Local Action to End Violence and Empower Women in Southern Africa

Local action to end violence and empower women in Southern Africa

Result statement Under the banner “End Violence: Empower Women,” 102 Centres of Excellence for Gender in Local Government (COEs) in ten Southern African countries have developed local action plans to end gender violence and are supporting 1557 women survivors trained in life skills and entrepreneurship by Gender Links (GL) with the support of FLOW. The programme is breaking new ground in establishing the link between economic empowerment and ending gender violence. GL is re- administering the Gender Empowerment Index (GEI) in the second half of 2015 to measure the improvement in income and agency in the lives of participants. Their presentations at district, national and regional summits show that hundreds of women have reclaimed their lives with the support of councils to access finance, know-how, markets and infrastructure. The Gender Progress Score (GPS), being re- administered to all councils in the second half of 2015 showed an overall increase of seven percentage points in 22 councils where preliminary follow up surveys have been conducted. This case study should be read together with the six minute video that can be accessed at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnqaGvdBNx0&feature=youtu.be

Context and theory of change

GL’s Theory of Change (ToC) posits that the vicious negative cycle of Gender Based Violence (GBV) can be turned into a virtuous positive cycle through a simple slogan that has been translated into dozens of local languages: “peace begins at home”.

At the individual and intimate relations level, the life skills and enterprise development programme stems from the recognition that the majority of women remain in abusive relationships because they lack economic choices.

1 The public realm of power – policy/strategy to meet the needs of women in business – access to assets, financial services and business Private realm of development opportunities. power –– economic

GBV as a form of Community realm of control power – local government, private sector, NGOs and Intimate realm of power - creating a funders support. belief in the ability to achieve economic independence

At the community level, GL works through local government to ensure institutional support and grounding for the programme. At national, regional and global level, the programme is aligned to the SADC Protocol on Gender and Development that is being updated in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end gender violence by 2030.

Approaches, methods and tools Objectives Key activities 1) To enhance gender Revisit the gender action plans of Centres of responsive local governance Excellence for Gender in Local Government and through flagship programmes develop action plans to end gender violence. for ending gender violence aligned to the SADC Protocol on Gender and Development. In the six SADC countries that have undertaken the GBV Baseline Study, use the results to strengthen and target local action plans more effectively. 2) To provide women Identify survivors of gender violence through working alternatives to persevering in with Council Gender Focal Persons on the collection situations where they of “I” Stories or first- hand accounts of gender experience GBV violence. Use skilled facilitators to provide training in two parts: life skills and agency; market surveys and development of business plans, including IT training. 3) To connect women survivors Backstop the emerging entrepreneurs and assist them of GBV to easily accessible in accessing support from the councils and related information, services and support structures such as market stands, micro- resources to enhance their finance, mentorship, sun-contracting and outsourcing, ability to succeed. jobs and procurement.

2 4) To contribute to the body of Administer the GEI and GPS at the beginning and end knowledge on economic of the process, and analyse the quantitative findings. empowerment and ending Gather “I” stories or first-hand accounts before and gender violence through after the training and assess progress. Gather and Monitoring, Evaluation, share case studies through annual district, national Learning, documenting and and regional summits. good practices

Alignment to GL’s Theory of Change

Individual/Intimate realm: It is well documented that entrepreneurship development for women, especially women in under resourced environments, is exacerbated by gender related challenges. Whilst men and women both experience difficulties when wanting to start or run a business, women face additional challenges which are gender specific. These include issues such as lack of mobility, lack of experience, poor skills base, a lack of assets and resources and multiple roles associated with patriarchal relationships. These obstacles are further exacerbated by exposure to GBV which undermines their self-esteem and confidence in taking charge of their own lives as illustrated in the excerpt that follows:

How GBV undermines agency: “In 2002, I met a guy and I fell in love with him. Our relationship started on a high note. He told me that he wanted us to have a child together and I agreed. When I told him I was pregnant he did not believe me and told me to go for a pregnancy test. I did this and got my results, and he asked me to fax the results to him. Later that day, he called me on the phone using vulgar language. He told me he was not the one who made me pregnant and accused me of hiring a doctor to fake my results. He told me there is no way I could live in another town without being with another man and he hung up the phone on me. I sat down crying, asking myself where this man got all this false information. He called me 10 minutes later telling me the same thing he told me earlier.

He would chase me away of the house in the middle of the night to go find some food for him. He would send me to beg around in the neighbours for food. I would the run away and ask for shelter from neighbours because I was scared of going back to him in case he beat me again. All this used to happen in front of my two sons who are grown up now. He would beat me and my elder son and chase us away from the house. I tried reporting him to my in-laws but my mother in-law was too soft for him.

He sold our property which included a house and several cars and we were left with only one house that I am currently living in with my children. He was in the habit of physically abusing me and always threatens to sell the house we are living in. Fortunately, I managed to stop him from selling the house or even threaten to do so through the courts. Although I often reported him to the police I failed to get the help I wanted because he always bribed the police to brush the case aside.” Excerpt from an “I” story

3 The programme recognises that enterprise skills alone do not imply change in and of itself in terms of GBV and has therefore included life skills as a key component of the project in the following ways:  The writing and sharing of I Stories provides a platform for survivors to explore their own feelings and experiences of GBV. Sharing with other women in workshops creates a supportive environment which has in fact resulted in committees being formed in some communities to support other women.  The initial introduction of life skills training in the first workshop helps women to understand better issues of gender inequality, power dynamics in relationships and how the experience has affected them. This provides context to the experience of GBV and provides a broader framework for their growth in personal agency.  Participation in Gender Summits at District, national and Regional Gender Summits greatly enhances their confidence in themselves in relation to public speaking, computer usage and networking.  Women create life trees for themselves which demonstrate where they want to be in terms of their own lives. This has been a very successful and well liked part of the first workshop in the series.

Close relationships/private realm: The introduction of an understanding of financial control as a form of abuse and the impact this has on their disempowerment, has helped survivors to understand the implications of financial abuse in relationships and the impact it has in terms of their ability to make other life choices. The course links positive messages about building confidence to make it their own and to see that breaking such dependence might be achieved if they develop economic independence and break the abuse cycle. Many women have identified with the idea of growing their economic options but the full impact will only be known once the follow up research has been collected and analysed.

Community realm of power: Key to the success of the project is the integration of economic justice into the Centres of Excellence in Local Government (COEs) programme at GL. The COE relationship has contributed in the following ways:  The COE Gender Champions (GMs) and Gender Focal Persons (GFPs) have played a key role in identifying survivors for the programme, participating in workshops, encouraging the women, training or mentorship, assisting them with business plans and presentations. In addition the majority of councils have also provided venues at no charge. They have also involved other local government departments in the project to inform women of local support available through the council such as finance, training and mentorship offered by public entities. In turn the councillors and GCs and GFPs have gained insights and knowledge of GBV, the economic aspects of GBV and entrepreneurship. I addition they have had guidance in terms of mainstreaming women into local economic development and the integration of poorly resourced women into COE programmes that enhance their ability to develop economically.  The communities that are aligned to the COE districts are integrated into many of the activities with the council around the programme. They participate in 16 Day events, action planning, cyber dialogues and participate in the last session of the training programme; as demonstrated by these examples:

4 o Invitations have been extended to the private sector as members of the community (banks, MFIs, corporates, donors and others) to meet and support the women, resulting in offers of additional training, mentorship and support to open and manage banking accounts. o CSOs and NGOs are also invited and to explore the possibility of proving ongoing support such as further training. o Local stakeholders such as local small business owners are invited to district and national summits to participate as judges for the emerging enterprises and present best practises.

Society/the public realm: The public realm is integrated in the following ways:  Government departments and Ministries are made aware of the economic, business and GBV challenges faced by women through interactions with GL country staff and participation at national Summits where they are exposed to the best practises shared by other COEs, efforts to end GBV and entrepreneurship successes.  National government organisations run by governments such as the Citizen Entrepreneurship Development Agency (CEDA) Botswana, the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA) in Mauritius are approached for support and discussions held on the availability of services such as business finance for women; especially vulnerable women.

The experience of implementation

This project, essentially taking the form of pilot to test new methodology that could be leveraged to many other councils and countries, has been rolled out to 102 councils in 10 SADC countries since 2013: Botswana, Lesotho, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe. This has been the first programme that we know of that has introduced a nexus of GBV, economic justice and entrepreneurship as a tool for addressing GBV; aligned with rigorous monitoring and evaluation to test an hypothesis that economic independence can reduce GBV.

GL has used the well-established COE platform as the basis for introducing life skills and entrepreneurship development to survivors of GBV. The entrepreneurship project is an extension of the work done with the COEs, providing a framework through which the COE’s can contribute to the economic development and mainstreaming of women who have experienced GBV in their areas. The enterprise development project links with the work already achieved in the individual countries through these councils. All of the councils are Centres of Excellence in Local government and have adopted the enterprise programme as an extension of the gender mainstreaming process. This commitment has been critical in the roll out of the 102 councils. GL rolled out the programme to groups of five councils at a time which became known as “old” and “new” councils to differentiate them. The majority of training workshops were completed in country by the end of 2014. The two exceptions were South Africa and Swaziland, where some were carried over to 2015. To date 1557 women have benefited from the programme in 102 councils; 10 per country.

5 One of the implementation experiences has been the exploring the levels of capacity of the target market; women over 18 who have experienced GBV and sought support from the local council. Levels of functional literacy and numeracy tended to be low for many of the women which has hampered the training in areas where this was particularly prevalent and probably added to the drop out numbers in some cases. Whilst the training itself has been designed to be accessible and uncomplicated as possible, the concepts of financial management in particular can be difficult to grasp if educational levels are low. This would account for the fact that the financial management sections of the training were the most difficult. This was brought to our attention by the facilitators in May 2015 and an additional two days was added to the second workshop to accommodate this. This allowed for more time for the women to spend on grasping concepts such as pricing. The women responded very well though and for the first time were able to link pricing, costs and income as applied skills.

The data collected as baseline information has provided some important insights. The baseline GEI reflects the fact that the largest number of women come from low incomes in the R1-1000 per annum bracket. The information has been disaggregated by country and by council and therefore offers insights of similarities and differences at a regional, country and local level. Regional income levels are demonstrated in the graph below.

The graph shows that 56% of participants come fom the R1-1000 per month income bracket; 22% from the R1001 to R3001 bracket; 9% from the R3001 to R5000 bracket; 8% from the R5001 to R10,000 bracket and only 4% from the bracket higher than R10,000 per month.

Comparing the variations in income values per country, appears to show that the ability for women to work their way out of the lowest level of income, is more likely in some than others. Lesotho demonstrates the highest levels of low income and Mauritius the most even spread (this is consistent with socio-economic conditions in these countries). Only four countries (Zimbabwe, Mozamique, South Africa, Mauritius and Madagascar) had participants with income over R10,000 per month.

The data also shows that they the majority of women particpants are over the age of 40 with some 12% over the age of 60. The educational levels show that 33% of the women have secondary education, 29% primary and 4% tertiary education. This is fairly consistent with the target group of women who have sought support for GBV through social and welfare facilities in local government.

6 The programme has successfully run 303 workshops in the region. Since 2014, two participants from each council participated in the GL National SADC Gender Protocol @Work Summits in 2014 and 2015. The participants presented their business plans, in a new award category called Emerging Entrepreneurs, to a panel of experts who provided feedback. Two winners from each council attended the SADC Gender Protocol@Work regional summit from 25 to 28 May in Johannesburg 2014 and August 2015.

The regional summit featured a side meeting on possible economic opportunities linked to cell phone companies and a visit to a shopping Mall in Soweto, the Maponya Mall, where the women met several Soweto based business women and were treated to lunch in one of the restaurants. The emerging entrepreneurs again participated in district and national summits in 2015. The Regional Summit in Gaborone, Botswana, hosted 20 entrepreneurs who presented their businesses, visited the council of Lobatse and visited several businesses in Botswana.

During the Sixteen Days of Activism on Violence against Women held under the banner, “End Violence, Empower Women” GL held breakfast events in three countries to highlight the link between GBV and economic dependence.

In Botswana key organisations such as the Citizen Entrepreneurial Development Agency (CEDA) which was established by the government to provide financial and technical support for business development and the Local Enterprise Authority (LEA) attended. The organisation of women business owners, the Women in Business Association, BancABC and the largest supermarket chain in Botswana, Choppies (a large retailer in Botswana), also lent their support to the occasion. Pledges for support included mentorship, free business accounts, technical training on chicken farming and possible funding opportunities.

In Zimbabwe, representatives of Goromonzi Rural District Council, Chitungwiza Municipality and Manyame Rural District Council attended the event. Emerging entrepreneurs shared their own personal accounts of the GBV experiences and the programme offered by GL and how this has impacted on their lives.

In South Africa the Department of Small Business Development, survivors of GBV, the Banai faith based organisation, women’s empowerment NGOs and the Commission for Gender Equality attended. An even larger group of government officials, business and donor representatives attended a round table convened by the African Development Bank Special Envoy on Gender, Geraldine Fraser Moleketi in early 2015. The former Minister of Public Service and Administration shared a soon-to-be-released AfDB report on the relationship between ending violence and empowering women. She made a strong plea for donor and private sector support for the programme.

7 Long-term impact – an integrated model for change

The analysis of the quantitative and qualitative data, compiled in book and DVD format at the end of FLOW 1 will provide information that can be applied to the ongoing review and development of the programme. The long term impact recorded here is based on preliminary and anecdotal evidence showing that GL’s integrated model – linking survivors of GBV to action plans at the local level for ending gender violence as well as Local Economic Development (LED) plans and opportunities – is yielding long term impact.

Local action plans to end gender violence: A total of 102 local councils have developed flagship programmes to end gender based violence. Countries that have so far undertaken the GBV Baseline Studies (South Africa, Lesotho, Mauritius, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Botswana) have integrated the findings of the studies into their plans. Some 40 of the 102 councils reviewed their action plans to incorporate the findings of the VAWG baseline studies to ensure that they are relevant to the present needs of the community. GL tracked implementation of three to five per country during the 16 Days of Activism against GBV in 2014 across the 10 SADC countries involved in this programme. A notably stronger emphasis on targeted economic empowerment for women has been integrated into these plans as part of the 16 days theme of economic empowerment to end GBV.

While it is difficult to definitively measure the reduction in GBV over the four year period in which the project has been in operational, the utilization of gender attitude surveys (the GPS) has measured changes in attitudes towards GBV, key to ending gender violence in the long term. The 102 councils that conducted baseline attitude surveys from 2013 to December 2014, reflected in the table below. GL has conducted follow up surveys in 22 of the first councils in the programme to date.

8 # Country Council Baseline Follow-up Variance 1 Botswana Lobatse 57 70 13 2 Madagascar CUA 72 63 -9 3 Madagascar Mahavelona Foulpointe 67 63 -4 4 Mauritius B.Basin/R Hill Mc 54 73 19 5 Mauritius Black River Dc 54 74 20 6 Mauritius Curepipe MC 57 66 9 7 Mauritius Grand-Port Dc 60 72 12 8 Mauritius Quatre-Bornes MC 50 67 17 9 Mauritius Vacoaus/Phoenix Mc 64 67 3 10 Mozambique Inhambane 69 60 -9 11 Mozambique Maxixe 65 70 5 12 South Africa Emfuleni 69 70 1 13 South Africa Midvaal 53 64 11 14 Swaziland Lavumisa 52 62 10 15 Zimbabwe Bulawayo 61 67 6 16 Zimbabwe Chegutu 50 62 12 17 Zimbabwe Chiredzi 52 67 15 18 Zimbabwe Chitungwiza 52 67 15 19 Zimbabwe Gweru 54 67 13 20 Zimbabwe Kadoma 65 61 -4 21 Zimbabwe Manyame RDC 55 63 8 22 Zimbabwe Zvimba 66 63 -3 Total Averages 59 66 7%

Overall, the GPS in these councils has seen increases of seven percentage points from 59% to 66%. Seventeen of the 22 councils registered an improvement in the GPS, that comprises 20 questions (mostly from a standard WHO survey) to gauge gender attitudes. The greatest improvement took place in Black River, Mauritius, where the score increased from 54% to 74%. The biggest decrease (nine percentage points) took place in Inhambane in Mozambique and CUA in Madagascar. GL’s state of the art online survey tools allow councils to monitor their own results and share and debate best practise during Sixteen Day of Activism campaigns and Gender summits.

Marjorie Timm, a counselor in Zambia, is passionate about Gender Based Violence. She grew up in a home where her father abused her mother who never reported him to the police. During her time as a counselor she has fortunately seen a lot of change in attitudes in the community. “Women are now able to speak out and report cases of violence; this it is being addressed by the police. There is a Victim Support Unit in our local police that deals with GVB cases. We have also had cases of men reporting cases of violence by their women. Before they were ashamed to report; afraid to be laughed at.”

“If the general public were to hear the messages on GBV from all stakeholders, and not just the police, more would be done,” notes Matumelo Maqokela, a police officer in Lesotho. “People respond differently to different messages, and it's

9 important that a diversity of messages are communicated. Now that I've been sensitized on gender issues, when people are referred to me, I'm able to address the situation from an informed viewpoint, and know how to connect to different people.” Support from the councils: The COE councils play a critical role in the planning and implementation of the programme from the beginning. The social welfare departments of the CORs are the first port of call for women experiencing GBV and needing help. Through the gender focal persons in each council, the programme is introduced to the social welfare staff; they then work together with the GL country office to identify women that meet the criteria for admission. They act as the contact between the survivors and GL in explaining the process and introducing the women to GL. The gender focal person usually attends the workshops, other work permitting. At each point they work with the women, support in between workshops and encourage them to form community committees as group. The programme would not be possible without them. The COE councils have embraced the concept of the entrepreneurship project for survivors of GBV in a number of ways, the full extent of which will be reported on in the follow up research and verification process. A summary of some of the outcomes has been included in the table below.

Support Example Funding  The gender affairs department in Botswana provides a number opportunities of funding options for women including group loans of up to five women and grants. Whilst grants are available the barriers to entry are high and GL had the opportunity to point this out and debate the need for changes to benefit our target market.  Microfinance and certain banks assisted women with tailored packages that matched their income levels and needs. Introduction  In Madagascar women have set up group saving schemes where of savings they are encouraged to save. schemes  In Mozambique joint savings schemes were set up by groups of women to assist then save and have capital to start up their businesses.  Group saving schemes were introduced and women were encouraged to save and set-up revolving funds that members can access. Opening of  In Zambia participants did not have bank accounts prior but as a bank result of the training, they each opened bank accounts with cell accounts phone banking and other benefits e.g. life insurance. This enabled women to learn more about savings and capital reinvestment.  In Namibia each group formed in Namibia also opened a bank account  In Zimbabwe profit gained from businesses was saved in secure banks that also offered funeral cover to the entrepreneurs.  Councils assisted the women by writing letters of recommendation e.g to banks and other prospective funders Mentorship  The Gauteng Enterprise Propeller agreed to provide mentorship and other non-financial support to the women

10  Mentorship in Botswana was offered by the Local Enterprise authority and individual councils responsible for economic development. Targeted  In Zimbabwe a women owned IT company has agreed to train training the participants to improve their computer skills Starting  Women in Inhambane, Mozambique, started an association community called ‘Women of Inhambane.’ organisations  In Nambia Women developed functional structures within their to support groups – with a chair (GFP), treasurer and members to sustain women the groups Changes in  In Namibia Berseba and Tses councils changed their economic and procurement processes to be more gender appropriate. procurement  Chipata included specific women economic empowerment policy projects in their strategic plan for 2016/2017 financial year.  Zambian councils strengthened their Gender Sensitive Procurement policies e.g. Solwezi, Chipata, Lusaka and Livingstone. Access to  Councils in Mozambique gave free land for women to have land for gardens. productive  In Mumbwa and Kasama in Zambia, women got land to have projects market gardens. Opportunities  In Zimbabwe GL now has a partnership with NETONE for to apply their financial support through a phone booth programme where knowledge women will be employed by NETONE to run phone booths on commission. An MOU is has been drafted and is in the process to be finalised between GL Zimbabwe and NETONE.  In Zambia women were assisted to register their businesses, get business licences, and apply for tenders to provide goods and services for the councils.  In Zambia the Chipata COE included specific women economic empowerment projects in their strategic plan for 2016/2017 financial year.

Agency: The repeat collection and analysis of data in September 2015 will determine the impact the project has had on the economic and social agency of the women. Pending these results, anecdotal evidence shows that women have demonstrated greater confidence in themselves. They express themselves more confidently in the second workshops. Some women have indicated that the programme has helped them to remove themselves from unhealthy situations or expressed greater levels of confidence for the future if the abuse is in the past, as illustrated by the example that follows:

Mary (not her real name), a South African woman, had been reticent about participating in the GL programme, as she was not sure that she would be comfortable sharing her “I” Story at a workshop. She overcame her concerns however and joined in the process which she found both painful and exciting. She indicated that she had experienced some healing and hope for the future. She had been in business since 2008 running a small catering business and tuck-shop. She had not done much planning and was just letting the enterprise move along at its own pace but participation in the GL programme changed this for her. The training inspired her to take her business seriously and she began to apply the knowledge

11 she had learnt. She made business cards, started balancing her books, revised her menu and increased her sales. “This Entrepreneurship training has made me realise that as a single mother who is divorced and supporting my family alone that I am very strong. I often think of my past and the level of suffering and the abuse I had to go through from my ex- husband, I felt like nothing.” In her own words, “Since my first encounter with Gender Links I have learnt a lot. I have had business training before but the training with Gender Links was different, there was a great level of empathy and also a lot of encouragement from the trainer.” She learnt to use a computer and was able to start using Facebook.

12 Skills: The immediate impact of the programme is measured in the skills women are developing. This has been demonstrated in a number of ways through presentations at summits, Drivers of Change Research and the development of business ideas. The full impact will only be realized once the repeat research is analysed later this year.

In 2014, GL’s Drivers of Change research in 2014 featured several participants in the entrepreneurship progrramme which gives a taste of the potential outcomes that we are anticipating.  Poonam Sewnarain from Mauritius said: “Without the three training workshops from Gender Links, I would never have been able to be the person that I am today: confident, knowledgeable, self-assured and knowing how to talk to people and to the media.”  Susan Swart, a South African woman, had been reticent about participating in the GL programme, as she was not sure that she would be comfortable sharing her “I” Story at a workshop. She overcame her concerns however and joined in the process which she found both painful and exciting. She indicated that she had experienced some healing and hope for the future. She had been in business since 2008 running a small catering business and tuckshop. She had not done much planning and was just letting the enterprise move along at its own pace but participation in the GL programme changed this for her. The training inspired her to take her business seriously and she began to apply the knowledge she had learnt. She made business cards, started balancing her books, revised her menu and increased her sales. “This Entrepreneurship training has made me realise that as a single mother who is divorced and supporting my family alone that I am very strong. I often think of my past and the level of suffering and the abuse I had to go through from my ex-husband, I felt like nothing. Since my first encounter with Gender Links I have learnt a lot. I have had business training before but the training with Gender Links was different, there was a great level of empathy and also a lot of encouragement from the trainer.” She learnt to use a computer and was able to start using Facebook.  Panache (not her real name) said: "Ever since I started making my own money, I have stopped begging my abusive and promiscuous husband to love and care for our children. The training sessions afforded me a chance to stay in a hotel, something I had always dreamt of. For the first meeting, they gave me a transport allowance and I saved that money and started a business which has grown to something big. I am happy because I can now afford to take care of my children. I now pay their fees, medical bills and I am renting a flea-market. I get $100 as maintenance from my husband which is not enough but through the entrepreneurship programme, I am now able to make my own decisions and can never take abuse from anyone."  Clara from Zambia says that writing her I story helped heal the wounds and was very therapeutic psychologically. She says the programme she has went through so far has taught her to be very innovative. She already has a database list of potential customers. Clara has moved from selling her clothes in her house to renting a vending site provided by the council of Solwezi.

13 New and improved enterprises The women have presented a wide range of business ideas which they are either involved in or wish to start. Some of these are involved in “traditional” types of business such as catering. Others have demonstrated an interest in a diversity of businesses including a quarry, the privatisation of council toilet facilities, a fish farm and an internet café for the disabled community – see examples that follow:

Plus size fashion and women with disabilities: Nomcebo Dlamini, an entrepreneur from Swaziland who is developing a business for plus sized women, and women with disabilities. She claims that Gender Links built her confidence as a business woman, and now she wants to pass that confidence on to her clients. "My dream is to dress people like me so they can be comfortable in their bodies and have the confidence to lift their heads high. Looking good is feeling good and as a plus-sized woman who is also disabled, I know what would make another woman like me feel good and also look comfortable in," says Dlamini.

Dlamini met GL through entrepreneurship workshops that taught participants how to develop business plans. “GL came to teach us about business plans. They catered for us even if one did not have a plan but a vision for the business they wanted to develop. About 20 of us participated in this initiative. Through this I have been empowered and gained knowledge on how I can improve my business plan. I can talk confidently and know how to approach people in business. I want to register my business and get a license and be able to get tenders.”

Privatising public toilets: Judith Musonda from the Lusaka City Council in Zambia won the SADC Protocol@Work summit prize in the Emerging Entrepreneur category in her country. She had taken the initiative to approach the local council to take over the running of the public toilets which were in the need of upgrading. The toilets were in the Shadreck area of Matero Township in Lusaka, close to the Local Court. This area was also occupied by beer halls and bars. Judith saw this as an opportunity to be a potentially viable and sustainable income generating activity. “This is a good way of raising money to support my future and lessen dependency on other people as has been the case in the past. Note also that this shall serve as a demand based solution to the community’s need for toilet facilities and is likely to reduce urine related pollution around the area,” she said. “Having been picked and trained in Entrepreneurship, I am now in a position to complement government efforts in improving sanitation in the country. Such programmes also help in building capacity building in women, which in turn will improve house-hold level incomes.” Learning and sharing: 1375 good practices have been presented during the project period; 562 at the district summits pioneered in 2014. In 2014, there were 161 case studies on ending GBV; 139 on Local Economic Development, 47 on Women’s Rights, 25 on Climate Change, 2 on promoting 50/50 Gender Equality, 30 on Leadership, 158 on the COE Process = 562 Case Studies shared across 10 countries. GL Managers and staff at Head Quarters verified these case studies through onsite visits and requests for evidence to be presented at the district, national and regional summits to substantiate presentations. A strong indicator of

14 the ownership for summits is that councils are now running their own summits, and arranging study visits between themselves. Councils light the way on ending gender violence Mossel Bay municipality, winner in the 2014 summit of best local government COE, joined the Centres of Excellence process in 2011, and jumped into the process head first. After attending the 2012 Gender Justice and Local Government Summit, Mossel Bay became the first municipality in the SADC region to hold its own local summit against gender based violence. The council held the summit in the build-up to the 16 Days of Activism campaign under the theme: No more victims summit. It was such a success that Gender Links went on to support the localization of the summit concept in several ways.

Winners of prizes at the 2013 Regional Protocol@Work Summit were awarded study visits to the Mossel Bay municipality. The aim of the study visit was to continue to foster the networks and relationships that had been created amongst the various institutions during the regional summit. Many activists who went on the 2013 study visits met again at the regional summit in 2014, and shared how they had implemented what they learned. "From the study visits, we learnt how to organise and conduct our own local summits….From the regional and national summits, we were taught how to hold summits in our districts and municipalities as a way of starting at the grassroots level", explained Naledi Masipa of the Capricorn District Municipality in Limpopo, South Africa. The innovation continued in 2013 with the rollout of support to entrepreneurs in Cape Aghulas. Following an I-Stories workshop for survivors of violence, Gender Links supported economic empowerment to women in communities where local government is supporting women’s participation. For the first time at the 2014 Summit, these women shared their experiences of accessing rights, alongside municipal officials supporting these drivers of change. “ When I heard that there would be a follow up with regard to Entrepreneurship Training I knew that this was going to be a good period of my life for me…. I am so much confident and knowing that all my money belongs to me and I can generate an income alone as a single parent without the assistance or dependence on someone else to provide for my children. I have no limitations I always keep telling myself that my time has come,” said Susan Swart, in her address at the opening of the 2014 regional SADC Protocl@Work summit.

District and national summits cost a fraction of the regional summit. The localised summit model allowed many more people to participate, an d more COEs to share their experiences and learn from each other. Interviews with Drivers of Change emphasised how they are implementing what they have learned in their own councils. “As a leader myself, it was interesting to watch how the Mossel Bay

15 municipality worked as a team. It was the integration of the work they did together that struck me most. They decentralised attention and support to not one but all aspects of the municipality. I think having women in the power hierarchy of the social development programme helps a lot there. We are returning home with new priorities and ideas," said Rachel Jeremia from Chobe District in Botswana, who participated in the Mossel Bay local summit.

Peer learning at summits has extended to self-initiated twinning programmes between councils across countries that wish to collaborate more and assist each other in carrying on with the agenda. After the 2014 regional summit and a subsequent visit from the Tsiafahy Mayor during a study visit, the Grand Port District council in Mauritius (winner of the best urban council at the summit) and the Tsiafahy Council in Madagascar signed a protocol to work together and support each other in promoting gender mainstreaming. The terms of protocol include the establishment of a liaison committee that includes local elected officials, representatives of the functional and operational directions, officers in charge of these projects and partners; an assessment of future plans and at least annual meetings to take stock of collaboration in the different areas and identify possible areas of further collaboration. In late 2014, Grand Port District Council also hosted a study visit for all the Mauritian councils.

16 Strength of evidence based on self-scoring: Overall score – 88% Principle Criteria Comments / evidence Score 1) Voice and Inclusion 1a. Are the perspectives of the most Yes, at each point the needs, opinions and 10/ 10 We present excluded and marginalised groups experiences of GBV survivors are integrated beneficiaries’ views on included in the evidence? into the project e.g. participating in GBV action the effects of the planning with the councils. They are intervention, and represented at public events and share in the identify who has been gathering and sharing of best practice through affected and how the summit processes. 1b. Are findings disaggregated according In this pilot stage only women have been 9/ 10 to sex, disability and other relevant included. The GEI includes questions on sexual social differences? preference and gender identity. Income is another measure of differences between participants. Physical disability is not included but the experiences and impact of GBV are included and analysed. Total score for voice and inclusion: 19/ 20 2) Appropriateness 2a. Are the data collection methods Yes. The instruments are developed in house 9/ 10 We use methods that relevant to the purpose of the enquiry using global guidelines and are developed to are justifiable given the and do they generate reliable data? meet the needs of the programme. The GEI was nature of the developed specifically for the project. The data intervention and is collected by staff or interns trained in the purpose of the procedure of collection and administration. All assessment research involves the collection of baseline and follow up data. 2b. Are the data analysed in a Quantitative data is captured electronically for 8/ 10 systematic way that leads to convincing ease of analysis. Qualitative data is analysed conclusions? through as process of referencing changes between the baseline and follow up I stories. Total score for appropriateness: 17/ 20 3) Triangulation 3a. Are different data collection Yes the study includes both qualitative (I 9/ 10 We make conclusions methodologies used and different types stories) and quantitative methodology (GEIs about the intervention’s of data collected? and Attitude surveys). effects by using a mix of 3b. Are the perspectives of different Yes. I stories and GEI reflect the views and 9 / 10 methods, data sources, stakeholders compared and analysed in experiences of the GBV survivors. The attitude and perspectives establishing if and how change has surveys measure changes in the perceptions of occurred? the broader community. Total score for triangulation: 18/ 20 4) Contribution 4a. Is a point of comparison used to A baseline is administered before the actual 8/ 10 We can show how show that change has happened (eg. a project starts. Follow up research is conducted change happened and baseline, a counterfactual, comparison after a period of the group project ending. This explain how we with a similar group)? provides a point of comparison both contributed to it individually and in terms of the broader community in each council.

17 Principle Criteria Comments / evidence Score 4b. Is the explanation of how the Yes, especially as the project has been set up to 9 / 10 intervention contributes to change test the hypothesis that economic explored? empowerment of women can reduce GBV. This has required robust research methodology to add to the knowledge of the nexus between economics and GBV. Total score for contribution: 17/ 20 5) Transparency 5a. Is it clear who has who collected and GL will provide a clear picture of the collection 9/ 10 We are open about the analysed the data, and is any potential and analysis in the final reports/book. GL data sources and bias they may have explained and openly reviews the strengths and weakness of methods used, the justified? methodologies. results achieved, and the 5b. Is there a clear logical link between Yes there will be once the follow up data is 8 / 10 strengths and limitations the conclusions presented and the data collected. of the evidence collected? Total score for transparency: 17/ 20 88%

18 Value for money analysis Economy: Facilitators received precise contractual agreements outlining expectations and payments for each workshop. GL initially tracked progress using tracking sheets uploaded to Share Point and surveys in 2014 making storing and utilisation of data less time consuming and more efficient. Countries drew up budgets; transfers were made on the basis of need according to their planned outputs. Expenditure was tightly monitored and three quotes, a quote comparison and budget needed to be presented for funds to be approved. Gender champions (GCs) trained by GL played a key role in administering the surveys for uploading onto the online database. This cost effective and empowering way of working has further minimised the monitoring and evaluations costs.

Efficiency: To enhance efficiency GL engaged the services of local training facilitators. The utilisation of competent staff to supplement paid facilitators worked well and the results comparable. All of the workshops were completed and reported on. In Lesotho one of the unintended consequences of utilising council venues for training was that these were often not well maintained and did not have access to the Internet for presentations. This small issue aside, the contribution of councils in cash and in kind is very substantial.

Effectiveness- leveraging Overall in the COE programme the councils have shown and great commitment to the COE programme.

Local action to end violence and empower women 2014 – Euro FLOW 1 644 800 49% Other donors 764,487 23% Contribution by councils 980,525 29% Total 3, 389, 812

19 The pie chart shows that in 2014, FLOW contributed 49% of the Euro 3,389,812 budget. These funds leveraged Euro 764,487 in funds from other donors. Councils contributed 29% of the costs in cash and in-kind. This represents a high degree of political ownership and buy-in.

Beneficiary analysis No of participants 1557 FLOW expenditure on the entrepreneurshipEuro 802 000 project Average spend per participant Euro 515 Estimated average income per annum atEuro 1500 the start of the project Estimated average income at present (50%Euro 2260 higher)

The beneficiary analysis shows that FLOW has invested Euro 515 for each of the 1557 entrepreneurs. While GL is still in the process of verifying changes in income, available data suggests an estimated starting average annual income of Euro 1200; closing 50% higher at Euro 2260 (Euro 760 per annum more than at the start). This shows that FLOW made a 47% return on income for each participant in the first full year of the project. When compounded over a lifetime, the VFM of this project is very substantial. The non- financial benefits – rescuing women from gross violations of their rights, is of incalculable value.

Lessons learned and how these will be applied Manuals/materials: Facilitators noted that:  Language posed a barrier to understanding as beneficiaries received materials they could not read, interpret and understand. This was strenuous for facilitators who had to translate some materials. In this round translation was a difficult issue e.g. in some countries such as Namibia there are many dialects. The budget could not accommodate extensive translation to suit each language in each country as this had not been included in budgets. This will need to be reconsidered going forward.  Manuals are technical and difficult to interpret: This will need to be looked at but the essence of business management training is technical and aspects such as finances are critical. The manuals were designed to be accessible but to provide key information. Some councils found them too difficult, others too easy. During a review in May 2014 with facilitators, most felt that the level was accessible but that the financial part needed more time. This was addressed by extending the second workshop from three to five days. The content and format of the learning materials will be reviewed and other forms of learning such as videos could be considered to reinforce the learning.

20  Writing posed as a challenge to the women. GL staff had to do the writing for some women. Criteria for selection should be clear: This issue was raised during a meeting with facilitators in 2014 and the criteria adjusted to include functional literacy and numeracy. This however seems to still be problem which requires a review of the selection criteria going forward. This could include minimum education levels for choice of participants in the programme as a lot of reading and writing is required. Consideration will need to be given to clarifying the target market as this will be critical to determine these criteria. Issues such as; who do we want to reach, what do we want to achieve and where can we have the greatest impact will be crucial to these decisions.  The utilization of M&E tools has identified some gaps: o Initial income baseline was too generic and more holistic tools for measuring income would enrich the overall understanding of the intervention going forward. o GL is in the process of revising this to provide a more complex asset of data for future programmes. o To make up for a simplified tool in the current M&E, additional follow up questions will be added before the follow up process starts so that key information can be captured.  Drop-out rates: Not enough consideration was given to the potential for dropouts in GLs enthusiasm for reaching as many women as possible. Drop outs were subsequently identified as an issue for reasons such as partner interference, finding jobs and lateness of preparation for workshops. Some women simply didn’t want to run a business. This however in the overall numbers has not had a dramatic effect. Going forward however as part of the overhaul of the selection process a more robust process of admitting women onto the programme subsequent to the collection of baseline information should be considered e.g. an interview of each woman clearly mapping their backgrounds, skills, needs and motivation to plan individual interventions from the start.  Distance as an operational factor: Some countries are very big and the distances between councils substantial. This has time and cost implications for the programme. Going forward this will need to be adjusted and GL has already begun to design a “hub and spoke” scenario, linking councils together in partnerships and reducing the distances in the selection of councils.  Follow up support for the participants: o There is a greater need to focus on follow up support with the women and this should be concretised and funds raised to provide this e.g. finance, mentorship and opportunities. o GL should explore programmes that provide seed capital for women. o The current budget did not provide for technical support post training and there was therefore a reliance on in kind support. o A clearer post training plan needs to be put in place to support the participants. The programme was designed to identify additional resources at the end of the training. This needs to change and potential resources identified and recruited before the training starts. In addition there is a need interview councils with a set of assessments questions to determine their level of motivation and resources to support the women post training.

This has been a very important exercise in the planning and implementation and important lessons have been learnt. One other is that more human capacity needs to be allocated to run and manage the programme for optimal effect especially for the planning on non-

21 training evets such as funding sources for clients and mentorship arrangements. Despite the issues raised this programme has achieved some extraordinary outcomes. The sensitisation of councils to GBV and economic justice, the revising of policies, the raising of personal confidence in survivors to extricate themselves from abusive relationships, the setting and improvement of business practices and income, have indeed been milestone achievements for survivors of GBV in their local communities.