In Honor of the Women of Africa

Stories of Courage, Perseverance and Leadership

In the face of formidable odds, African women still succeed in becoming entrepreneurs, environmentalists, and now, president!

How do they do it? On February 16, 2006, the Global Fund for Women joined with the Women of Color Resource Center, Women of Africa and the Priority Africa Network to answer this question.


(left to right) Muadi Mukenge, Bongfen Siona Forba,
Miriam Tendou Kamara, Wanjiku Macharia

Through an evening of discussion, music and poetry, a panel of African women activists shared their own strategies for leadership and economic empowerment. Muadi Mukenge, Global Fund Program Officer for Africa, introduced the panel with a thoughtful exploration of the crushing burden of debt on African economies, and how it creates economic hardship for women and their families.

Panelist Wanjiku Macharia, the founder and director of SourceNet 2000 Plus Development Agency in Kenya, explained how widespread poverty forces women to choose to engage in sex work in order to feed their families. SourceNet works to change policies that prevent women and girls from becoming economically independent.

Wanjiku Macharia, founder and director,
SourceNet 2000, Kenya

Community Education and Development Services, led by panelist Bongfen Siona Forba, provides women in Cameroon with leadership training that enables them to act on their own experience and knowledge to create solutions to community problems. Mariam Tendou Kamara, of Liberia and Guinea, offered insight into the special role young women play in the African women's movement and in the economic future of Africa.

The program concluded with the stirring spoken word of Uchechi Kalu. Born in Nigeria, Ucheci described the often complicated reality of being a young African woman in the United States. She roused the audience with her celebration of African womanhood in the face of all challenges.

This free and public event, held at the beautiful Linen Life Gallery in Emeryville, California, allowed the Global Fund to reach out to our community and expand our network of individuals committed to supporting positive change on the African continent and around the world.