African Women’s Development and Communication Network (FEMNET)

The African Women's Development and Communication Network (FEMNET) is a pan-African feminist, membership-based organization established in 1988 to promote women's development, equality, and human rights across Africa. With its secretariat based in Nairobi, Kenya, FEMNET serves as a platform for African women's organizations to share information, strategies, and experiences to advance women's rights and gender equality.

FEMNET's core objectives include strengthening the role and contribution of non-governmental organizations focusing on women's development, creating channels for women's associations to connect and share knowledge, and maintaining close working relationships with entities such as United Nations agencies, the African Union, and other national, regional, or international bodies concerned with women's issues.

Over the years, FEMNET has been instrumental in various advocacy and capacity-building initiatives. The organization has coordinated African women's participation in significant global events, such as the Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing in 1995. It has also collaborated with the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, the World Conference against Racism, and the African Union on matters like the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa.

FEMNET's strategic priorities encompass feminist solidarity, shifting power structures and relations, amplifying the voices of women and girls, and building and sustaining an organization with a soul. The network operates through its regional secretariat in Nairobi, linking up with sub-regional members, partners, and national focal point organizations, most of which are national women's networks or umbrella organizations.

With over 843 current organizational and individual members across 50 African countries, FEMNET has, for more than three decades, positioned itself as a convenor and facilitator of dialogues on critical issues concerning women's human rights. The network ensures that African women's voices are amplified and their needs and aspirations prioritized in key policy dialogues and outcomes that directly or indirectly impact their lives.

For more information, visit FEMNET's official website: https://www.femnet.org/