Nine major activities delivered between September 2025 and July 2026, followed by the first milestones of the second year, from the most recent to the oldest. Figures record documented reach.
15 October 2026 · Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Togo
Launch of the SEA-T sub-grants
Nine organisations and consortia share €160,000 for six-month projects running to 14 April 2027, from psychosocial support for women defenders to digital resilience, land rights for rural women and community radio against gender-based violence.
9 grants · €160,000 · 6 countries
14 October 2026 · Dakar, Senegal
Visit of the SEA-T Programme Director
Konstanze Ricken, Programme Director of SEA-T at GIZ, met the RFLD Dakar team to see the work the programme supports in Senegal and across francophone West Africa.
Partnership visit
12 October 2026 · Dakar, Senegal
Panel on the main agenda of the 89th Session of the ACHPR
Defending without being exposed: convened and chaired by Commissioner Rémy Ngoy Lumbu, facilitated by RFLD with SEA-T support. The five interventions are available on video below.
ACHPR main agenda · 5 interventions
28 to 30 July 2026 · Porto-Novo, Benin
West Africa Feminist Data Summit 2026
Around one hundred delegates from 21 countries worked for three days on decolonising data. The summit produced eight policy briefs, a Regional Women-led Data Agenda and a cross-border data collective.
100 delegates · 21 countries
13 to 15 July 2026 · Porto-Novo, Benin
Advocacy Nexus 2026
A francophone pan-African convergence of women defenders from eight countries. Participants adopted a shared advocacy method and two continuity tools, the Defender’s Passport and the Solidarity Card.
34 present · 30 covered · 8 countries
16 June 2026 · Dakar, Senegal
Consultation on the protection of women defenders
A high-level consultation with the ACHPR Special Rapporteur, the Ambassador of Sweden, the Embassy of Germany and GIZ Senegal, covered by around thirty articles in six countries.
Diplomatic level · 30 articles
19 to 23 May 2026 · Dakar, Porto-Novo, Lomé
Trainings on women’s political participation
National trainings in three capitals, nine modules and eight trainers. In Benin, twenty more women leaders paid their own way once the covered cohort was full.
110 present · 90 covered · 3 countries
20 January 2026 · Online
Launch of the Francophone Africa HUB
Permanent regional infrastructure for training, documentation and networking. It records around 2,000 connections each month across 29 francophone African countries.
29 countries · ~2,000 connections a month
15 and 16 December 2025 · Porto-Novo and Lomé
Intensive session on advocacy and women-led governance
Two national sessions held at the same time in Benin and Togo, grounded in CEDAW, the Maputo Protocol and Resolution 1325.
60 participants · 12 expert presentations
10 to 12 November 2025 · Dakar, Senegal
Regional consultation with the ACHPR Special Rapporteur
A consultation with the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders. Three organisations are now applying for ACHPR observer status and four coalitions are preparing communications and parallel reports.
41 present · 40 covered · 14 countries
19 to 25 October 2025 · Banjul, The Gambia
85th Ordinary Session of the ACHPR
An RFLD delegation delivered an oral statement before the Commission, moderated an NGO Forum session and co-organised three side events.
Delegation of 4 · 3 side events
September 2025 · Porto-Novo, Benin
Start-up and project team
Operational scoping and a dedicated team of five covering project management, finance, communications, monitoring and evaluation, and gender analysis.
Team of 5