WiLDAF, Sub-Regional Office for West Africa (WiLDAF-AO) was established in April 1997. It is part of a vast pan – African network of women’s rights non-governmental organizations and individuals established in 1990, whose headquarters were initially in Harare and later relocated to Lomé, Togo.

It is dedicated to promoting and strengthening strategies that link the right to development in order to increase the participation and influence of women at all levels for the emergence of a  culture of exercise and respect for women’s rights in Africa. WILDAF brings together organizations and individuals who share this objective and who are operational at the local, national and regional levels to make it a reality. It is the first ever African network specialized in the promotion of women’s rights as an integral part of the development agenda.

WiLDAF-AO is operational in 11 West African countries , including Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Guinea, Mali, Liberia, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, and Togo. In other countries in the sub-region, it works with four focal points in Cape Verde, Gambia, Mauritania, and Sierra Leone, who also benefit from some of its one-off projects. The network acquired its own headquarters, which it has housed since December 2013.

The Network has statutes that define the organization’s objective and clarify the roles and responsibilities of the Board of Directors and the Coordination. The organization develops and evaluates its strategic plans every five (05) years.

WiLDAF -AO works in a network in various forms:

Exchange of information on a regular basis with network members on events in Africa and around the world;

Meeting for exchanges between members of the network at national and regional level;

Collaboration and exchange of experiences with other networks and organizations around the world on women’s issues, law and development.

WiLDAF-AO is a member of several coalitions including:

• The “Cultivons” Campaign in West Africa, for which he coordinates the gender unit;
• The Gender is My Agenda Campaign (GiMAC). Co-founder and member of the Steering Committee
• The Gender Unit at ECOWAS level for the consideration of gender in agricultural policies and programs. 
• The  International Land Coalition (ILC)
• French-speaking Network for Gender Equality ,
• The Women Major group
• CSW Africa
• The Coalition to End Child Marriage in West and Central Africa
• The More Than Brides Alliance (MTBA )

He is accredited to the Economic and Social Council ( ECOSOC ), the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) and the Francophonie 

Our quarterly bilingual newsletter “ Wildaf-West Africa Newsletter ” (http://www.wildaf-ao.org) published both electronically and in hard copy is a space for sharing and exchanging discourses and practices on women’s rights in Africa and around the world. Publications such as training manuals, advocacy documents, studies, etc. are supports to facilitate communication within the network. Learn about its tools in the resources page.

WiLDAF – AO has extensive experience in training, awareness-raising, lobbying and advocacy for the effectiveness of women’s rights in Africa. It has the distinction of being both a field intervention NGO and an influencer among women and institutions, as evidenced by its achievements and programs. Some strategic actions include, among others: “capacity building” for both urban and rural women to raise awareness of their rights, as well as for judicial and extrajudicial actors involved in the effective implementation of women’s human rights; “governance and women’s participation in decision-making,” an action that has led to the establishment in the 7 beneficiary countries of coalitions at the central and decentralized levels dedicated to identifying and working on the priority needs of women in their countries.

One of the priority issues in which the network has been heavily involved for a decade is “The Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women.”

WiLDAF -AO is an active member of the “Ratify and Respect” campaign, a campaign for the ratification of regional and international instruments, including the African Protocol on Women’s Rights and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) . The network maintains an institutional presence and contributes to the sessions of the main sub-regional (ECOWAS), regional (African Union) and international (United Nations Commission on the Status of Women) institutions .

We invite you to learn more about the various actions/projects carried out or in progress on the completed and current projects pages.