Women’s Rights and Gender Equality

Women’s Rights and Gender Equity are at the core of our work and a natural consequence of all other thematic areas. Our particular emphasis on the rights of women is woven through all of our initiatives and also as standalone program. Top priorities on our women’s rights and gender equality program are sexual and gender-based violence, women’s participation in democratic life and their access to socio-economic opportunities, ensuring gender mainstreaming in every facet of private and national life.

Our work has spanned nearly five decades of impact in Nigeria, Afghanistan, The Maghreb region, Uganda and Burundi, building the capacity of local activists to provide community based paralegal services (legal first aid) to indigent women who are particularly vulnerable given the paucity of access to justice in the region. Our paralegal services partners work alongside indigent women to ensure that they can understand and assert their rights in cases involving issues such as forced marriage, child custody, domestic and sexual violence.

We also work alongside stakeholders at the community level to promote the inclusion and leadership of women in the civic space.

Through our Sawabona project in Northern Nigeria, we build the capacity of internally displaced (IDPs) women to acquire life skills and to publicly engage on policies that affect their lives.