Posts Tagged ‘Africa’
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.
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.
June 30, 2011 – 10 am Pacific / 1 pm Eastern
A funder call co-sponsored by the Christensen Fund, Grassroots International, IDEX and New Field Foundation
To join this call, please rsvp to Melissa@fntg.org
Throughout the global South, a rapidly growing trend of “large scale land acquisitions”, more popularly known as land grabbing, is undermining land rights and food sovereignty of local communities. Tens of thousands of families are being displaced from their homes and losing their source of livelihood by this massive new phenomenon.
IDEX is now a proud member of The Zimbabwe Alliance, a funders collaborative whereby we can maximize joint resources to maintain our commitment to promoting a vibrant civil society in the country. Read the rest of this entry »
Mar
16PWN celebrates 100 years of International Women’s Day and 15 years of supporting women living with HIV/AIDS
2011
Posted by IDEX
To celebrate International Women’s Day, Tuesday, March 8, many IDEX partners planned and participated in local events.
IDEX partner Positive Women’s Network (PWN) held an event on March 10th to celebrate the lives and achievements of women living with HIV/AIDS. The event hosted 50 women from PWN outreach areas and recognized the achievements of the women, PLWHA, mothers, caregivers and community members that PWN works with. The event also provided a discussion session for the women to engage each other on the issues that predispose women to gender-based violence and risky behaviors leading to HIV/AIDS as well as methods to increase the involvement of women in HIV/AIDS and sexual and reproductive health policy design and implementation. Read the rest of this entry »
The World Social Forum (WSF) kicked off in Dakar, Senegal, this week and IDEX Program Officer Yeshica Weerasekera is on the ground and will be sending dispatches our way!
IDEX has helped to facilitate four of our South African partners to attend the WSF. While in Dakar, IDEX partners Biowatch, Positive Women’s Network, South Durban Community Environmental Alliance, and Whole World Women’s Association will organize workshop sessions that address some of the most pertinent issues facing Africa today.
PWN routinely holds workshops on HIV/AIDS and Personal Empowerment for young women in South Africa.
Workshop topics include South Durban’s fight against environmental pollution, the socioeconomic factors impacting HIV/AIDS treatment for women, and ways in which small farmer-led sustainable farming models can fight food insecurity.
A global entity, the World Social Forum began in Brazil 11 years ago as a counterweight to the elite World Economic Forum, which wrapped up last week in Davos, Switzerland. By contrast, the WSF brings together thousands of social justice movements from around the world to exchange ideas and experiences, and to network for effective action.
This year marks the second time the WSF is held in an African country, presenting an opportunity for Africa to rededicate time to fighting the immense poverty and injustice gripping the continent.
The WSF provides our partners with an excellent platform to raise awareness about their valuable work in South Africa, and to network with likeminded organizations. Such a level of cooperation is an opportunity to find solutions to some of Africa’s most pressing concerns.
In the coming weeks, look out for posts from Yeshica as well as from our partner organizations.
Need a last-minute gift idea? How about sending a Zimbabwean girl to school or providing a rural community in Rajasthan, India with clean drinking water?
By choosing a Gift of Conscience this holiday season, you can honor your loved ones by supporting valuable work in Latin America, India and Africa.
No gift is too large or too small, and each gift will have a lasting, life-changing impact for vulnerable communities.
You can also support IDEX partners by shopping online with iGive. Simply shop at all of your favorite online retailers via the iGive portal and IDEX receives a percentage of your purchases — at no cost to you!
For beautiful, affordable gifts that support women artisans worldwide, visit the Global Goods Partners site. From handmade Indian scarves to African beaded bowls, Global Exchange offers a wide range of holiday gift ideas. Each purchase supports local artisans, and all products are fair trade certified.
The holiday season is about giving and sharing, so what better way to enjoy the spirit of the holidays than by supporting our partners?
The best part about our Gifts of Conscience? They are never out of season! Even after the last of your holiday decorations have been packed away, you can continue to make a difference in Africa, Latin America and Asia throughout the New Year.
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