- Program Civil Society
- Program Area Special Initiatives
- Grant Amount $80,000
- Grant Period March 1, 2004–February 28, 2006
- Location Johannesburg, South Africa
- Geographic Focus Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe
About this grant
Gender Links, a research, training and advocacy nonprofit organization, was established in 2001 to promote gender equality. In 2002, Gender Links began researching the role of women in politics in South Africa and the southern African region, with a particular focus on local government. There is a need to publicize and disseminate the findings of this research to promote the increased representation of women in politics.Multiyear funding will support efforts to ensure that the research is widely publicized and disseminated in South Africa and the southern Africa region; the findings are used in advocacy campaigns to promote increased representation of women in politics; media kits are developed to aid dissemination; and a pilot project aimed at strengthening the capacity of women in local government is designed and implemented.In 2003, the book entitled, "Ringing Up the Changes: Gender and Politics in Southern Africa," was published to address the links between democracy, gender equality and good governance; the challenges surrounding access by women to political decisionmaking in the southern African region; the factors that help or hinder effective participation by women in politics; changes as a result of women’s participation in political decisionmaking; case studies on the impact of women in initiating laws and policies that affect women; and the extent to which the presence of women in decisionmaking influences a gender perspective in laws, policies and programs.