As anFGM survivor and a women’s rights activist I have seen how those who achieve the most in terms of changing hearts and minds are always based within the affected communities. Violence against women is sadly a global pandemic but it needs to be ended locally, from the roots up. For as long as I can remember though, the international aid industry has funded agencies or charities in the Western world, which do good work - but which often creates a situation that ignores or harms grassroots activists on the ground. This “white saviour” mentality has permeated every level and has caused many Africans and other women of colour to be sidelined.
Along with a group leading women - Jameela Jamil, Leigh-Anne Pinnock from Little Mix, Kate Kamau, Janet Mbugua, Gina Din, Myriam Sidibe, Wandia Gichuru and Isha Sesay, I wrote an open letter to the donor community to ask them to join as allies and change the way work towards gender equality is funded in Africa. We wanted them to take a moment to think deeply about what biases may be influencing their funding decisions - and what evidence they are using when making these decisions.
The top down approach can disempower women and reduce the potential for grassroots-based women’s groups to build up their own skills and capabilities.
We have heard time and time again how foundations are trying to listen and to 'do better' but in reality this has not happened. The top down approach can disempower women and reduce the potential for grassroots-based women’s groups to build up their own skills and capabilities. To be blunt, we have also seen that donors are happy to use African women on the covers of their reports, but when it comes to directly funding the groups they represent, they look the other way.
The Five Foundation, The Global Partnership To End FGM, has been in listening mode for the past 18 months. We have taken the time to hear from groups such as Safe Engage Foundation and Msichana Empowerment Kuria in Kenya, which have both been working to protect girls in a remote region where 3,000 recently underwent FGM and were marched down the streets. With small amounts of funding, facilitated by One Young World, we were able to support these brave activists in their urgent work.
I want donors to realise that trusting African women and funding their activism means we can change social norms, reduce violence and lift ourselves, our families and our communities out of poverty and into prosperity. When this happens on a countrywide level the value of girls and women is increased forever. Fueling frontline activism and economically empowering women is also the best way of making sure Africa can realise its long-promised development potential.
As it stands, the continent finds itself in an increasingly precarious position. We have an urgent need to recover from COVID-19, which has caused devastation, and which has also exposed the enormous gaps in how international aid is distributed. The global pandemic has shone a light on the areas where aid is simply not working. Grantees are often not physically present on the ground to do the urgent and essential work that's needed at this time, leaving underfunded women’s groups like those mentioned above to do all the heavy lifting.
At this moment of change, where the United States has elected its first woman of colour as Vice President, and where Black Lives Matter has become a global mantra, we need to hold a mirror up to the international aid sector too. It claims to want to end violence against women and girls, but unless donors analyse the serious biases in their funding decisions I cannot see it being able to do so anytime soon.
Nimco Ali OBE is Co-Founder of The Five Foundation, The Global Partnership To End FGM