AWDF – KASA OUTREACH CONVENING PROGRAM EMPOWERS WOMEN TO COMBAT SEXUAL VIOLENCE

The African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF) and KASA Initiative in partnership with SWIDA GH has gathered grantees, partners, and advocates for a transformative convening at the Modern City Hotel in Tamale.
The event, which was held on Wednesday, March 26, 2025, and was under the theme, “Dreaming, Speaking Out, and Acting Collectively Towards a World Free of Sexual Violence”, brought together voices from civil society, government, traditional leadership, and digital activism to strategize on ending sexual violence in communities across Ghana and beyond.

The program commenced with a warm welcome address by Hajia Alima Sagito-Saeed, Executive Director of SWIDA Ghana, emphasized the need for unified efforts to dismantle systems that perpetuate sexual violence.

“This convening is not just about dialogue, it is about action. We must dream boldly, speak unapologetically, and act decisively to protect women’s rights,” she stated.

She further stated that, it is not just a women’s issue, it is a societal issue and to create real change, we must act together with unwavering commitment.”

In her opening remark, Madam Gifty, who spoke on behalf of the KASA Coordinator, highlighted the initiative’s work in empowering survivors and strengthening community-led responses to sexual violence. “KASA which means speak out was launched by AWDF with the Ford Foundation and Open Society West Africa with a seed fund of $3,750,000.00 to support sexual violence interventions in Africa. It was started as a five-year pilot initiative in Ghana, Senegal and Nigeria. In terms of where we are as a fund, Kasa has supported 45 organizations in Ghana, Nigeria and Senegal who are implementing various interventions. We recognise the silence arounding the issues of sexual violence, hence, KASA.

Statistically, nearly 1 in 4 women in Ghana, aged 15 to 49 years are likely to experience one form of violence or another during her lifetime. This includes physical, emotional or psychological and sexual violence; however, we recognize that sexual violence is shrouded in silence often due to social,cultural and religious norm practices. This impedes prevention and response.

In this meeting, we look forward to engagements that improve our understanding of the sexual violence situation in northern Ghana and ongoing interventions by individual organizationsand collectives, and the opportunity for stronger collaboration and partnership.

Madam Gifty, she stressed the importance of grassroots mobilization, saying, “When women and girls are safe, our communities thrive. KASA is committed to ensuring that no survivor stands alone. We also hope to foster stronger partnership among us and to see inspiring post-convening interventions.”

Hajia Bushira from the department of gender, representing the Ministry of Gender, Children, and Social Protection, commended the organizers, SWIDA GH and reinforced the government’s role in policy implementation and legal frameworks. She shared updates on national efforts to combat gender-based violence and called for stronger collaboration between state agencies and civil society. Madam Bushira called for the need to engage everyone, she particularly called for the male and boys’ engagement. “We have to engage the male groups, because sometimes they feel they have the right to abuse women, and they say this out of ignorance so when you engage them at the community level, I think we will be making a headway.

Speaking on behalf of traditional leaders, a queen mother, Madam Bridgewurche Barichisu Mankir commended Swida Ghana and the African women development fund and all organizations that are helping in the fight against sexual violence. She said, “coming from the traditional perspective,majority of these issues come from the communities, where we as traditional leaders or queen mothers are heading. CSOs are fighting this canker seriously but when I ask myself, what is the role of traditional leaders in fighting sexual violence, I feel very sad for being part of this role”.

“Traditional leaders are rather hindering the fight, when issues of sexual violence happen the female rather becomes the problem. Survivors and parents of survivors finds it hard to voice out because they feel they will be disgraced”, she stated. I stand here to say that we as queen mothers, we have had several sensitizations on sexual violence and we are poised as queen mothers to fight this in all our challenges as women.

Madam Bridgewurche, is therefore adding her voice and calling on all stakeholders to engage traditional leaders in combating sexual violence.

With 1 in 4 women experiencing gender-based violence, the highlight of the program was during the two-part panel discussions where panelists demanded policy reforms and traditional leader engagement to combat impunity for perpetrators.

AWDF-KASA Grantees and Partners Convening brought together frontline organizations leading the fight against sexual violence in Ghana on the topic, “Experiences of Frontline Actors in Sexual Violence Prevention, Response, and Accountability.” The session featured representatives from KASA-funded partners. SWIDA Ghana, PAORPVWC(Pan African Organization for Research and Protection of Violence on Women and Children), Sung Foundation, and Tiyumba Foundation who shared their on-the-ground experiences, challenges, and successes in addressing gender-based violence.

The second session shifted focus to the critical role of funding in sustaining sexual violence interventions across Ghana. Facilitated by the AWDF, the session, on the topic“Experience of Funding Sexual Violence Interventions in Ghana: Challenges and Opportunities,” brought together leading development organizations like Oxfam, Plan International, UN agency, and AWDF to discuss financing gaps, best practices, and future opportunities in the fight against gender-based violence (GBV).

The panel opened with a powerful acknowledgment of the critical role grassroots organizations play in supporting survivors and driving systemic change. Each panelist provided insights into their unique interventions, revealing both progress and persistent barriers.

Despite their successes, frontline organization panelists highlighted major obstacles such as underreporting due to stigma and victim-blaming , Limited funding for long-term survivor support programs, Slow legal processes and corruption in justice delivery and Cultural resistance in some communities.

Stakeholders, government, donors, and traditional leaderswere therefore urged to increase funding for grassroots gender based violence initiatives, strengthen accountability mechanisms for perpetrators, expand survivor-centered shelters and legal aid services, Engage men and boys as allies in prevention efforts.

Donor panelists on the other hand, identified persistent barriers, that needs paying attention to. These barriers include, donor fatigue and shifting priorities away from gender-basedviolence, over-reliance on project-based funding, leaving long-term sustainability in question, bureaucratic delays in disbursing funds to frontline organizations and Limited funding for marginalized groups such as survivors and women with disabilities

Despite challenges, the discussion ended on a hopeful note, with panelists proposing solutions. They are hoping for more African philanthropic and government investment in Gender based violence programs, multi-year funding models to ensure program continuity, collaborative funding pools where donors align resources for greater impact, and capacity-building grants to help smaller organizations manage funds effectively.

AWDF reinforced the organization’s commitment to funding women-led and feminist movements across the continent.“Local women’s organizations understand their communities best but are often underfunded”. AWDF prioritizes their leadership because they drive the most impactful change.

The panel closed with a powerful consensus, “Ending sexual violence requires not just passion but predictable, equitable, and substantial funding. It also requires collective action, sustained investment, and unshakable commitment from all sectors of society. “

The conversation set the stage for deeper partnerships, ensuring that the fight against sexual violence in Ghana is not just spoken about. As a participant would end it, “Ending sexual violence should not be business as usual but business unusual.

Story By: Ewurama Attoh |www.diamondfmonline.com |Ghana.