Before the fourth world conference on women, held in Beijing in 1995, Joana Silochina Foster, a Ghanaian-British activist and lawyer, attended a workshop organised by the Global Fund for Women. Turning to Tadria, Foster said: “What we really need are our own resources.”And so the idea of a fund for African women was born. Despite her engagements, Foster did not give up on her dream of a fund led by African women that would support the work of African women’s rights organisations. Co-founded by Foster, Tadria, and Adeleye-Fayemi, the institution has since provided funding of more than $28m (£22m) to a total of 1,200 women’s rights organisations in 42 African countries. Speaking on AWDF’s 10th anniversary, Foster said: “The concept of a fund for African women was an innovative idea.

Source: The Guardian December 02, 2016 07:00 UTC