Our programmes
Our organization is involved in numerous programmes
Knowledge production and application
‘Knowledge Production and application’ is one of the most important programmes of the Eugenia Nothemba Gxowa Foundation (ENGF). By knowledge production the ENGF means to refer to processes and activities undertaken to arrive at truth or further our understanding of something—some aspect of ourselves, one another, our world, or our experience. Knowledge production takes place in a number of different ways and contexts, and, we believe, is a necessarily intersubjective, dialogical process. We therefore work with a multitude of stakeholders in various contexts to further our understanding of gender-based violence against women and girls (GBVAW/G) in South Africa, for example, child/forced under-age marriages, known in the Eastern Cape Province, ‘Ukuthwala,’ which is still often practised in various parts of the country, including the Eastern Cape Province where the ENGF is based; ukuthwala, it is not properly documented as a result there is no reliable evidence to refer to. A second component of this programme is on gender-based violence against women in politics (GBVAWP), which is also not properly documented; and a third one focuses on the role of the private sector to curb GBVAW/G.
Collaborating with men and boys to curb gender-based violence against women and girls
The ENGF’s ‘Collaborating with Men and Boys to Curb GBVAW/G Programme’ will be rolled out as a campaign (‘Collaborating with men holding senior leadership positions at South Africa’s tertiary institutions, to curb GBVAW at these institutions‘) targeting institutions of higher learning in South Africa. Borrowing from the UN Women ‘HeForShe’ Global Solidarity Campaign, it will be led by champions – Chancellors, Vice-Chancellors and other male leaders at these institutions. Within these institutions the objective is to motivate and support these champions to visibly and actively advocate against GBVAW. We believe that these champions could serve, to use the language of the youth, as ‘influencers’ who represent alternative modes of being masculine in the world, inspiring other men and boys to follow suit, for example to consider the fact that being ‘a man’ might not mean what they have been socialised to believe it means. Put differently, our envisioned champions will introduce a changed mindset – a transformed manner of being, perceiving, and treating others.
Read more about the HeforShe Program at the University of Fort Hare.
Working with organisations and interventions that seek to eliminate gender-based violence against women and girls (GBVAW/G) and child/ forced marriages
This is one of the flagships of the Eugenia Nothemba Gxowa Foundation(ENGF). The purpose of this programme is to strengthen capacity of the existing contingent of community-based women’s rights organisations championing gender-based violence against women and girls (GBVAW/G) and early forced marriages in their communities.
The programme derives its mandate from the United Nations (UN) Strategic Development Goal (SDG) 5: Gender Equality; 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions and SDG 17: Partnership for the Goals.
Providing support to survivors of GBVAW/G and child marriages
According to research findings, many survivors of domestic violence and or intimate partner violence stay in abusive relationships due to economic dependence to the abusive partners. It is against the above that the ENGF prioritized this programme as one of the strategies that can contribute enormously to efforts to curb GBVAW/G in SA. Our strategy is to complement the counselling and support provided by existing community-based women’s support centres to survivors of GBVAW/G, by providing relevant much needed technical skills, such as recycling, and where possible, urban organic agricultural farming. The programme contributes to the following UN SDG’s: 1 – No poverty; 2 – Zero hunger; 5 – Gender equality; 13 – Climate action and 17 – partnership for the goals.
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