– Gender-based and sexual violence in West Africa: feminists are mobilizing across the region!

From strategy to writing action plans, media training, and designing the visual universe... in a five-day workshop, 16 feminist activists from eight West African countries designed an advocacy and communication campaign to support the fight against gender-based and sexual violence (GBV).

As part of the "Young Feminists of West Africa" project, Equipop organized a workshop in Dakar to create a feminist social and political mobilization campaign. It took place from April 3 to 7, 2023. Designed and supported by many feminists in the region, the campaign will aim to influence the public authorities of Senegal, Mali, Côte d'Ivoire, Benin, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, Niger, and Guinea to include in the finance laws of the eight countries a budget line dedicated to the establishment and/or improvement of systems for collecting quantitative and qualitative data on VSS. Indeed, in order to collect this data and improve the reception and care of survivors in the various countries, health workers, community workers, social workers, justice and police officers need human and financial resohealth workers, community workers, social workers, justice officials, and police officers need human and financial resources.

The root of this mobilization: the 2022 Feminist Agora

In September 2022, nearly 50 feminist activists from West and Central Africa gathered in Niger for the first edition of the Feminist Agora. The Agora is a sisterly and supportive space for collective discussion and reflection on priority issues related to sexual and reproductive health and rights. The Agora is also a space for respectful and attentive listening, allowing feminist activists to let go. It aims to be rejuvenating and intellectually stimulating. It is co-created by Equipop and its feminist partners. The objective of the first edition of the Agora was twofold: to create a unique space for feminists from the sub-region to meet and to lay the foundations for collaboration between feminist activists in West Africa for targeted collective action! Seven months later, 16 of the feminists who attended the Agora—appointed by their peers (two representatives per country)—met in Dakar, building on the discussions and reflections initiated in Niamey, to create their social and political mobilization campaign.

Equipop's incubation methodology in action!

For several years, Equipop has been supporting its partners in creating projects through incubation labs whose methodology is inspired by design thinking. 

Tailored to communication challenges, our method has already proven itself in campaign design. #IWantToKnow campaigns by the Alliance Droits et Santé network and #ZeroViolence campaigns by Young Leaders for Advocacy (Niger). 

" I really appreciated the fact that it was so participatory and "offbeat." It made learning more fun and comfortable. Personally, I learned a lot about the advocacy and campaigning process. We hope to have many more workshops like this." – Ténin SAMAKE

On the agenda for this final workshop: anintense week of creation and reflection, but also a space for expressing feminism in the region, sisterhood, and collective learning. Alternating between group work modules, role-playing, skills building, sharing inspiration, plenary debates, and even visual arts, Equipop put its experience in facilitation and its expertise in project management, communication, and advocacy at the service of feminists. 

Bonded together and strengthened by rich and diverse activist and professional experiences, it was also among themselves and collectively that they learned and conceived this campaign.

"It was truly a workshop of co-creation and friendly exchanges. I don't like workshops; they take too much time and are often boring. But here, you don't even notice the time passing. People often say that working in a group isn't easy, but with guidelines and collective participation, we were able to achieve what we needed to. The work got done." – Kadiatou KONATE

Young West African feminists are now working on developing campaign content and activities and preparing meetings with national authorities and strategic partners. You can join their campaign in early 2024: follow the movement!

This project receives financial support from AFD and Global Affairs Canada.