Kashindi, a widow and mother of six, has something to celebrate. After her husband’s death, her in-laws pressured her to marry her brother-in-law. When she refused, they responded by selling her house and land. However, with the assistance of Solidarité des Femmes Activistes pour la Défense des Droits Humains [Women Activists in Solidarity for the Defense of Human Rights (SOFAD)], Kashindi got her home back.

Continued armed conflict, lack of rule of law, and high rates of gender-based violence are a daily reality for women in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. In this context, stories like Kashindi’s are common. SOFAD, one of the Global Fund’s long-term partners in the DRC, has established over 60 peace networks in villages throughout the South Kivu Province. With cadres of trained women’s activists, these networks promote women’s rights, address sexual abuses and even expose weapons at the local level. One such network successfully arbitrated Kashindi’s case.

SOFAD’s peace networks have impacted the lives of over 20,000 women and children in the DRC by arbitrating women’s cases, conducting legal and civic education, and raising awareness of women’s rights at the village level. This is how SOFAD is building the women’s movement: from the ground up.

Before it became popular in U.S. philanthropy, Gladys "Patsy" Pulitzer Preston had already laid the foundation for investing in girls education. While we mourn her passing, we celebrate her life as a revolutionary philanthropist and tireless advocate for women and girls.

“I am so proud to be part of the Global Fund,” Patsy said in a voicemail message to our CEO, Musimbi Kanyoro, in August of this year. “I intend to remain that way as long as I live…and being a member of it is an honor and a privilege.”

Patsy has been a friend of the Global Fund for Women since 1998. She founded the Preston Fund for Girls’ Education, which was housed at Global Fund and became a cornerstone of our endowment.

“I felt warmly embraced by Patsy,” said Musimbi, who has fresh and fond memories of their meeting in New York this fall. “Her commitment to social change philanthropy will never be forgotten.”

In addition to serving as a member of Global Fund’s advisory board, Patsy did work for many organizations, including Planned Parenthood, the International Refugee Commission and Republicans for Pro Choice.

“What strikes you as you travel and learn, is the fundamental need for the work of the Global Fund,” Patsy wrote in 2006. “The Global Fund really comes through for women and girls. It is a privilege to be able to give what you can, based on what you feel, to a cause in which you believe.”

 

Read a letter of support written by Patsy in 2006 »

Think you know war? Think again.

Women, War & Peace, a five-part PBS series produced by Global Fund for Women board member, Abigail Disney, uncovers the powerful role of women building peace during war and conflict.

Watch Women, War & Peace Tuesday nights from October 11 to November 8 on your local PBS station.

Join us online. Use #wwplive to participate in conversations about @WomenWarPeace on Twitter. Post comments about the series on our Facebook page.

Tell your friends to watch Women, War & Peace on PBS.

Visit PBS to watch shorts, interviews, and full episodes after they air.

Read Global Fund's interview with Abigail Disney.

We celebrate and congratulate 2011 Nobel Peace Prize laureates, Leymah Gbowee, Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Yemeni pro-democracy activist, Tawakkul Karman, who are all connected with Global Fund for Women grantee organizations.

Global Fund grantees, Leymah Gbowee and Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf awarded 2011 Nobel Peace Prize. © Lyn Hughes.

"We at the Global Fund are so happy and proud today," said Global Fund CEO, Musimbi Kanyoro. "Not just because the Nobel Committee recognized our grantee partners, but because in naming these three, they acknowledge and affirm that women are agents of change. These women, and millions of others like them, really are changing the world."

These were the first women to win the prize since Wangari Maathai, who died last month and was the founder of a Global Fund grantee partner, was named as the laureate in 2004. Most of the recipients in the award’s 110-year history have been men and today’s decision echoes our belief that women have creative and strategic solutions to the problems facing their communities.

"We cannot achieve democracy and lasting peace in the world unless women obtain the same opportunities as men to influence developments at all levels of society," Norwegian Nobel committee wrote in a press release.

Leymah Gbowee founded Women Peace and Security Network Africa, a Global Fund grantee since 2008, to mobilize and organize women across ethnic and religious dividing lines to bring an end to the long war in Liberia. The group campaigned to ensure women's participation in elections, and has since worked to enhance the influence of women in West Africa during and after war. Leymah’s story is featured in the documentary, Pray the Devil Back to Hell, produced by Global Fund for Women board member, Abigail Disney.

“It would have been impossible for us to achieve what we achieved in Liberia had it not been for the fact that we had support both financially and morally from our sisters at Global Fund for Women,” said Leymah Gbowee after her 2009 JFK Profile in Courage Award.

As an organization inspired by the leadership of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s Market Women’s Fund was awarded a Global Fund grant in 2008 to support the work of an international constituency of women activists with a mandate to create an empowering environment for Liberia’s market women. The group recognizes the significant contributions market women make to the health and wellbeing of their families, as well as the post-conflict reconstruction of their communities, and support them by providing business skill training, educational opportunities, and financial support.

Women Journalists Without Chains, established in part by Tawakkul Karman, received a Global Fund grant in 2006 to train and educate female journalists. In order to defend women's rights through various media outlets, these women work together to campaign, raise awareness and advocate for their equal rights.

It is the Norwegian Nobel committee's hope that the prize to Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Leymah Gbowee and Tawakkul Karman will help to bring an end to the suppression of women that still occurs in many countries, and to realize the great potential for democracy and peace that women can represent.