In March 2022, Equipop provided technical and financial support to two important academic events organized by the Virtual University of Senegal (UVS) and Cheikh Anta Diop University (UCAD). The "collaboration with universities" initiative currently being developed within Equipop offers opportunities for innovation in terms of improving and creating methodologies and feminist tools that will be useful to academics and development program actors in their work. It also relies on synergies between these actors to combat gender inequality and patriarchy.
Feminist collaborations with academia are a particularly important area of focus for Equipop. Equipop provided financial, logistical, and technical support, as well as the expertise of Maïmouna Ndoye, Equipop's Gender and Feminist Approaches Advisor, for the organization of two major conferences in March in Senegal.
The first symposium, entitled "Women in Senegalese society: the revival of gender studies and feminism" (watch the symposium on YouTube), organized by the Virtual University of Senegal (UVS), in collaboration with Equipop and the Heinrich Böll Foundation, was held from March 7 to 9. A few weeks later, on March 30 and 31, an international symposium was held on the theme "Women, identities, politics, rights, and socio-economic dynamics: cross-disciplinary reflections," organized by Nubianlane and the IG2P Laboratory based in the Department of Political Science at Cheikh Anta Diop University (UCAD), in collaboration with Equipop.
“The feminist foundation is there, don't let it die.”
Professor Fatou Sow introduced both conferences. A leading figure in Senegalese feminism, she emphasized the importance of these events in creating an academic space open to feminist thought and teaching in Senegal. In her speech at the UVS conference on the history of feminism in Africa, she began with the following words "When I am invited to a feminist conference at a university in Dakar, I come! Discussing feminism at an academic level is such a battle!" These words were followed by an overview of the origins of feminist struggles in Africa and the diaspora. She evoked fascinating feminist figures and a wide diversity of styles of thought and allegiances. In her conclusion, Professor Fatou Sow emphasized one constant: rootedness: "Whatever happens, the feminist roots are there, don't let them die."
Enriching feminist thinking
Alongside Fatou Sow, the two conferences were attended virtually and in person by pioneers of Senegalese feminism as well as leading feminist figures from Africa and Europe. They were followed by a large number of participants both in person and online. The audience—both online and in person—was mainly made up of students from UVS and UCAD, but also included teachers from both universities, public figures from Senegal, young feminist partners, and others.
The intellectual output facilitated by these exchanges is rich in methodological issues and innovative perspectives at the academic level (teaching and research) but also at the project level (feminist planning, change-oriented monitoring and evaluation, feminist capitalization, etc.).
Innovative partnerships with universities
Supporting the development of knowledge and innovation in gender approaches and feminist perspectives is a central focus of the job description for the new position of Gender and Feminist Approaches Advisor at Equipop. This focus is based on three objectives:
- Contribute to strengthening ties between Equipop and academic circles and feminist research.
- Promote feminist interfaces and spaces for exchange through partnerships in academic and activist circles.
- Identify, select, and share information about the work carried out by feminist activists in various spheres that relate to Equipop's priority themes.
Equipop's support for these activities reflects its growing interest in strengthening its participation in the discussions and actions of actors in West Africa who are working to promote gender equality. The partnership with researchers and academics is strategic, insofar as the insights provided by gender studies and feminism are central to the development of policies and programs that transform unequal structures. Systemic inequalities are expressed in particular through the resurgence of violence against women and girls, constraints on the realization of their economic rights, violations of their reproductive and sexual rights, the resurgence of anti-rights movements, activist burnout, etc. The main objective of Equipop's partnership approach with university stakeholders is to create optimal conditions for multidisciplinary exchanges on gender and feminist issues, while respecting the diversity of identities, stances, and positions.
