12 years [2005-2016] funding from Sigrid Rausing Trust (SRT) supported FORWARD to implement many initiatives starting with the Moolaadé project. Taking Osmane Sembene at his word, that he wanted his film Moolaadé, to be accessible to all African women, FORWARD produced a facilitator’s guide which was used in Sudan, Ethiopia and Tanzania as part of advocacy actions against FGM.
SRT funded the ‘Advancing the Health and Rights of Girls and Young Women in East and West Africa’ project which supported various initiatives starting with the production of the documentary ‘Witches of Gambaga’, which highlighted a very specific form of violence – allegations of being a witch. These allegations are made against mainly poor, elderly, rural women in northern Ghana.
Also undertaken with SRT support was a photo voice project in Tanzania and Ethiopia; an education communities on child marriage initiative in Tarime, Tanzania; a West African Partnership-South to South learning initiative which targeted several west African countries; the innovative East Africa Child Marriage Conference; several researches conducted with young women in Liberia and Sierra Leone focussing on Sexuality, Pregnancy and Services and finally contributing to a pivotal research, the ‘National Survey on Drivers and Consequences of Child Marriage in Tanzania’ (2016).
In addition to all the above and more, the SRT support has strengthened 10 local partner organisations with financial support building their infrastructure and bolstering their organisational capacity.
