Flagship Partnership · BMZ-funded · GIZ implementing support · 2025–2028
AIHRDFWA
Afrofeminist Initiative for Human Rights Development in Francophone West Africa
An Afrofeminist initiative, built on continental ground. Implemented by the Réseau des Femmes Leaders pour le Développement (RFLD) and funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, AIHRDFWA advances women’s rights across francophone West Africa — strengthening civil society, inclusive policy, and the protection of women human rights defenders.
The initiative
A coordinated, regional response
AIHRDFWA proposes a coordinated, regional response to the narrowing of civic space and the rising threats to women human rights defenders across francophone West Africa. Operating from 2025 to 2028 across countries including Benin and Côte d’Ivoire, it promotes civil society leadership, inclusive policy formulation, and advocacy for women’s rights — while strengthening digital security for defenders, expanding networks for collaboration, and empowering citizens to participate in democratic processes with transparency and accountability.
Civil society leads
Civil society must lead the agenda — not receive it.
Participatory methods
Participatory methods are essential to durable change.
Afrofeminist analysis
Intersectional Afrofeminist analysis best describes how women’s rights are constrained and advanced here.
What AIHRDFWA strengthens
Three intersecting capacities
Institutional strengthening, advocacy reach, and the protection of those who do the work.
- Capacity of francophone West African feminist CSOs at local and regional levels
- Advocacy that reaches national parliaments and supranational forums (ECOWAS, AU, UPR)
- Protection mechanisms for women human rights defenders facing persecution
- Cross-border coordination among feminist movements that share political contexts
- Inclusive participation of marginalised groups in policy-shaping processes
How it differs from RFLD’s other work
One flagship — not the whole portfolio
AIHRDFWA sits within RFLD’s broader institutional portfolio, distinguished by its scope, funder, and methodology.
- BMZ-funded with GIZ partnership support — bilateral German cooperation framework
- RFLD-led — RFLD is the lead implementer, not a sub-grantee
- Francophone West African focus — 8 countries, Sahel and coastal states
- Civil society-led methodology — Afrofeminist participatory methods
- Anchored in the Maputo Protocol, ACDEG, and the ECOWAS Supplementary Act
The five measures
Key activities of AIHRDFWA
Five mutually-reinforcing measures, each addressing a distinct dimension of the regional challenge — from policy advocacy through digital security to grassroots democratic participation.
Inclusive policy advocacy
Engagement with national parliaments, regional bodies, and continental mechanisms to advance inclusive policy reform.
Digital resilience for WHRDs
Digital security training, threat response, and protection mechanisms for women human rights defenders.
Cross-border solidarity networks
Coordinating feminist civil society across borders, particularly in shared political contexts.
Targeted human rights programming
Programming for vulnerable and marginalised groups, including those facing intersectional discrimination.
Democratic participation & civic education
Civic education and participatory-democracy initiatives empowering citizens to engage in democratic processes.
Strategic & specific objectives
The logical framework
One strategic objective and three specific objectives, each with short-term outcomes (changes during implementation) and long-term outcomes (systemic changes over time).
Strengthened human rights institutions & mechanisms
Building the institutional infrastructure that translates international commitments into practical protection — across civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights for women region-wide.
Increased capacity of women’s-rights institutions to translate international commitments into national legislation, with effective reporting, follow-up, and dialogue mechanisms.
Robust human-rights frameworks that protect and advance civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights for all women across francophone West Africa.
Enhanced advocacy & awareness for WHRDs and CSOs
Visible, well-resourced advocacy that expands civic and digital space for women human rights defenders and the CSOs they lead.
Greater mobilisation and visibility of women’s-rights advocacy, leading to inclusive policy reforms that expand civic and digital space.
A regional culture of accountability and respect for women’s human rights, sustained by strong advocacy networks and informed publics.
Targeted programming for vulnerable groups
Programming designed for women human rights defenders and members of vulnerable and marginalised groups — including women facing intersectional discrimination on the basis of poverty, disability, displacement, age, or other dimensions.
Effective protection mechanisms, training, and support for vulnerable groups — informed by intersectional analysis and accountable to the communities served.
More inclusive societies in which all women, regardless of background, enjoy equal protection under the law and equitable access to resources and opportunities.
Strengthened democratic participation & civil society engagement
Active citizens engaged in democracy through accessible civic-education tools, direct-democracy mechanisms, and ongoing participation in governance — with women and youth at the centre.
Empowered citizens, particularly women and youth, who actively engage in democratic processes through informed civic-education initiatives and accessible participation channels.
A vibrant regional civil society that effectively holds governments accountable and ensures diverse, intersectional representation in democratic decision-making.
The lead implementer
Why RFLD leads this project
RFLD’s selection as lead implementer reflects more than a decade of feminist movement-building across francophone West Africa, an established credential profile (including the GIZ/BMZ SEA-T flagship cohort), and an institutional infrastructure capable of delivering at the scope this project demands.
RFLD is a pan-African feminist organisation anchored in francophone West Africa, with regional offices in Porto-Novo, Accra (Africa Office), Dakar (Francophone Hub), and Banjul (AU Liaison Hub). Our network of 670 member organisations across the continent gives AIHRDFWA the grassroots reach that makes regional advocacy possible. Our partnerships with government stakeholders, regional networks, and continental institutions — including the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights — provide the policy access without which advocacy cannot translate into reform.
Within AIHRDFWA, RFLD leads on policy-reform engagement at national and regional levels, drives digital-engagement strategies that make initiatives accessible and inclusive, and provides the protection capacity women human rights defenders need to work safely. RFLD’s role is operational lead — not symbolic partner. The project is implemented by RFLD with the institutional support of GIZ and the funding of BMZ.
Contextual analysis
Why this work, now
AIHRDFWA enters a region where the conditions for civil society and women human rights defenders have changed substantially in the past five years.
The narrowing of civic space
Civic space has narrowed significantly. Several states have introduced or expanded NGO regulation, restrictive cybercrime laws, and administrative measures constraining civil society — in some cases deregistering foreign-funded organisations.
- NGO regulation requiring renewed registration and political vetting
- Cybercrime and “false information” laws used against civil society reporting
- Restrictions on foreign-funded organisations, with implications for sub-grantees
- The April 2026 dissolution of 118 NGOs in Burkina Faso illustrates the reality
The exposure of women human rights defenders
Defenders face political pressure, judicial harassment, digital attacks, and physical violence. Those working on SRHR, LGBTIQ+ inclusion, electoral participation, or extractive accountability face particular risks, and protection capacity remains underdeveloped.
- Documented cases of judicial harassment, surveillance, and intimidation
- Technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV) targeting women defenders
- Limited national protection mechanisms and patchy continental coordination
- Need for francophone-language digital security and rapid-response capacity
The Sahel reality
Three of AIHRDFWA’s eight countries — Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger — are governed by transitional military authorities under the Alliance of Sahel States (AES). They remain countries of operation through trusted member organisations, with careful, security-conscious engagement.
- Engagement conducted through local member organisations, not direct branding
- Activities prioritise local civil society leadership over external visibility
- Communications and convenings designed with partner security paramount
- RFLD will pause or withdraw where partner safety cannot be assured
The opportunity
Despite the constraints, francophone West African civil society is more organised, connected, and analytically rigorous than ever. Continental legal frameworks give the region a basis in international law few others can match. What remains is implementation — and that begins with civil society infrastructure capable of demanding it.
- Established continental legal frameworks giving civil society leverage on states
- Growing francophone feminist analytical and movement infrastructure
- Cross-border solidarity networks already operating in the region
- BMZ partnership providing the resourced regional platform AIHRDFWA needs
Legal anchors
Continental & regional frameworks
AIHRDFWA’s policy and advocacy work is grounded in frameworks that give African women rights enforceable in international law. The project’s role is to support their implementation at national level.
Maputo Protocol
The Protocol to the African Charter on the Rights of Women in Africa. The project is anchored particularly in:
- Article 8 — Access to justice and equal protection before the law
- Article 9 — Right to participate in political and decision-making processes
- Article 5 — Elimination of harmful practices
- Article 23 — Special protection of women with disabilities
ECOWAS & AU instruments
Regional and continental instruments giving the project sub-regional legal grounding:
- ECOWAS Supplementary Act on Equality of Rights between Women and Men (2015)
- African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance (ACDEG, 2007)
- African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights — and the work of the ACHPR (RFLD holds Observer Status)
- AU Agenda 2063 — commitments on gender equality and democratic governance
Funded by
AIHRDFWA is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), with implementing-partner support from the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. RFLD’s partnership with GIZ extends to the SEA-T flagship cohort, in which RFLD was selected as one of twelve African feminist organisations and holds the 2026 Presidency of the Advisory Council.
Engage with AIHRDFWA
Get in touch
For partnership, programme enquiries, or collaboration on AIHRDFWA across francophone West Africa, reach the RFLD team.