Three women, with a shared goal to empower generations of African women, birthed a vision out of passion and the urgent need for change. This vision became the African Women Development Fund (AWDF), an organisation founded to support women-led initiatives across the continent. It is the first pan-African foundation to support the work of women’s rights organisations in Africa. Since its inception, AWDF has distributed $100 million to these organisations.
Dr Hilda Tadria and the late Joana Foster, two co-founders, connected back in the 90s on the sidelines of a preparatory conference for Beijiing in Dakar. As they reflected on their experiences at the meeting, they saw the need for a resource pool by African women for African women.
Further conversations between the three, including Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi, who served as the first Executive Director from 2001 to 2010, refined their idea for this fund. After a launch and donor forum in 2000 that resulted in millions of resources, AWDF was born.
When AWDF started, the international development sector wasn’t favourable to African women. Resources from international organisations weren’t going to smaller organisations—where they were needed. Moreover, some African feminists at the time didn’t trust African women. They saw them as incapable of utilising funds properly, which was why AWDF came into the picture.
AWDF’s mission is to raise financial resources to support the work of African women’s organisations that address women’s empowerment, rights, leadership, health, and fundamental human rights. The fund looks forward to a world where African women have the power to achieve their full potential, contribute to the development of their societies, and overcome challenging systems.
Across Africa, AWDF’s influence ripples through communities, empowering women from the grassroots up. They have provided women-led and women-focused organisations with the tools and funding necessary to tackle issues often overlooked.
Since its inception in 2000, it has worked with 1,676 organisations in 52 countries across Africa and the Middle East. It has also awarded $100 million in grants to different organisations. The grantee organisations, in turn, promote gender equality by providing business and vocational skills training to women to liberate them financially and economically. These organisations also provide information on fighting for women’s rights across Africa.
In a 2017 project that raised €400,000 in grants, organisations like The Association of Mothers of Children with Disabilities and the Upper East Single Mother Association specifically focused on underprivileged and uneducated children. Other organisations within AWDF project areas have equally been fighting to place more women in positions of power so they can influence women’s economic and policy reform.
Through AWDF’s grants, women have blossomed into leaders, educators, and entrepreneurs. In rural communities, these women who once had limited access to education are now teaching others and becoming role models in their villages.
Female entrepreneurs have launched profitable and sustainable businesses, creating jobs for other members of their communities. More women now hold leadership roles, more girls stay in school, and more women start thriving businesses. AWDF has played a significant role through strategic grant-making and leadership, education, and entrepreneurship support.
Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi, Hilda Tadria, and the late Joana Foster, through AWDF, have laid a foundation that has sparked remarkable growth for African women over the past 24 years. They have created an opportunity in Africa where every woman, regardless of her background, has the resources, support, and opportunity to live a life of dignity, independence, and empowerment.
With Françoise Moudouthe, a pan-African Cameroonian, as the current CEO, AWDF looks forward to doing more in the coming years.
