders in Youth
Associations & their Role as Civil Society Players
Country: Bosnia and Herzegovina
Description: The project will focus on empowering young women
from underdeveloped municipalities in Bosnia and Herzegovina to play an active
role in creating and implementing youth strategies at the local governmental
level. It has the potential to empower a critical mass of young women leaders
to influence public issues, develop their local communities and emerge as
full-fledged partners in political decision making processes at the local and
national levels.
Regional Public
Organization Center for Migration Studies in partnership with Fund Tajikistan,
Information and Legal Center "Migration and Law"
Project Title: Strategic Partnership in the Promotion of
Rights and Enhancing Opportunities for Migrant Women in Russia
Country: Tajikistan
Description: The project aims to improve the conditions of
migrant women, especially those who migrate with children and those working in
informal/domestic services. In contrast to the overwhelming attention that has
been focused on male migration, this programme offers an opportunity to address
the specific needs of migrant women from Central Asia, often excluded on the
basis of race and ethnicity in Russia’s society.
All Ukrainian
Network of People Living with HIV
Project Title: Gender and HIV: from Paternalism towards
Active Participation
Country: Ukraine
Description: The project seeks to incorporate gender sensitive
approaches in HIV programmes at the local, regional, and national levels, as
well as take into account the needs and voices of women living with HIV in the
drafting and implementing of policies that affect them. In addition, the
proposal focuses on ensuring gender equality by facilitating access to
education, medical, social, psychological, legal services.
Women's Space in
partnership with Slavica Vasic
Project Title: Roma Decade – Equal Opportunities for Roma
Women and Men
Country: Serbia
Description: The project aims to support the creation of five
Local Action Plans in five different Serbian cities that will support
systematic solutions for the improvement of the status of Roma women. It
focuses specifically on the intersections between CEDAW and the Bosnian Roma
Decade Framework, and seeks to address the specific needs of Roma women, who
are subject to discrimination on the basis of both ethnicity and gender.
================================================================
To contact the list administrator, or to leave the list, send an email to:
wunrn_listserve-request@lists.wunrn.com. Thank you.