Forum for African Women Educationalists
Encyclopedia
Non-governmental organization
A non-governmental organization is a legally constituted organization created by natural or legal persons that operates independently from any government. The term originated from the United Nations , and is normally used to refer to organizations that do not form part of the government and are...
founded in 1992 by five women ministers of education
Education minister
An education minister is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with educational matters.-Country-related articles and lists:Minister of Education may refer to:...
to promote girls’ and women’s education in sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa as a geographical term refers to the area of the African continent which lies south of the Sahara. A political definition of Sub-Saharan Africa, instead, covers all African countries which are fully or partially located south of the Sahara...
by making sure they have access to schools and are able to complete their studies and fulfill their potential, in line with UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
's Education For All
Education For All
Education For All is a global movement led by UNESCO, aiming to meet the learning needs of all children, youth and adults by 2015. UNESCO has been mandated to lead the movement and coordinate the international efforts to reach Education for All...
movement. The organisation's members include ministers of education, university vice-chancellors, education policy-makers, researchers, gender specialists and human rights activists.
It has its Secretariat in Nairobi
Nairobi
Nairobi is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The city and its surrounding area also forms the Nairobi County. The name "Nairobi" comes from the Maasai phrase Enkare Nyirobi, which translates to "the place of cool waters". However, it is popularly known as the "Green City in the Sun" and is...
. As of 2008 it has 35 national chapters, including Benin
Benin
Benin , officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It borders Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east and Burkina Faso and Niger to the north. Its small southern coastline on the Bight of Benin is where a majority of the population is located...
, Gabon
Gabon
Gabon , officially the Gabonese Republic is a state in west central Africa sharing borders with Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, and with the Republic of the Congo curving around the east and south. The Gulf of Guinea, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean is to the west...
, Gambia
The Gambia
The Republic of The Gambia, commonly referred to as The Gambia, or Gambia , is a country in West Africa. Gambia is the smallest country on mainland Africa, surrounded by Senegal except for a short coastline on the Atlantic Ocean in the west....
, Ghana
Ghana
Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
, Guinea
Guinea
Guinea , officially the Republic of Guinea , is a country in West Africa. Formerly known as French Guinea , it is today sometimes called Guinea-Conakry to distinguish it from its neighbour Guinea-Bissau. Guinea is divided into eight administrative regions and subdivided into thirty-three prefectures...
, Liberia
Liberia
Liberia , officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Sierra Leone on the west, Guinea on the north and Côte d'Ivoire on the east. Liberia's coastline is composed of mostly mangrove forests while the more sparsely populated inland consists of forests that open...
, Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
, Senegal
Senegal
Senegal , officially the Republic of Senegal , is a country in western Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north...
, Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone , officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea to the north and east, Liberia to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west and southwest. Sierra Leone covers a total area of and has an estimated population between 5.4 and 6.4...
and Togo
Togo
Togo, officially the Togolese Republic , is a country in West Africa bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, on which the capital Lomé is located. Togo covers an area of approximately with a population of approximately...
.
It is an International Partner Office for the Ford Foundation
Ford Foundation
The Ford Foundation is a private foundation incorporated in Michigan and based in New York City created to fund programs that were chartered in 1936 by Edsel Ford and Henry Ford....
International Fellowships Program, and a partner organization of the Association of African Women for Research and Development.
Key individual members include:
- Penina Mlama - Executive Director
- Esi Sutherland-Addy - Executive Board member
- Charles Ndungu - Former Research Assistant
- Graca MachelGraça MachelGraça Machel, DBE is a Mozambican politician and humanitarian. She is the third wife of former South African president Nelson Mandela and the widow of Mozambican president Samora Machel...
- Former Board member - Aicha Bah Diallo - Founding President
See also
- Femmes Africa SolidariteFemmes Africa SolidaritéThe NGO FAS has been founded by African women leaders in 1996 in Geneve, in order to prevent and resolve conflicts in Africa and to empower woman for having a leadership role in peace building...
- Christiana ThorpeChristiana ThorpeDr. Christiana Thorpe is the current chief of the Sierra Leone National Electoral Commission, an independent agency created by the Sierra Leone government and is in charge of organising and supervising national, regional and local elections in Sierra Leone. When Captain Valentine Strasser seized...
- founder of Sierra Leone branch - N'Dri T. Assie-Lumumba
- Fay ChungFay ChungFay King Chung is a Zimbabwean educator and an independent candidate for the March 2008 Zimbabwean senatorial election. She is one of the early public supporters of independent presidential candidate, Simba Makoni, who announced his presidential candidacy in early February 2008...
- cofounder - Nasima Badsha - a founder member of the South African branch of the Forum for African Women Educationalists. http://www.capetownpartnership.co.za/about/theboard/ctp.html
- Gladys Kalema-ZikusokaGladys Kalema-ZikusokaGladys Kalema-Zikusoka is a veterinarian and founder of Conservation Through Public Health, an organization dedicated to the coexistence of endangered mountain gorillas, other wildlife, humans, and livestock in Africa. She was Uganda's first woman to be the country's wildlife veterinary officer...