On 15 March 2020, in response to the grave global threat posed by COVID-19, President Cyril Ramaphosa declared a national state of disaster and called on all sectors of society to work together to prevent the spread
of the virus and coronavirus disease. On 16 March, Masimanyane's management team met to discuss the implications of this call on the organisation, our work and the staff involved. Below are some of the emergency and/or contingency measures which have been adopted.
Locally Rooted l GLOBALLY CONNECTED
RESOURCES
Global Gag Rule at One Year: Initial Effects and Early Implications
The Global Gag Rule applies to what organisations do with their own, non-US government funds, and forces health care providers to choose between providing a
comprehensive spectrum of reproductive health care and taking US funding.
Masimanyane-hosted INEVAWG awarded $1.2m NoVo Foundation grant for movement to end violence against women and girls
NoVo’s support will enable INEVAWG to scale up its work on violence against women and girls, including through focusing on the high levels of impunity, and the lack of effective measures to hold states accountable for failures to protect against and prevent gendered harms. READ MORE
Read more about the INTERNATIONAL NETWORK TO END VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND GIRLS, its founding members and its work here.
JENNIFER & PETER BUFFETT, NOVO CO-PRESIDENTS:
"We launched the Radical Hope Fund as a radical experiment - can a time of increasing repression and darkness also serve as a springboard for deep collaboration and transformative change? The answer has been overwhelming: feminist grassroots advocacy, activism, and organizing are thriving across the globe, new partnerships are growing, and justice leaders everywhere are planting the seeds for a radical new world based in equity, possibility, power, and dignity for all.” Read the full announcement here.
RECENT videos
THE MASIMANYANE STORY
From a small support initiative founded in 1995 for women who are survivors of domestic violence and rape, Masimanyane has grown into a global equality and social justice organisation that is locally rooted but globally connected.
THUMEKA MAGWANGQANA
SKHALA SONKE WOMENS ORGANISATION
Thumeka Magwangqana of Skhala Sonke Womens Organisation based in Marikana in conversation with Masimanyane Executive Director Dr Lesley Ann Foster. Masimanyane hosted Magwangqana and fellow activist Primrose Sonti who are driving a campaign for justice for the families of the men killed at Marikana. Their fight is against Lonmin Corporation based in the United Kingdom and our government, both of whom have not recognised their call for justice and redress. A new documentary, Strike a Rock, documents their campaign and the struggle to access justice for the miners' families.
The Eastern Cape has the highest number of rape cases in the country. NGOs like Masimanyane are trying to turn the tide on this statistic.
INTERNATIONAL NETWORK TO ERADICATE VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND GIRLS (INEVAWG)
RESEARCH
Gender Differences in Poverty and Household Composition through the Life Cycle: A Global Perspective
Ana Maria Munoz Boudet; Paola Buitrago; Benedicte Leroy De La Briere; David Locke Newhouse; Matulevich Rubiano; Carolina Eliana; Kinnon Scott; Pablo Suarez Becerra, 2018
Measuring poverty accurately is a key element of development policy. Not only does a gender lens matter for poverty analysis in general, it also matters in relation to specific moments in the life cycle for women and men (e.g., their marital status, presence of children and dependents in their households, when and if they join the labour market and their responsibilities for reproductive work).
Children and dependents, demographically and economically, are an important vulnerability factor particularly for women during their reproductive years. Care responsibilities overlap with economically productive years (high labour market participation and best time for income generation years), making women specifically vulnerable due to multiple demands on their time. READ MORE
Masimanyane Women's Rights International hosted the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women during a recent visit to South Africa. Read her message here.
GALLERY
WATCH UN Women's Director of Policy, Dr Purna Sen, was in East London on 2 August 2017, for high-level discussions on policy imperatives for eliminating violence against women. Dr Sen and a panel of women's rights activists and researchers, including Masimanayne Executive Director Dr Lesley Ann Foster, highlighted the tremendous challenges that remain to eradicate violence against women, amid an alarming rise in right wing or conservative governments around the world.
Masimanyane's Justice Advocacy Programme aims to enforce international norms and standards at a local and national level. It works to ensure that community concerns and challenges are appropriately and effectively addressed through relevant laws and policies. Research, documentation and advocacy are key components of this programme, along with women's leadership development and training for improved state accountability. READ MORE
Masimanyane director nominated for prestigious Tallberg Foundation honour
Dr Lesley Ann Foster, Executive Director of Masimanyane Women's Rights International, has been nominated as a potential Tällberg Foundation Global Leader for 2017.
Tällberg Foundation Global Leaders are women and men who demonstrate the leadership qualities demanded by the challenges of the 21st century, including innovation, imagination and flexibility, and being systems-based, risk-taking and, above all, ethical. READ MORE
What is the Tallberg Foundation Global Leadership prize?
