About Us
Abantu for development
What is ABANTU
ABANTU for Development is a registered non-governmental organisation, established in October 1991. It is an NGO in Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations.
In the West Africa region, there are two offices, a regional office in Accra, Ghana and a country office in Kaduna, Nigeria. The Regional Office for Western Africa (ROWA), based in Accra, Ghana was registered under the Companies Code in December 1998 and launched in March 1999. ABANTU-ROWA coordinates all ABANTU programmes in the West Africa region including the country programme activities of the Kaduna office which was set up earlier in 1997. ABANTU-ROWA has gained credibility in the region as an effective gender justice and policy advocacy organisation. It is also popularly referred to as the “NGO of NGOs” as a result of its expertise and experience of strengthening the management and service delivery capacities of NGOs and CBOs that have been working with and for women in the sub-region since 1997. There is also an autonomous office of ABANTU in the Eastern Africa Region known as ABANTU-ROESA, established in 1991. There exists a close relationship between ABANUT-ROWA and ABANTU-ROESA.
In 2003, ABANTU–ROWA initiated a research and advocacy programme that led to the creation of a process for developing a document known as The Women’s Manifesto for Ghana. This initiative has also led to the formation of a Coalition on the Women’s Manifesto for Ghana (WMC) which is hosted by ABANTU for Development’s ROWA office.
ABANTU is currently focusing on the following key areas of development as contained in the 12 Critical Areas of Concern in the Beijing Platform for Action, and echoed in The Women’s Manifesto for Ghana: governance, climate change and peace-building. We produce an informative quarterly magazine that focuses on the gender implications of policies: ABANTU NEWS. The magazine is distributed to NGOs, members of parliament, funding and development partners and individuals.
What is our mission and purpose?
ABANTU exists to strengthen the capacity of women to participate in decision-making at all levels, to influence policies from a gender perspective and to address inequalities and injustices in social relations.
We seek to achieve this through, advocacy, training, research institutional development and networking with other organisations committed to the same principles.
