Twenty Years of the African Feminist Forum: Our Herstory, Our Future!

Afrifem news, Blog, Campaign, Protest/Activism

In 2006, African feminists gathered in Accra, Ghana, to articulate a collective vision for liberation and movement-building across the continent. From that convening, the African Feminist Forum (AFF) was born as a space for reflection, strategy, and connection guided by the Charter of Feminist Principles for African Feminist and the organisational development tool. Over the past 20 years, it has nurtured generations of activists and organisations, shaping the language, values, and practice of African feminism.  […]

Twenty Years of the African Feminist Forum: Our Herstory, Our Future!

Tuesday, 21 October 2025

The world is on fire. In Africa and around the world, girls, women and womxn of all identities and experiences are bearing the brunt of political and economic crises, the erosion of democracy, and a vicious anti-gender backlash. African feminist activists, organisations and movements are stepping up despite drastic funding cuts. We are hearing this again and again: to be an African feminist in these times is exhausting and isolating but also powerful and connective. Whether on the continent or in the diaspora, African feminists need alignment, connection and solidarity. .

For us, this means one thing: it is time to bring back the AFF. It must remain a vital anchor for our collective resistance and hope. 

Since its inception, the AFF has provided feminists from across the continent with three invaluable gifts: the African Feminist Charter and its accompanying organisational development tool as a groundbreaking values alignment tool; Four continent-wide in-person convenings (Ghana in 2006, Uganda in 2008,  Senegal in 2010 and Zimbabwe  in 2016);  and opportunities to organise in National Feminist Forums (NFF) and strengthen national mobilisation in countries like Liberia in and Uganda. 

Twenty years later, the volatile times we are in call us to build on this legacy. As the Steering Committee of the AFF, jointly with the African Women’s Development Fund (acting as the AFF secretariat), we are delighted to share these two announcements:

Save the date for the 5th in-person African Feminist Forum convening in Windhoek, Namibia, from 17-19 August 2026.                                                                                                                           

This is a response to the shared need for spaces where African feminists from across Africa and the diaspora can connect, re-energise, heal, and strategise to chart a collective path towards the feminist futures we dream of and deserve. Deciding to host a convening during a funding crisis is not a decision we took lightly. We look forward to a gathering that is focused, inclusive and generative - and count on your participation and solidarity. The Forum will provide a range of funding options, including limited travel and participation support as well as self-funded tiers, to make space for diverse forms of participation.More details will follow in the coming months. For now, mark your calendars!

Be part of the African Feminist Charter refresher process.

The Charter of Feminist Principles for African Feminists and the organisational development tool are our shared political compass. It emerged at a moment when few common agreements or languages named what African feminisms offer or how to popularise and practise them, which made the Charter and the organisational development tool both groundbreaking and unifying for our organising. Over the years the Charter has anchored forums, revived networks and deepened conversation across movements and ecosystems by providing clear principles that many have used as a touchstone for strategy, solidarity and practice. At the same time, our context and movements have evolved, and relational ruptures and exclusions remind us to widen leadership and repair community with intention. This has necessitated the need to reflect on how the Charter remains relevant in proactively anchoring feminists and movements twenty years after its formulation in 2006.

We will commission a participatory process to refresh the Charter. This will be by convening diverse African feminists to reflect, re-articulate and validate principles through facilitated safe spaces, creative methods and peer review, culminating in accessible tools and a public launch that sustains collective accountability. Please expect to hear more about the consultative processes which will be used to review the Charter and the organisational development tool and more details on the AFF 2O26. 

Watch out for further information on the AFF website and social media platforms, as well as AWDF’s website. Please send your questions, ideas, offers to support and contribute to aff@awdf.org 

The AFF Steering Committee:

  • Awa Fall Diop
  • Iheoma Obibi
  • Eunice Musiime
  • Korto Williams
  • Françoise Moudouthe 
  • Nataka Gmakagni
  • Mutyaba Gloria 
  • Shamillah Wilson 
  • Alya El Marakby
  • Florence F /Khaxas

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