Katherine Zavala – IDEX’s Program Manager, Grassroots Alliances – recently journeyed to South Africa on a site visit to our partners. She reports from Johannesburg.
Women's Net provided technical training to teenage girls in order to provide a new outlet for advancing women's rights.
Driving into Johannesburg, on the other side of the hemisphere from San Francisco, it is easy to embrace the warm sunny weather. The Jacaranda trees are blooming this month, giving a purple flair to the lush, green environment.
Along the highway, I see the Nelson Mandela Bridge and central “Jozi” as some local people refer to the South African city.
I start my learning journey with Women’s Net, an IDEX Catalyst Grantee.
The goal of Women’s Net is to strengthen women and girls movements for social change through the use of information communication tools and advocacy that promotes access, the right to information and freedom of expression.
IDEX has been named a 4-star charity by Charity Navigator, the largest independent evaluator of charities in the US. IDEX has been awarded a 4-star rating for exceeding industry standards.
“Receiving four out of a possible four stars indicates that IDEX adheres to good governance and other best practices. Approximately a quarter of the charities we evaluate received our highest rating, indicating that IDEX outperforms most other charities in America,” states Ken Berger, President and Chief Executive Officer at Charity Navigator. “This ‘exceptional’ designation differentiates IDEX from its peers and demonstrates to the public it is worthy of their trust.”
“We very much appreciate Charity Navigator’s recognition. Their 4-star rating underscores IDEX’s sound fiscal management and our commitment to accountability and transparency,” says Vini Bhansali, IDEX’s Executive Director.
Charity Navigator rates charities by evaluating two broad areas of financial health: organizational efficiency and organizational capacity. Under organizational efficiency, they consider the ratio of money spent on core programs in relation to the amount spent on staffing, fundraising, and administration. Under organizational capacity, they analyze an organization’s ability to sustain programs over time and maximize resources towards its mission.
“IDEX grants to our partners come entirely from our community of supporters and we strive to put your generous contributions to good use, for work that is not only important but also effective,” adds Vini. “My hope is that this rating will give our supporters the added assurance that a gift to IDEX is well-managed and a wise investment in lasting solutions to poverty and injustice.”
See IDEX’s profile on Charity Navigator here: http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=6372
More information on Charity Navigator can be found on their website: www.charitynavigator.org
Katherine Zavala – IDEX’s Program Manager, Grassroots Alliances – is in South Africa on a site visit to our partners. She reports from Cape Town.
"We talk about our commonalities and differences. We get to know each other’s history, where we come from, and our struggles as women."- Mary Tal, WWWA's Founder and Director. Photo by Eric Miller.
Mary Tal, Founder and Director of Whole World Women Assocation
Today I’ve been invited to observe a training at the wonderful Community House in Salt River, Cape Town, a unique building where lots of NGOs share a communal space including IDEX Partner Whole World Women Association (WWWA).
The training is for peer educators. The goal is that these new peer educators, who come from different countries such as Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi, Rwanda, and Cameroon, will educate and build awareness among other refugees on HIV/AIDS literacy.
WWWA has been working with migrant and refugee communities in the surrounding areas of Cape Town since 2002, particularly focusing on women.
Refugees from the most conflicted areas around the African continent have been attracted to South Africa because it offers the best economic opportunities on this continent.
Unfortunately, refugees are still not welcomed or integrated into South African society.
Katherine Zavala – IDEX’s Program Manager, Grassroots Alliances – is in South Africa on a site visit to our partners. She reports from the Eastern Cape province.
IDEX Program Director Katherine Zavala with AGF staff (in red) and Positive Health Champions
Today I went to visit IDEX Partner Angus Gillis Foundation (AGF) and accompany them on a community visit to Glenmore, a township in the Eastern Cape province.
Eastern Cape is known as the poorest province in South Africa, where two-thirds of the people are living in rural areas and lack access to available resources.
It is the final day of activities before the communities start their Christmas vacation. Many of them will travel far to visit extended family. Some will stay home.
But today is a day for reflecting on what was learned in 2011 and what their dreams are for 2012.
Katherine Zavala – IDEX’s Program Manager, Grassroots Alliances – reports from South Africa where she is on a site visit to our partners.
Herschelle Milford, Director, IDEX partner Surplus People's Project
Today I’m driving up north through the Western Cape with IDEX Catalyst Grantee Surplus People’s Project (SPP) to visit several farm workers and farm dwellers.
As soon as we leave the urban areas of Cape Town, I find myself in a semi-arid deserted landscape.
We are on our way to the Cederberg area where there are large white commercial farmers monocropping citrus fruits, particularly oranges. Known as the first place in the Western Cape to be colonized, the region was the starting point of the genocide of the indigenous Khoisan communities, known more popularly in the West as the Bushman.
The people I’m meeting today are descendants of these indigenous communities who, during apartheid, were classified as “coloured.”
Today, white farmers own most of the land. Even the land reform that came into place after 1994 did not produce any significant changes; only 5% of the land has been transferred over to the farm workers.
During COP 17, the UN’s latest round of climate talks, civil society organizations – including 4 IDEX Partners – are mobilizing from all over the world to put pressure from the outside on the government negotiators on the inside.
Katherine Zavala – IDEX’s Program Manager, Grassroots Alliances – is in South Africa on a site visit to our partners and to support their activities at COP 17. She reports from Durban.
IDEX partner SDCEA conducts a toxic tour in South Durban to highlight environmental degradation in the area under the watchful eye of a security guard.
Throughout the two weeks of COP17, IDEX Partner SDCEA has organized toxic tours, as part of their strategy to showcase the realities of low-income communities in South Durban living right next to several big polluters.
Toxic tours always start at a spot overlooking the Shell/BP oil refinery which is located right next to a huge paper mill and an airport strip.
This whole cluster is right next to the Umlazi channel that flows all the toxic waste directly to the beach, where fisher folks can no longer fish because of the extreme toxic waste that has accumulated on the shore.
As we arrived, we noticed several people including a security agent for the oil refinery, who is paid to stand around and call the cops if he sees anyone from SDCEA doing their toxic tours.
SDCEA is so accustomed to this routine that they have taken the approach of being transparent and telling the security agents what they’re doing and how many people are there for their tour.
Sure enough, after a few minutes a police helicopter came and surrounded our area for a good five minutes before flying away!
During COP 17, the UN’s latest round of climate talks, civil society organizations – including 4 IDEX Partners – are mobilizing from all over the world to put pressure from the outside on the government negotiators on the inside.
Katherine Zavala – IDEX’s Program Manager, Grassroots Alliances – is in South Africa on a site visit to our partners and to support their activities at COP 17. She reports from Durban.
Getting ready to walk in the Global Day of Action march in Durban, South Africa where the UN COP17 talks are taking place
It wasn’t easy to get the right route for the Global Day of Action march, but after multiple negotiations with the municipality a path was finally agreed on. It would start at Botha’s Garden, going towards Down West Street, turn into Aliwal Street [ Samora Machel ] and then in Braam Fisher Street [Ordinance Road] to meet the UN President of COP 17, Christina Figueres at the International Convention Center. The march ended at the Old Pavilion site, next to the beach.
Arriving at Botha’s Garden around 10am, I found a huge octopus marking the ending point of the march. The octopus represented USA and its demands for more carbon markets!
I joined the march with IDEX Partner Biowatch who had brought 15 farm workers (mostly women) from rural KwaZulu Natal to Durban to be part of the protests at the People’s Space and the International Convention Center (ICC) where the UNFCCC conversations were happening.
This was the first time the farm workers had been part of this process and in their debrief later many expressed how powerful it was for them to see African leaders in different networks and movements.
During COP 17, the UN’s latest round of climate talks, civil society organizations – including 4 IDEX Partners – are mobilizing from all over the world to put pressure from the outside on the government negotiators on the inside.
Katherine Zavala – IDEX’s Program Manager, Grassroots Alliances – is in South Africa on a site visit to our partners and to support their activities at COP 17. She reports from Durban.
Today was an important powerful day as it was symbolically the day of the launch of Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA).
AFSA is a new continental alliance of African networks that have come together to form a united African voice on key issues affecting the continent’s peoples, in particular issues concerning farmers, food systems, forests and other ecosystems.
Promoting African Solutions for Food Sovereignty
AFSA aims to strengthen the already existing and growing food sovereignty movement in Africa.
Their objective is to create a strong voice that calls for effective policies in the interconnected areas of family farming and food systems; promotion of traditional and indigenous knowledge systems; and regeneration and protection of ecosystems, community rights, and ecological governance systems in Africa.
Nov
30
“We are part of the solutions to the challenges we’re facing. We could be the biggest solution” – Dispatches from COP 17
2011
Posted by IDEX
During COP 17, the UN’s latest round of climate talks, civil society organizations – including 4 IDEX Partners – are mobilizing from all over the world to put pressure from the outside on the government negotiators on the inside.
Katherine Zavala – IDEX’s Program Manager, Grassroots Alliances – is in South Africa on a site visit to our partners and to support their activities at COP 17. She reports from Durban.
Workshop participants make signs for the Global Day of Action march at the Biowatch/ABN Agroecology and Climate workshop
During the week of COP17, IDEX Partner Biowatch facilitated a workshop on Agroecology and Climate with African Biodiversity Network (ABN) at the People’s Space.
The event drew over 55 participants consisting mostly of women farm workers, but also men and youth from rural KwaZulu Natal, Tanzania, Mozambique, Uganda and Kenya.
The workshop highlighted agroecology as a key solution to climate change.
Many Western-oriented thinkers define this as the alternative method of agriculture, but as quoted from Gathuru Mburu, ABN’s Director from Kenya, “This is not the alternative for me. This is the natural path that we should and ought to be following.”
Four experts on agroecology shared their practices and experience: Mercy Mutave from Institute for Culture and Ecology (Kenya); Helena Paul, Eco Nexus (UK); Lawrence Mkhalipi, Biowatch (South Africa); Sophiwe Florence Dlamini, Biowatch Community Facilitator in Pongola, KwaZulu Natal (South Africa).
Nov
30
A Visit with Positive Women’s Network in South Africa: “I wish to learn more so that I can then teach others.”
2011
Posted by IDEX
Katherine Zavala – IDEX’s Program Manager, Grassroots Alliances – is in South Africa on a site visit to our partners. She reports from Johannesburg.
Today I visited IDEX’s longest partner in South Africa, Positive Women’s Network (PWN), in their new office in Johannesburg.
I was pleasantly surprised to arrive at a room full of women, as Prudence Mabele, PWN’s Director, introduced me to her office team and women participating in support groups from different townships around Johannesburg.
- Katherine with Positive Women’s Network in Johannesburg.
The Power of Support Groups
PWN’s core ongoing program has been the support group model, where women living with or impacted HIV/AIDS come and engage in a safe space with other women to share their experiences and feelings on issues prevalent in their lives.
Today there are 5 outreach coordinators and 10 support group members.
They have come to start planning their activities for 16 Days of Activism. Activities will include HIV/AIDS treatment literacy, awareness around the link between HIV/AIDS and cervical cancer, and awareness on violence against women.
Quality Health Care Remain a Challenge
Each outreach coordinator (key community liaison and facilitator of the support group) shared with me the different challenges they’ve seen in their communities.
The common theme? A lack of support from the health clinics towards women.
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