As the African Women in Leadership Organization (AWLO) marks its 15th anniversary this year, it has unveiled yet another transformative initiative dubbed ‘Awake Africa’.
AWLO, through ‘Awake Africa’, intends to transform the valuable knowledge and deserving power harnessed by these women into further tangible actions towards the awakening of the entire continent’s greatness.
Building on its many years of dedication and experience, this programme is designed to help reposition African women from erroneously being viewed as mere vessels requiring assistance in empowerment, to becoming the frontrunners of leadership—leaders capable of activating solutions to drive sustainable development in Africa.
The ‘Awake Africa’ initiative comprises community-geared, culture-centric growth programmes that will be undertaken across the 54 African countries—the ‘Awake 54’.
It promises to touch on pressing topics spanning women empowerment, to youth empowerment, boosting of African businesses, provision of quality education, protection of the environment, health, promotion of African arts, promotion of good governance, volunteerism, and advancement of the cause of the African Diasporans, all the while promoting African/African Diasporan collaborations.
The project sets out to ensure the attainment of certain crucial global undertakings/promises as encapsulated in the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)—specifically Goals 1 (No Poverty), 3 (Good Health and Well-Being), 4 (Quality Education), 5 (Gender Equality), 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), 10 (Reduced Inequality), 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities), 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production), 13 (Climate Action), 15 (Life on Land), 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions), 17 (Partnerships for the Goals).
Dr. Elisha Attai, Founder and President of AWLO noted that it is the ultimate aim of this programme, not to only see to the sustainable development of the African continent, but also, to see to African women being at the frontline of these developmental strides.
“Indeed, women will be at the epicentre of AWLO’s strides towards the attainment of these developmental imperatives—i.e., the attainment of food security, the promotion of universal health access, mental health, clean energy, peace and security, the elimination of gender-based violence, the provision of social justice and human rights protection, cancer control action, the attainment of sustainable democracy, just and equitable digital transformation, circular economy, unity and cultural integration, climate and green transition, responsive humanitarian action, and gender equality,” he said.
The strategic anchors
Below are brief highlights of the strategic anchor programmes under this very important initiative.
- Awake Her Africa
With ‘Awake Her Africa’, AWLO intends to activate the knowledge of women to empower the rest of Africa—women especially. This initiative undertakes to ensure that Africa becomes a land where the rights of women and children are always protected.
It creates an enabling platform for, among others, the advocacy for inclusion in education, women and children empowerment through accessible learning opportunities and robust legal support. These are in fulfilment of SDGs 4 (Quality Education), 5 (Gender Equality), and 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions).
- Awake Green Africa
This initiative is dedicated to the promotion of environmental sustainability and the empowerment of communities to adopt eco-friendly practices that benefit both people and the planet.
It stands as the pioneering platform uniting African women in a collective commitment to a greener, more sustainable Africa—and towards the attainment of Goals 13 (Climate Action) and 15 (Life on Land) of the SDGs.
- Awake African Enterprise
This initiative is focused on supporting and promoting African businesses, while advocating for the patronage of made-in-Africa products. This is in fulfilment of Goals 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth) and 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production) of the SDGs.
In ensuring this, what will eventually ensue is the economic growth and prosperity of the continent at large.
- Awake African Scholars
This is an innovative platform evolving from AWLO’s ‘#1mother1child’ pilot programme which was launched in 2015, having the mission of transforming Africa’s educational landscape.
This initiative focuses on identifying, nurturing, and funding our financially disadvantaged young African scholars with the hopes of helping them achieve academic success and consequent career successes.
- Awake African Youth
This programme is dedicated at empowering and mobilizing African youth by fostering opportunities that enable them to develop and implement innovative solutions tailored to their community’s challenges. The project undertakes to empower African youth to become today’s leaders by addressing challenges within their communities and contributing solutions to global issues.
- Awake Healthy Africa
Recognizing the critical role of good health towards the empowerment of communities and nation building as a whole, ‘Awake Africa’ introduces this programme—one that seeks to promote holistic well-being by advocating for mental health, nurturing the soul, and strengthening the spirit. This is in fulfilment of Goal 3 (Good Health and Well-Being) of the SDGs.
- Awake African Art
Dedicated to promoting and celebrating the rich tapestry of African arts, including visual arts, music, dance, literature, and traditional crafts, as well as the preservation of cultural heritage, AWLO presents the ‘Awake African Art’ programme.
This platform will help shed a spotlight on creative talents within the continent and our diverse cultural expressions. The hope being to help enhance our cultural identity and image before the entire world, and consequently, drive economic growth across the continent.
- Awake Good-Governance Africa
The object of this programme is to be a centre of policy advocacy, a centre for the creation of platforms for both the undertaking and the securing of good governance. And very importantly, it also seeks to ensure that more and more deserving women attain influential positions. This is in line with SDGs 5 (Gender Equality) and 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions) specifically.
- Awake African Diaspora
This is a dynamic platform that has evolved from the numerous diaspora conferences and dialogues conducted by AWLO over the years. Its aim is to work in partnership with the African Diaspora Impact Center (ADIC) to mobilize people of African descent to drive sustainable development in Africa.
This initiative focuses on leveraging the skills, resources, and networks of the African diaspora towards the fostering of growth and the creation of impactful, sustainable changes across the continent.
- Awake African Volunteers/Marshals
With this programme, AWLO aims to mobilize, activate, and mainstream 5.4 million frontline community development marshals to drive the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the African Union (AU)’s Agenda 2063, and all of such AWAKE programmes at the grassroots level. This strive towards creating effective partnerships towards the goals is perfectly in line with SDG 17.
More on AWLO
AWLO is a cross-continental, not-for-profit organization that seeks to advance the status of women in leadership through the creation of enabling and empowering platforms, all the while harnessing their synergies towards the further empowerment of the next generation of women.
“Ours, as Africans, has been a long history of empowered women—women who contribute immensely and flourish famously in all aspects of society—from traditional leadership, to business, family, and national leadership.
There has been an immensely strong legacy of African women leading their various societies, communities, and countries to greatness.
Add to this, there is no denying the fact that what we have, as a people, is also a legacy of an enduring strengths of mothers—women who have been responsible, quite literally, for the birthing of families, communities, nations, and for the sustenance, the education, and empowerment of future leaders.
Hence, what AWLO hopes to do with this initiative dubbed ‘Awake Africa’ is to shed a spotlight on these stories—on these women coming from various backgrounds,” Dr. Attai added.
Background
Over the past 15 years, AWLO has been at the forefront of not only dialogue, but most importantly, actions towards the attainment of set objectives, with its hosting of numerous conferences and the undertaking of various initiatives across Africa and the diaspora.
And needless to say, these gatherings and engagements have helped shed a light on the very diverse and daunting challenges faced by our women—right here on the African continent and in the diaspora.
And AWLO, as an entity, has done (and continues to do) its fair share of helping these women rise above their circumstances and ascend to various positions of power and leadership.
