2009 AWID Innovation Seed Grant Recipients

Dating back to the 2002 Guadalajara Forum, Seed Grants are an AWID tradition aiming to support proactive members of women’s rights movements to turn creative ideas into action. This time around, the response we received to our call was unprecedented: within two weeks we were inundated with more than 250 proposals from Forum delegates, each detailing a plan to turn new concepts born at the Forum into concrete projects.

As you can imagine, the decision making process was extremely difficult, but with the help and support of an International Selection Panel, our winners were selected to implement initiatives that would strengthen movement building. The 24 Seed Grant winners represent the most creative and audacious proposals and come from a variety of regions around the world, on projects ranging from a Feminist Tech Exchange in Mexico to a Freedom Fone to end sexual violence against women and women rights defenders in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

We sincerely thank every applicant for sharing your project ideas and dreams with us—they were amazing to read through and we wish you only the best of luck with finding future support.

It is our pleasure to share this list of the 2009 Innovation Seed Grant winners…congratulations to all!

Addressing Challenges of Funding Women's Rights and Gender Equality
Nurgul Djanaeva, Forum of Women's NGOs of Kyrgyzstan, Kyrgyzstan

The Forum of Women's NGOs of Kyrgyzstan works to consolidate and strengthen the women’s movement in Kyrgyzstan while contributing to the development of a democratic society. Through partnership building, the Forum aims to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment, and to increase women’s participation in public life through organizations and NGOs.

For a project update, please click here.

Afin que la graine ne meure "Lu fa jiwu wa jeexul, jogu fa"
Awa Fall Diop, Observatoire des Relations de Genre au Sénégal (ORGENS), Senegal

AWID’s Forum, "The Power of Movements" allowed ORGENS to reflect on the state of the fight for women's rights in Senegal. Through the creation of a one-day workshop, this Seed Grant aims to revitalize and strengthen women's organizations and movements by reducing fragmentation of initiatives and by building a movement around a common political programme. This concerns concretely creating greater synergy among the elders in order to strengthen their commitment to women's rights and transmit this to young generations.

Amplifying Feminist Voices and Movements in South Africa: Actioning the AWID 2008 Statement of South African Women
Women's Net, South Africa Feminist Forum, Gender Advocacy Programme, World Women’s March, New Women’s Movement, Women’s Hope Education and Training Trust, South Africa

South African women have a rich history of organising and protesting injustices. Women played a crucial part in dismantling apartheid, yet in the 10+ years of democracy in South Africa (SA), women's rights are being continuously and casually violated. The promise of democracy has not been realised for women, the poor, the HIV+ and the marginalised. The South African women’s movements are weak and fragmented. The women committed to this project will build on the past successes of women's movements in SA and facilitate dialogue with various women’s organizations like the South African Women in Dialogue. It will work towards an independent united women’s voice in SA in the form of an alliance or feminist forum.

For a project update, please click here.

Bringing the Voices Back From the Margins
Sian Maseko, Sexual Rights Centre (formerly known as Community Action for Development), Zimbabwe

This project seeks to bridge the gap in Zimbabwe between marginalised and vulnerable women and the broader society. The women’s movement is very desparate as a result of the economic, political and social oppression experienced by most Zimbabweans for the last ten years or more. However, one of the most serious challenges within the movement is the exclusion of particular groups of women. These include lesbians, commerical sex workers, women living in institutions and women with psychosocial disabilities. This exclusion often legitmises the discriminatory and stigmatising attitude and legislation imposed by the government on these groups. The women’s movement has never spoken out about these serious violations of women’s rights. The Sexual Rights Centre works specifically with groups that are otherwise ignored by NGOs.

This project seeks to use the innovative technique of digital story-telling to bridge the gap and support these vulnerable individuals to become active citizens and advocates for their own rights, on their terms, for their benefit. The SRC uses innovative and unique methods to raise awareness and stimulate debate and dialogue within Zimbabwean communities about issues that are considered taboo or controversial. As a result of their experience on the ground and based on the experience of the SRC Director at the AWID Forum, the concept of digital story-telling is an ideal method to bring the voices of these ignored and oppressed groups back from the margins.

For a project update, please click here.

The Cyberquilting Skill Share Workshop
Fallon Wilson & Adele Nieves, The Cyberquilting Experiment: A Network of Women of Color, USA

At the 2008 AWID Forum, The Cyberquilting Skill Share Workshop facilitated their FIRST Cyberquilting workshop. This event was a great success, however, participant feedback was that much more time was needed than a 4-hour session. This Seed Grant has taken that partcipant feedback into consideration and aims to re-create this workshop for women of color in the US but over a two-day time period.

For a project update, please click here.

Digital Storytelling by Survivors of Gender-based Violence
Saartjie Baartman Centre for Women and Children, Irma Maharaj, South Africa

The Saartjie Baartman Centre for Women and Children is situated in Manenberg on the Cape Flats, an area with extremely high rates of crime, gangsterism, domestic violence, child abuse, unemployment and substance abuse. Through digital story-telling, this project aims to provide a voice for women survivors of domestic and/or sexual violence. By giving a voice to the voiceless and opening up discussion of what unites and divides us, this Seed Grant aims to strengthen the power of the women's movement in South Africa, where power issues, mainly of class, and undealt pain from the past, still tear us apart.

For a project update, please click here.

Digital Stories for Mine Affected Women in Papua New Guinea
Onge Nufuk, Centre for Environmental Research and Development Inc., Papua New Guinea

At present, the stories of mine affected women have little capacity to move beyond members of their communities. Yet, there is a pressing need for the voices of these women to be heard by a larger audience to raise awareness about the hardships faced in terms of polluted water sources, the decline in the quality and quantity of food sources, and threats to economic opportunities due to contamination of either the soil or river. Through digitial story-telling, this project will share the experiences of women from mine-affected communities.

Disability, Sexuality and Rights Online Training and Resource
Caroline Earle, Anita Ghai, Janet Price and Ekaete Umoh

As explained in a statement during the final plenary at the AWID Forum, many of the women with disabilities attending the Forum felt that while great strides had been made to make the Forum more accessible, progress still had to be made towards making women with disabilities and their issues more visible in women’s rights organizing. To address this issue, this project will focus on the creation of an online disability and sexuality training for disabled and able bodied women’s rights activists and others working in development, health and rights around the world. The training will be taught by women with disabilities working in the fields of disabled people’s rights and sexuality.

For a project update, please click here.

Feminist Fabric: Strengthening the Perspectives of Women's and Young Indigenous Women's Leadership in Mexico
Martha Sánchez Néstor, Coordinadora Guerrerense de Mujeres Indigenas/Alianza de Mujeres Indigenas de Centroamérica y México, México

This project explores the question of "How do we overcome the barriers and thoughts that have been imposed on us for empowerment that is more substantial and visionary?" This initiative will aim to answer that question by focusing around the following six activities:

1. Four seminars with young indigenous leaders,
2. Two national seminars with indigenous women from 13 States,
3. Dissemination of the reports in Spanish and three indigenous languages,
4. Coordinated actions vis-a-vis the Feminist Meeting of Latin American and the Caribbean to be held in the City of Mexico in 2009,
5. Actions related to the Central American and Mexican Meeting of Indigenous Women to be held in Nicaragua in 2009,
6. Coordinated actions for the 6th Continental Meeting of Indigenous Women to be held in Mexico in 2010.

Through these activities the experience-based testimonies of urban feminists, young feminists and young/indigenous women will be shared.

For our Land, for our People, let's Advocate for Women's Rights. Towards the Consolidation of a Women's group in the Front of Peoples in Defence of the Land of San Salvador Atenco
María Antonia Trinidad Ramirez and Ana María Robles Yañes, Frente de Pueblos en Defensa de la Tierra de San Salvado Atenco, México

This project aims at the consolidation of the Women's Group of Atenco through training in advocacy for women's rights from a feminist perspective and the dissemination of these rights and women's struggle among our people. This project will ensure that:

• Twenty women members of the Women’s Group of Atenco are trained in the advocacy of women’s human rights from a feminist perspective.
• Four information spots on the rights of the women from Atenco are broadcast in a radio slot that the University of Chapingo has donated to the Front.
• Specific actions for women’s rights are incorporated into the Front’s agenda.

Freedom Fone to end Sexual Violences Against Women and Women Rights Defenders
Françoise Mukuku Mwamba Malale, Si Jeunesse Savait, Democratic Republic of the Congo

This project will use the Freedom Fone application to allow users to build their own interactive voice response (IVR) menus. When a Freedom Fone server is connected to telephony it is possible to make the IVR audio menus accessible to the public who in turn can use any form of telephone (mobile phone, landline, VoIP phone, softphone) to call the service. This Seed Grant will support the creation of a 3-day workshop for women rights defenders so that they can learn how to share their stories and information with the Freedom Fone users.

For a project update, please click here.

From a ripple to a Pacific WAVE: Pacific Women in Media Project
Lisa Williams-Lahari, Pacific Women Advancing a Vision of Empowerment using the Media Network (WAVE), New Zealand

The 2008 AWID Forum was focused on movements and this project is all about starting-up a women in media movement for the Pacific region, aptly titled WAVE. The WAVE project will focus on growing excellence and leadership of Pacific women in media, creating 'big sister' spaces for mentoring, networking, information and skill sharing, and especially for innovation and empowerment for those who want to create their own media businesses and WAVE advocacy projects aimed at human rights and specific and critical issues facing Pacific women.

For a project update, please click here.

FTX Latino: An Exchange Among Latin American and Caribbean Feminists on the uses of Technology
Maria Eugenia Chavez Fonseca, Erika Smith & Margarita Salas, La Neta y Salud Integral para la Mujer (SIPAM)/Red de Mujeres de AMARC (México), Cooperativa Sulá Batsú y Radio Internacional Feminista (Costa Rica), Colnodo (Colombia), Red Informativa de Mujeres - (Argentina), Programa de Apoyo a las Redes de Mujeres - APC, Mexico/Global

During the 11th AWID Forum, the organizations developing this initiative were part of the Feminist Technology Exchange (FTX) that not only enhanced the technical capacities of participants but also developed contents and skills that were used during the Forum. Based on the success of the Forum FTX, this Seed Grant will fund the creation of a second FTX in Latin American that will strengthen the capacities of organizations and the women's and feminist movement itself.

Generation of Women
Ms Yotchou Tzudjom Anne Pélagie, Ladies Circle in collaboration with Nouveaux Droits de l'Homme, Cameroon

Feminism is still a term that is poorly known in Cameroon. In recognition of this, the "Generation of Women" project aims to enhance the creation of a young feminists' national network to defend the young feminists' cause with key actors from the women's movement and promote and popularise feminism in Cameroon.

"Girls with the Matches" - Feminist Internet Magazine
Juliana Lozovskaja, NGO "New Generation of Women Initiatives," Lithuania

Recognizing the fragmented nature of feminist movements in this region, the clear separation between the initiatives on the ground and their targets (political, social, cultural) as well as generational issues, "Girls with the Matches" aims to strengthen the feminist movement in Lithuania. To do this, this feminist internet magazine will enable women in Lithuania to share ideas, initiatives, and information more effectively. The ideal result will be a better understanding of each other and more united actions.

For a project update, please click here.

Making Visible and Strengthening the Voices of Women in the Mines
Lily Rossemary Ardaya Claure, Red Nacional Mujeres & Minería de Bolivia- Red Internacional Mujeres y Minería (Bolivia National Women and Mining Network - International Women and Mining Network), Bolivia

In this region of Bolivia, there are no feminist radio stations/ programs. This is a problem because the radio programs that do exist only cover women's news and information scarcely. For this reason, this Seed Grant will be used to create a community radio programme as a pilot project. The population in general and women in particular are not informed about what is happening in the villages and their sourroundings. This community radio project hopes to provide the opportunitiy for an increase in mining and rural communities' education and development .

Revitalizing women’s organizing in the Commonwealth Caribbean (CARICOM)
Flavia Cherry & Peggy Antrobus, CAFRA St. Lucia in Association with DAWN Caribbean and members of the Caribbean team participating in AWID Forum 2008.

Inspired by the theme of the Forum, and in recognition of how participation in the Forum might contribute to the process of the revitalization of the Caribbean women's movement currently taking place in the region, this Seed Grant is focused on movement building. The goal of the project is to use the experience of the AWID Forum as a point of departure for a new phase of feminist organizing in the Caribbean.

For a project update, please click here.

Rosa Parks´ Chair at INLOVU Towship
Maria Suarez Toro, Alas de Mariposa (Wings of the Butterfly), Costa Rica

Following the AWID Forum, the Wings of the Butterfly Collective and the artistic team and staff traveled to a nearby township INLOVU to develop a cultural exchange and a resonance workshop with women in the community. Based on the exchange process that took place, this project will allow the women of INLOVU to share their own stories about the places they have occupied. As a result these South African women will become "mariposeras" [butterflies] of the "Wings of the Butterfly" Project once they have gathered all their testimonies together. The text of the Rosa Parks piece of the show will be donated to the women so that they can present it in the community in order to encourage other women to sit in the seat to tell their stories.

Slovak and Czech Activists Retreat - Find your dancing shoes again
Viera Klementova, Slovak-Czech Women's Fund, Slovakia

The recent AWID Forum illustrated that the power and sustainability of social movements as well as their action-ability depends critically on the vitality, health and energy of individual members of movements. If these agents of change are suffering from loss of ideals, loss of relationships with their families and friends and are trapped in mental or physical illnesses, the movement cannot fully succeed and or achieve a real change. Through a retreat for women’s rights activists, this project will offer activists a chance to dance again.

For a project update, please click here.

The Sound of Silence - Digital Story Telling
Arieta Tuitoga, Rainbow Women's Network, Fiji

The women's marginalized community in Fiji is a "silent" group in terms of their rights and issues. Digital story telling will be an effective communicative tool that will help the marginalized women’s community in Fiji to tell their true stories in a compelling form. Being in a visual and verbal format, this technology will "reach out" to all levels of the public - whether or not they are literate.

For a project update, please click here.

Strengthening Women’s Movement: Challenging Oppressive Structures
Banadana Rana, Saathi, Nepal

In Nepal, a strong patriarchal society, LGBT women have been laregely excluded from the women’s movement, and such issues are not discussed openly even by strong women's rights activists. To address these issues, this project will focus on organizing a two day orientation program amongst key women's rights activists. This program will aim to initiate a positive debate on the issue of strengthening advocacy to bring about necessary policy and legislative changes to address issues of sexuality.

For a project update, please click here.

"Two Stories, One Reality" - Documentary film on two women who struggled for better lives
Safa Tamish & Alhan Jeries, Muntada- The Arab Forum for Sexuality, Education and Health, Israel

During the AWID conference, participants had a great opportunity to learn about indigenous women, LGBTs and sex workers through the short films that were screened throughout the panels. Recognizing the impact created by these films, this project will create a documentary in the Palestinian context where women's rights in general and sexual rights in particular are violated.

For a project update, please click here.

Women, Sex Workers and Feminists. Actions for Strengthening the Integration of Organized Women Sex Workers into the Women’s Movement of Argentina
Jorgelina Sosa & Elena Reynaga, The Association of Women Prostitutes of Argentina (AMMAR), member of the Labour Union of Argentina / Latin American and Caribbean Network of Sex Workers (RedTraSex), Argentina

In Argentina, organized women sex workers and feminist organizations have had a conflictual relationship. This project aims to contribute to the power of the women's movement in Argentina by seeking a coming together of and a mutual understanding between organized women sex workers and feminists.

For a project update, please click here.

NB: The successful candidates, listed above, most closely met the criteria set out in the guidelines, including:

• Initiatives that contribute to strengthening movement building through overcoming fragmentation within women’s movements
• Collective projects that bring diverse women’s groups together around a shared political agenda
• Projects that build strategic alliances between women’s rights advocates in various social movements
• Projects that promote the visibility and engagement of young women, and effective multigenerational movement building
• Ideas to carry forward the energy and revitalization of women’s organizations and movements!