The African Women’s Council of Australia (AWCoA) was formed as a result of the identified need for African women’s voice. Too often it is either African men or Western women who speak for African women. African Women at the grassroots level must be heard because only they have intimate knowledge of their lives and needs. We will provide opportunities for African women to speak and we will listen to them first and then act.

We need to hear from the African women themselves whose lives we all claim we wish to improve. Also, we must incorporate the important critiques by African women in our community of the flawed diagnosis used to describe African women’s lives and African communities. Many good intentioned service providers have described African women’s lives from very different realities and such services might end up doing more harm to the African women whose lives the activists or agencies claim to be seeking to improve.

Statement of Purposes

The African Women’s Council of Australia strives to build self-esteem in the African women living in Australia, prevent or control behaviour which may result in African women, or their children, suffering domestic violence, emotional abuse, sexual abuse or physical abuse or lead them to suicide and self-harm. Using a participatory approach, the Council’s work will be located within the context of the historical experiences of African women on the continent and in the Diaspora to enhance their full participation in economic, social, cultural and political spheres.

It is an advocacy organisation established to mobilise support and develop strategies to ensure inclusion, visibility and reflection of the voices, concerns and demands of African women at the local, national and international agenda. African women are agents of change fighting for women’s human rights and gender equality.

Objectives

• Enhance African women’s participation in economic, social, cultural and political life in Australia;
• Promote awareness of issues affecting African women and advocate for the removal of identified barriers;
• Develop a platform for African women to meet and work together to discuss issues that concern them and strategise solutions for the benefit of their children, families and community at large;
• Highlight and address issues that affect them and impact on their lives;
• Build the capacity of African women to empower them to facilitate self-help and develop relevant specific support services to meet their needs;
• Build strong families by educating African migrants about the Australian culture;
• Reduce the incidence of domestic violence and problems associated with this;
• Assist African immigrant women with job search skills, further education pathways and career counselling;
• Increase African women’s appropriate skills and defences to oppressive and discriminatory behaviours, by, for example, increasing self-confidence, self-esteem, independence and human rights and equal opportunity education;
• Assist other service providers achieve better outcomes for African women;

We will develop and deliver programs and services addressing identified issues in a way that is consistent with African values and the Australian law.