The Ford Foundation and Open Society Initiative for West Africa have announced the launch of a five-year, $3.75 million initiative aimed at boosting feminist action and advocacy against sexual violence in West Africa.

Administered by the African Women’s Development Fund, the initiative, Kasa! Ending Sexual Violence in West Africa, will focus primarily on Ghana, Nigeria, and Senegal and provide resources for feminist and women's rights organizations to support, scale, and synergize efforts in the prevention of and response to sexual violence. With $3.5 million in seed funding from the Ford Foundation and $250,000 from OSIWA, the fund aims to raise $10 million within five years in support of emergency responses efforts to provide assistance to survivors and their families, amplify women’s rights organizations, and advocate for boys and men to respect the rights and bodily integrity of women and girls.

“Kasa! is an ambitious multi-year initiative leveraging the current global outcry against sexual violence to address the widespread and deeply ingrained sexual violence crisis in West Africa,” said Olufunke Baruwa, program officer in the Ford Foundation’s West Africa office. “There is no greater threat to a woman’s agency than violence. As a leading donor supporting efforts to end gender-based violence, the Ford Foundation is further demonstrating its commitment to supporting action and advocacy to counter attitudes, narratives, and behaviors that perpetuate sexual violence.”

(Photo credit: African Women's Development Fund)