Source: Make Every Woman Count    
 The UK WILPF  Voices of African Women started in November 2008 when grassroots African women campaigners from several African countries travelled to London to share their stories. The campaign has been on-going ever since and has inspired and empowered many women.

 
 While the African women were together, they drafted a declaration that highlighted their key concerns and took part in a seminar series that focussed on the impact of NGO policies, as well as national and international politics on Africa’s past, present and future.
Since 2008, women from many African countries who are living in the UK have come together with British women to develop the campaign and take their concerns to decision makers in national governments, the international community and non-governmental agencies
 
The campaign calls for governments everywhere to:

Stop the support of oppressive regimes and call for effective governance of African governments
* End the proliferation of small arms and foreign military bases on Africa’s soil
* Implement UN Security Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security
* Implement UN Security Resolution 1820 on sexual violence in armed conflict
* Conduct national consultations with civil society women’s organisations before any national law affecting women is passed.

Read the full   16-point declaration and sign the petition 
 
The launch of the African Women’s Decade 2010 – 2020
 The WILPF Voices of African Women campaign initiated the UK launch of the African Union’s designated African Women’s Decade (2010 – 2020).  This event, hosted by the Gender Studies Department of the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) of the University of London on 31 July 2010, African Women’s Day, attracted over one hundred people.

Representatives from DFID, the US embassy and the African Union (AU) were present and as a result the Voices of African Women campaign was invited to lead a workshop at the AU launch in Nairobi in October 2010.
The Voices of African Women campaign has drawn up its own road map of actions for the Decade which will form the basis of the work of the campaign.

VoAW Roadmap goals:

·     Tackling violence against women as an issue of peace and security, which is point six of the Communiqué to African Union Member States from the NGO Forum preceding the Launch of the Africa Women’s Decade ·

Lobbying; advocacy and awareness raising among grassroots women in our own families, diaspora communities and local women in various African countries.

First Year (2010-2011) Achievements

• Visited London embassies of Sudan and DRC respectively. We raised the issue of the decriminalisation of FGM in Sudan. The DRC delegation raised the issues of VAW and multi-national corporation responsibility.
• Speaking tour for US WILPF on UN SCR1325
• UN HRC statement on Sudan presented through WILPF.
• One of our members is participating in the Darfur Peace Talks in Doha, Qatar.
• One of members has partaken in the drafting of a Document detailing the Sexual violence committed against women in the Eritrean armed forces.  
• One of members accompanied a ‘Million Women Rise’ delegation to the DR.Congo, as well as producing a report which was presented to the House of Commons.  

We   VoAW have working relationships with the following

• Contact with AU Gender Director
• DFID over Gender
• GAPS working with FCO on NAP for 1325