Togo

2011 ONE Africa Award Winner Announced

Dec 14th, 2011 4:48 PM UTC
By Dr Sipho Moyo

I’m delighted to announce that Groupe de Reflexion et d’action, Femme Democratie et Developpment (GF2D), from Togo are the 2011 winners of the fourth annual ONE Africa Award.

The ONE Africa Award celebrates and bolsters innovative Africa-led, Africa-driven advocacy efforts to help advance one or more of the Millennium Development Goals, the world’s blueprint to fighting extreme poverty and disease. The goals specifically address critical issues to development, such as; halving extreme poverty; halting the spread of HIV/AIDS and malaria and providing universal primary education.

GF2D helps women in exercising their right to participate in decision making processes of their country.

One of GF2D’s tools is the use of paralegals who are trained in Togolese laws by GF2D and empowered to communicate messages to communities about women’s rights, engage in mediations related to marriage, inheritance and children, and offer referral assistance for issues that need to be handled in court. Many of their paralegals are everyday women – traders, seamstresses, mothers, whose lives have been changed because of their paralegal training and some of them have gone on to seek local political positions. These women and men have become well-respected members of their societies because of their knowledge of Togolese laws and their ability to convey the rights of women to their peers in simple messages. GF2D has been integral to the increase in the number of female political office holders in Togo today.

As winners of this year’s ONE Africa Award GF2D receive $100000 in prize money.

As the award was announcement here in Johansburg, Léontine, GF2D’s General Secretary said:

“We dedicate the 2011 ONE Award to all Togolese women whose bravery and dynamism are well known. We want to recognize the silent majority of those who suffer from violence, discrimination and low incomes gained from their hard efforts. The announcement of the award was greeted with a great joy at the “House of women” by all the members and staff of GF2D.

This award represents the recognition for over 20 years of efforts to realize a vision where: women know their rights and fully benefit from them:

• Togolese women, freed from the constraints and socio-cultural burdens imosed on them, contribute to the development of their society
• equal participation of men and women exists in the political, social and economic decision making processes
• a genuine partnership exists between men and women in the management of their families, public and private institutions

We receive this award as an encouragement to persevere in defending the cause of women. We thank ONE whose mission is to recognize, reward and support the important work of African civil society organizations towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). “

The runners up of the award this year in no particular order include: Prévention Information et Lutte contre le Sida (PILS) – Mauritius, Africa Youth Trust (AYT) – Kenya, Alliance for Reproductive Health Rights (ARHR) – Ghana and Sylva Food Solutions Limited (SFSL) – Zambia

Previous award winners include Nigeria’s Development Communications Network (Devcoms) and Kenya’s Slums Information Development and Resources Centres (SIDAREC) and SEND West Africa.

We are here today to celebrate Africa’s unsung heroes and to play our part on changing the stereotype narrative on Africa. We don’t deny that there are challenges that exist, but, we also need to highlight the successes, the determination and the ingenuous creativity of the African people despite these challenges.

I’m sure you will join me in congratulating GF2D and our runners ups, and thanking them for the amazing work they are doing across the continent. We wish them every success in the future!

ONE Africa Award 2011: Promoting women’s rights in Togo

Oct 24th, 2011 12:16 PM UTC
By Edith Jibunoh

The 2011 ONE Africa Award process is halfway through and when the call for applications closed on 16 September we had received over 150 applications! ONE staff have spent the last couple of weeks reviewing the amazing applications that came in and I am pleased to announce that we have identified our top 5 finalists!

I have already embarked on a tour around the continent, to visit the finalists, in no particular order, and over the coming weeks I’ll be unveiling the candidates, one at a time, immediately following my visits to them. I am really excited by the quality of the candidates this year and I am certain the selection committee will have a tough time picking a winner!

My visit with the first organization has just concluded and I can reveal that the first of our top candidates is the Togolese organization, Groupe de refelxion et d’action Femme, Democratice et Developpement (GF2D). This amazing organization was founded by a group of mostly women lawyers almost twenty years ago and uses Togolese constitutional laws to promote the rights of women and encourage their equal participation in democratic governance.

Founders and staff of GF2D outside their office

One of GF2D’s tools is the use of paralegals who are trained in Togolese laws by GF2D and empowered to communicate messages to communities about women’s rights, engage in mediations related to marriage, inheritance and children, and offer referral assistance for issues that need to be handled in court. Many of their paralegals are everyday women – traders, seamstresses, mothers, whose lives have been changed because of their paralegal training and some of them have gone on to seek local political positions. These women and men have become well-respected members of their societies because of their knowledge of Togolese laws and their ability to convey the rights of women to their peers in simple messages. GF2D has been integral to the increase in the number of female political office holders in Togo today.

Madam Toublou, a seamstress turned paralegal and women’s activist, trained by GF2D.

GF2D has also set up audience centres within popular markets where people can walk in for legal advice and I was fortunate enough to visit one in the biggest market in the Togolese capital, Lome, and see how they work. People came in for advice ranging from questions about how to get birth certificates for children to what to do in the case of a woman not being allowed to access her inheritance by male relatives. The paralegals are also frequently on radio and television programs promoting their work. Not far from the market, I sat in on a national radio program with a station GF2D works with regularly, Nana FM. The station is focused on women’s issues and got its name from a group of Togolese women who were famous in the 1950’s for their wealth acquired from their trade in wax cloth. These women were very influential in the Togolese independence movement and were called “Nana Benz” because of the Mercedes Benz cars they favoured! Radio is still the most powerful medium of communication in Africa and Nana FM, whose staff have been trained by GF2D, includes dynamic programs in their broadcasts that help ensure that that information related to women’s rights, development and democracy is conveyed effectively throughout the country.

GF2D’s amazing work has been recognized by the government of Togo and during my visit, the Minister of Women’s affairs was kind enough to meet with me to endorse the work of GF2D. She explained to me that the government has replicated GF2D’s model and has worked with GF2D to train the government paralegals. GF2D has also been critical to the increase in the number of women holding political office in Togo today.

(left to right) Two GF2D staff, the Minister of Women’s Affairs, Togo; ONE’s Edith Jibunoh; staff of GF2D.

GF2D recognizes the importance of the inclusion of both men and women in development and understand that unless men and women can equally participate in decision-making processes that determine their access to opportunities, Togo will not fully develop. To this end, GF2D also includes male paralegals in their outreach and ensures that they equally target men whose understanding of women’s rights is just as important and critical to the success of their mission.

We wish GF2D good luck in the 2011 ONE Africa Award and thank them for their hospitality in Lome!

Stay tuned for the announcement of the second finalist………

This post first appeared on the ONE Africa Blog