Preface
We are excited to present to you this second edition of the Voice, Power and
Soul: Portraits of African Feminists. This edition comes four years after the first
and the feminists portrayed are women from across the African continent who
have been actively involved in the African Feminist Forum. The African Feminist
Forum (AFF) is a gathering that brings together African feminist activists on
the continent and in the diaspora to deliberate on issues of key concern to
the movement. It is currently hosted by the African Women’s Development
Fund (AWDF). The forum has held convenings in Ghana (2006), Uganda
(2008) and Senegal (2010). In 2012, the focus of the AFF was to pilot webbased and ICT based convenings in its efforts to mobilise greater engagement
and participation by African feminists. AFF marked a major milestone in the
development of the feminist movement on the continent. It raised the visibility of
African feminist activism and spearheaded a number of processes especially
at national levels which have marked significant transformatory changes.
These include successfully challenging discriminatory legislative proposals in
countries such as Nigeria and Uganda. One of the significant achievements of
the AFF has been the adoption of the Charter of Feminist Principles for African
Feminists (referred to often by the women featured in this publication as the
Feminist Charter), a highly acclaimed document that has found resonance with
feminist movements in other parts of the world. In addition it has produced the
OD Feminist Tool to operationalise the charter. Both instruments have been
far reaching in their influence and have been adopted as far afield as Latin
America and South East Asia. A full copy of the charter is featured as an
annex in this publication.
Voice, Power and Soul is a political project. It provides a platform to amplify
the voices of African women and more importantly to challenge the dominant
narratives which portray African women largely as passive recipients of