South Africa Program

In 2008, Gender at Work initiated two South African projects, one of which works with community-based organizations, tackling a wide range of issues, including disability services, community greening, anti-privatization and farm workers’ rights. Our partners include: Vukani-Tsohang Africa, Remmoho, the Kganya Women's Consortium and the only women-led trade union in the country, Sikhula Sonke. We also brought together past partners – Treatment Action Campaign, Women on Farms, South African Commercial, Catering and Allied Worker’s Union and Justice and Women – in a new program to deepen their gender-equality and institutional-change work.

Our South African partners are addressing the high levels of gender-based violence and abuse in organizations with predominant women memberships. Each partner is trying to improve women’s leadership within their organization by creating organizational cultures that value women. To date, these organizations are effectively realizing their goals for transforming gender relations and simultaneously developing a much deeper consciousness about how their actions do or don't work towards creating new normative values.

Gender at Work program participants have produced moving, inspiring and informative analyses of their change projects. One such monograph, Change is a Slow Dance, documents participant experiences in South Africa. Launched in Cape Town in 2008, Change is a Slow Dance was received with great interest, inspiring Gender at Work to continue to document experiences from a Southern perspective.

 Click here to download Change is a Slow Dance

Click here for case studies about our CSO program in South Africa