African Women's Development Fund Awdf, Accra, Ghana, West Africa

African Women's Development Fund (AWDF) is a grant-making foundation which supports local, national and regional organisations in Africa working towards women's empowerment.

AWDF through institutional capacity building and programme development seeks to build a culture of learning and partnerships within the African women's movement.

The vision of AWDF is for African women to live in a world in which there is social justice, equality and respect for women's human rights. To this end, our mission is to mobilise financial resources to support local, national and regional initiatives led by women, which will lead to the achievement of this vision.

AWDF, the first Africa-wide fundraising and grant-making fund, was established in June 2000 by three African Women who have been active in various institutions within and outside Africa.

The founders, Ms Joanna Foster (Ghana) Dr Hilda Tadria (Uganda/Ethiopia) and Ms Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi (UK/Nigeria), have a track record of successful empowerment interventions, which have helped strengthen the African Women’s Movement.

The objectives of AWDF are fundraising within and outside Africa, grant-making on an Africa-wide basis, communicating the work and achievements of African women’s organisations and providing technical assistance to grantees. AWDF has funded over 800 women's organisations in 41 African countries.

Rural Development Support Organisatio Of Ghana, Kumasi, West Africa

Rural Development Support Organisation (RUDSO)was established in the year 2002 as an independent, non government, not for profit, non- partisan and non- religious organisation. It is duly registered in Ghana and has been accredited by the deparment of social to operate as an NGO as required under the laws of the country.

RUDSO is also a memeber of Ghana Association of Private Voluntary (GAPVOD)and world Association of NGOs (WANGO)

Overall, poverty decreased between 1991/1992 and 1998/1999 from 5107% to 39.5%. However, these figures mask incidence of growing and deepening poverty among certain social groups and localities. Our food crop farmers, who live in the rural areas, continue to endure the most of poverty in the country, as they consitute more than 59% of the poor in the country.

We agree perfectly with Mahatma Ghandi when he said, poverty is the worst form of violence and that the only way to alleviate poverty is to revive and improve on the skills of the local people. Our only aim therfore is to assist the resouce poor, the excluded, and the vulnerable to achive qualitative cahnges in their welfare.

Our stated commitment is to reduce poverty and stimulate the sustainable development of deprived communities thorugh developing hte potentials of individual members of society to advance hteir socio-economic welfare and that of their communities in ways that are culturally and environmentally sustainable.

In order to chieve total and holistic improvements in the welfare of our partners, RUDSO will work together with raual communities and deprived urban neighbouhoods to provide social and technical infrastructure. Our focus will also be on sustainable human development by means of building the capacity of civil society at the grassroots through strengthening their skills and knowledge to effect and manage change at al levels - family, local ,nation, and world.

We believe in combinbing the concept good governance and ecomonmic empowerment in the war on poverty in order that the poor can prosper in an atmosphere of freedom, juustice, and accountability. In additio nwe will advocate for he poor, vulnerable, excluded, and underpriviledged in society so that their views are well informed and well represented at al levels of government.

Nature Conservation Research Centre-ncrc, Accra, Ghana, West Africa

Nature Conservation Research Centre (NCRC) is recognized internationally as a leader in developing rural ecotourism and community protected areas as a means of economic development and resource conservation.

NCRC’s initiatives have facilitated sustainable economic development in scores of poor rural areas of Ghana and other nations in West Africa.

Founded in Ghana in 1996, NCRC has grown rapidly to become Ghana’s leading indigenous conservation organisation, as well as a key actor in West African civil society.

Ghana’s National Tourism Policy has adopted NCRC’s model as the preferred approach to the development of rural tourism.

The model is acknowledged globally as one of the most successful rural tourism initiatives being implemented today.

NCRC is a Ghanaian non-profit organisation implementing conservation initiatives to promote a greater awareness of and protection for the natural, historic and cultural diversity of Ghana and, ultimately, the West African sub-region.