Photo Credit: Eye for Ebony
Thursday, August 9, 1956, might have begun like any other day but it South Africa; it marked a turning point in the country’s history. In one of the largest protests ever held in the country, 20,000 women of all races marched to Pretoria’s Union Buildings with a petition containing more than 100,000 signatures. Organized by Federation of South African Women (FSAW or FEDSAW) petition was to protest a new law that targeted those defined as ‘black’ to carry a pass in a bid to maintain population segregation among other unjust restrictions during the apartheid era.
The women reportedly sang a song Wathint` abafazi, Strijdom! (You Strike a Woman, You Strike a Rock). This phrase has since come to represent the courage and strength of South African women. This powerful show of unity would go on to have a ripple effect for generations to come. Interestingly, it wasn’t until 1995 a year after South Africa transitioned from the system of apartheid to one of majority rule that the first National Women’s Day was celebrated on August 9. Subsequently, August was declared National Women’s Month!
Since then National Women’s Month has been a time to underline several issues including education for girls, gender pay gap, discrimination, harassment and violence in the workplace and home. This year’s theme is ‘Gender equality: realising women’s rights for an equal future’. A theme that ties well, with a lot of the work that the Graça Machel Trust is involved in. Like the women who marched 64 years ago, the Trust boasts of diverse networks of women from different walks of life and in different professions in over 16 countries across the continent.
This year on Women’s Month celebration, the Graca Machel Trust chose to shine a light on women who have led with the courage to ensure that the marginalised voices and faces of women everywhere are recognised and acknowledged. This comes in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, whose reply effect is currently being felt globally.
As our founder Graça Machel noted in a collaborative open letter, “the fragility of African health systems is revealing itself and women and children are most vulnerable to the lack of attention and adequate specialized services the diversion COVID 19 is causing resulting in an anticipated surge in child and maternal mortality”.
Despite this pandemic has reminded us all of the resilient nature of women. This resilient nature that affords women the strength to rise above their circumstances to soar into the opportunities that lie ahead. The Graça Machel Trust networks members have been engaged in work that sees them take an intentional stand to be at the forefront of the rebuilding of our world. A world that will be built back better, equal and just for all because the normal of yesteryear was nothing but a burdensome normalizing of the abnormalities of injustice, rape, sexism, marginalization and inequality for women. Our network members have learnt from this, as it too was their reality.
They have equipped themselves to be the needed agents of change for the world with the various programmes offered. Our women celebrate the meaning of this day and all it represents with an understanding that a new dawn has come for women and they stand ready to deal with it. As a Trust this too is what we celebrate on Women’s Month!
The Trust supports and mobilises civil society networks on issues of ending child marriage, ending violence against children, ending female genital mutilation and promoting children’s rights, to carry out advocacy and action across Africa. Special focus is placed on Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia where child marriage continues to be a problem largely driven by poverty, gender inequality, harmful traditional practices, conflict, low levels of literacy, limited opportunities for girls and weak or non-existent protective and preventive legal frameworks.
Education is a fundamental right for all children, which is also a vehicle for social, economic and political transformation in communities, countries and the African continent at large. Recent studies indicate a lack of progress in some of the critical commitments aimed at improving education quality, access, retention and achievement, particularly for girls. In most African countries, girls may face barriers to learning, especially when they reach post-primary levels of education. By implementing multi-dimensional approaches to education which includes core education, personal development, life skills and economic competencies, the Trust partners with funding partners, governments, civil societies and the private sector to improve education access.
The Nutrition and Reproductive, Maternal, New-born, Child and Adolescent Health and Nutrition, (RMNCAH+N) of the Children’s Rights and Development Programme aims at promoting the Global Strategy for women, children and adolescents’ health within the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) agenda. The strategy emphasises on the importance of effective country leadership as a common factor across countries making progress in improving the health of women, children and adolescents.
Through its Early Childhood Development (ECD) plan, The Trust will seek to put into action the new science and evidence Report that was presented by Lancet Series on Good and early development – the right of every child. This will be achieved by mobilising like-minded partners to contribute in the new science and evidence to reach all young children with ECD. The Trust’s goal is to be a catalyst for doing things differently, in particular, to rid fragmentation and lack of coordination across ECD sectors. In response to evidence showing the importance of political will in turning the tide against the current poor access and quality of ECD. Even before conception, starting with a mother’s health and social economic conditions, the early years of a child’s life form a fundamental foundation that determines whether a child will survive and thrive optimally.