Overview

Forum for African Women Educationalists of Zambia (FAWEZA), a gender justice nationwide membership based non-governmental organization that has been in existence since 8th March 1996 is an affiliate of the Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE); a Pan-African NGO network existing in 34 African Countries. FAWE is a network of leading African women educationalists who decided soon after the Beijing Conference of 1985, to walk the talk about the appalling state of girls’ education in Africa. FAWEZA was founded by the first female Minister of Education in Zambia, the late Hon. Dr. Kabunda Kayongo (MP.). The organization was founded in order to create space for Zambian Women Educationalists to foster collaborative efforts to campaign for gender responsive educational policies and programmes.

Over the years, FAWEZA has forged various partnerships with state and non-state actors and utilized various carefully chosen strategic interventions to enhance and foster the attainment of its vision; engendering of education policies, programme implementation and monitoring and evaluation. Through its strategic plan (2011-2015), FAWEZA has had a good mix of carefully chosen interventions aimed at accelerating efforts towards the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Education for All goal of gender equality by 2015 and beyond.

FAWEZA is currently rated the best performing FAWE Chapter and has grown with its presence in all the 10 provinces of Zambia and has continued to be well placed to influence education policies and programmes for girls and women in order to accelerate their participation at all levels of the education system. FAWEZA’s overall vision is a gender responsive education system and its main purpose has been to work towards eliminating gender disparities in education by advocating for transformation of the education system, to make it more responsive to education needs of girls and women. FAWEZA’s core business therefore, is to create synergy between various demonstrative interventions for evidence based advocacy to influence government policy. Its work and practice seeks to champion girls and women’s rights in education as part of its governance and rights agenda. FAWEZA mobilizes women and male educationalists, identifies issues of concern, speaks for the various rights holders within education and development and empowers female and male teachers, schoolgirls and boys including other change makers such as; traditional leaders and other community members to create awareness on impediments and the importance of female participation in education including; demanding for girls’ right to education within their own contexts and Space.

FAWEZA envisions a Zambia and world in which there is social, economic and political emancipation and autonomy for all and serves its nationwide network through collaborative partnerships, information, action research and documentation on demonstrable interventions which inform the main intervention of evidence based public policy advocacy. This helps FAWEZA to identify best experiences and practices for not only scaling up but also for learning. By enhancing capacities of boys and girls including its female and male members, FAWEZA increases knowledge, skills and competencies to effectively influence policy, societal attitude/beliefs and decision-making. For example, the demonstrative interventions, information, research and documentation of best practices provide basis for advocacy against social and economic impediments to girls’ participation in education such as GBV, early marriages, teenage pregnancies, safety and security of school girls and institutional impediments such as; the direct cost of education, non- gender responsive education policies and school environment/pedagogy, weak guidance and counselling services and poor management of girls sexual maturation through provisions of clean water and sanitation facilities. Similarly, increased knowledge and skills in policy and community advocacy has a bearing on effectiveness in the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the programme.