South Africa
Women's Development
Developing Women's Skills and Opportunities
The Joint Center has worked to strengthen the effective participation of women in local government, and community development processes. The ultimate impact of the project will be felt in years to come. Training and enrichment activities will enable a critical mass of gender sensitive local leaders and girls to take more effective leadership roles. In the shorter term, there should be measurable results in terms of young women who will change their behavior as a result of being better informed about HIV/AIDS risks, and their life prospects.
In South Africa, where the Joint Center piloted gender programs, individuals were chosen for their leadership potential, and were trained in a "train the trainer" setting; they served in the community as trainers in their own right. The syllabus included, but was not limited to: "Training Techniques," "Leadership Skills," "Funding & Proposal Writing," and "Interpreting Local Government Legislation." These trainers expanded the cadre of local women leaders. This training model trained more than 3000 women in 102 villages in South Africa. This women's training component, originally funded by USAID's Democracy Support Project, was so successful that it won multi-year funding from the European Union's Foundation for Human Rights.
Under the aegis of the U.S. government's Education for Development and Democracy Initiative (EDDI), the Joint Center piloted innovative and sustainable development models for local women leaders and councilors, and also for igniting and nurturing the potential of girls who will become leaders of tomorrow. Leadership development takes the form of human resource development interventions that will become part of continuing education offerings within historically disadvantaged universities (HDIs) and other institutions. Specifically, the HDIs are the organizing point for leadership enrichment workshops for girls, to be offered at local schools during vacation periods; HDIs are the logical choice because they are in the rural areas near the majority population of disadvantaged girls who are the target audience.
Training in the use of information and communications technology (ICT) will be a common component for the activities for women leaders and for girls. In the country with the most advanced ICT in Africa, a digital divide exists. As the previously disadvantaged assume leadership positions, imparting ICT skills will go a long way to close the gap.
In the shorter term, there should be measurable results in terms of young women who will change their behavior as a result of being better informed about HIV/AIDS and their life prospects. The ultimate impact of the project will be felt in years to come. The training and enrichment activities will enable a critical mass of gender sensitive local leaders and girls, to take more effective leadership roles.