HIV Collaborative Fund: Women & Families in Africa

Women & Families in Africa

1. Consultation Process & workshop

We started this process by consultation amongst different groups and women around Africa to help identify women who had competence in planning for a workshop/meeting and names were suggested. Consultation and contact with the identified members was done.

A form was designed by the regional office with different questions regarding the subject (Treatment literacy and preparedness for women, children and families) and issues related to women's health and issues. This was circulated to the Planning committee members for their input and the final and agreed version was posted on different websites, emails and all other channels for distribution. This was a call for application for people who were interested in participating in the workshop with clear goals and objectives set out. This form was calling for applications from all interested parties irrespective of age, sex gender etc.

When the forms were received, the Planning Committee (PC) convened for a face to face meeting for two days to review the applications. Finally because there were very few men (about 5) who had applied and the workshop was for 60 people from all over Africa, the PC by consensus agreed that the workshop becomes exclusively for women. Priority was also given to young women who in their applications had stated they were living with HIV and this was based on the fact that they have more challenges and more often than not they are never involved in activities where decisions about their lives are made. To note is that in the application form that was sent out to the participant two questions were critical and guided the formulation of the agenda by the PC: what the participant hoped to learn from the workshop; and what she/he was bringing to the workshop ( her/his contribution). During the review, the several issues that members identified as what they were interested in learning at the workshop were issues that guided the components of the agenda and it is from what they were bringing to the workshop that later helped in identifying facilitators for different sessions from the participants themselves. The advantage here is that there were no costs for facilitators but also the participants owned the workshop for they were greatly involved in learning but also helping others to learn it was a sharing learning workshop.

Workshop: At the workshop, women themselves were able to identify the challenges they face, the issues related to their health and HIV, the gaps with in the programmes available and in addition, they came up with strategies of how to deal with the issues themselves. They noted that they are critical in solving the challenges and problems they are faced with and all they need is some technical expertise from within and without in terms of resource persons where they cant get from their own groups and financial resources.

During the process of need and problem identification, they came up with a very huge list of problems and issues that should be tackled. Remembering that all cant be done at the same time and acknowledging that the group was too big to come up with few issues, again because one of the follow up activities was granting to groups; the participants agreed and selected regional representatives + a young woman representing young women living with HIV to form what is known as the Community Review Panel (CRP). This CRP was charged with the responsibility of going through the workshop report, look at critical issues that were identified by the participants and prioritise to ones that were frequently featuring; come up with a call for proposals (CRP) and circulate to members who meet the criteria and are interested to apply.

2. The Community Review Panel (CRP) Meeting (Prioritisation of issues, criteria setting and development of call for proposals [CFP]

Members reviewed the workshop report and identified issues and challenges that were raised during the workshop. These same issues and challenges helped in identification and prioritisation of areas for focus and granting.The following were the issues/challenges identified by members:
- Access to treatment
- Treatment literacy and preparedness
- Sensitisation of women on SRHR
- Income Generating Activities (IGAs)/Economic empowerment
- Stigma and discrimination
- Nutrition
- Marginalised women: refugees, Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), Commercial Sex Workers (CSW), drug users, disabled women
- Children
- Information dissemination
- Strategic and practical Economic empowerment in order to empower women to earn a living
- Active participation and involvement in policy making
- Culture and traditions
- Empowerment on human rights
- PMTCT
- Support for children
- Training of care givers: it is important to include the care givers

The following were then issues that were agreed on by consensus where by a call for proposals was made with the three thematic areas:

Treatment Literacy

Sexual Reproductive health and rights issues:

Human rights

Cultural and traditions (women having ownership of their bodies)

Children (nobody looks at the children who are HIV positive. [positive child focused systems to address needs of positive children], Positive child focus systems to address needs of positive children, marginalised communities.

Strategic income generation activities for empowerment, access:

o empowering women to make their own decisions – e.g. good information on agricultural development in order to increase on their produce
o giving women skills in order to take care of their needs, coming up with sustainable solutions.

3. Call for proposals and review
A call for proposal was made and together with guiding materials circulated widely using several methods. Specifically, proposals were requested from women led organisations based in Sub Saharan Africa. Over 600 proposals were received and reviewed (June 2006). Twenty two (22) proposals were selected for funding.
Next steps

Giving out grants to organisations

Technical support to organisations

Monitoring and evaluation

Resource mobilisation from within and without

Notes from the Workshop and the CRP meeting can be downloaded below.

Grant decisions are completed for the focus area of Women and Children in Africa. A total of $200,000 was allocated among 22 projects in 15 countries throughout Sub-Saharan Africa. Over 600 applications were received. Thanks to the Regional Coordinator Lillian Mworecko and the members of the Community Review Panel for all their hard work.

Women and Families in Africa - Project Grants (Year One - 2006)

Women Fighting AIDS in Tanzania (Tanzania)

M'Twala (Tanzania)

Lady Mermaid Hero (Uganda)

GIRAMTSKIO (Uganda)

God's Will Disabled (Uganda)

Young Women (Kenya)

COPFAM (Kenya)

AMGTDM (Congo-Brazzaville)

IHIRWE (Rwanda)

TBTV Studio 2 (Cameroon)

Community Life Project (Nigeria)

Women and Children of Hope (Nigeria)

Women Ummah Support Group Center for Right to Life (Nigeria)

Espoic de la Famille (Benin)

Foundation for Women and Children (Ghana)

Lusapila Women's Group (Zambia)

Springs of Hope (South Africa)

Women Together Support (Swaziland)

Bomme Isago Association (Botswanna)

CAVWOC (Malawi)

Loving Hands (Zimbabwe)