WHAT WE DO

SAWID drives the women’s agenda by providing a platform for inclusive dialogues, policy advocacy, facilitating women’s economic empowerment and agency, as well as conducting research and knowledge management.

ADVOCACY TO ACTION

In the past two decades SAWID has put the needs of women, their voices and their aspirations at the heart of its work. Following its conceptualisation and establishment, it aimed to infuse international best practice into its programmes of action. It therefore conducted a study tour to Chile and Tunisia in 2006, the only two countries worldwide that had managed to halve poverty.

Based on this experience and learnings, SAWID, upon their return to the country successfully advocated for a Women’s Ministry and a Planning Structure.

It further used the successful Chilean model to recruit and train 81 young men and women in 3 municipalities over two years as Social Auxiliary workers and employed each of them for a further 5 years to enter identified indigent families with a basket of services, sharing the model with WDB Trust to continue as their Zenzele model.

SAWID has identified the following pillars that best illustrate the work that it does:

PillarONE

BUILDING SAWID’S INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY

SAWID increased its capacity from 2 part-time staff members to 8 staff members between 2020 and 2023, and from 4 trustees to 9. Core funding was obtained for operations and the smooth running of the secretariat.

PillarTWO

INCLUSIVE DIALOGUES WITH HEALING AND TRAINING

More than 20 000 women have attended SAWID dialogues, workshops, study tours, webinars, and roundtables during the past 20 years. Each Dialogue has both a healing and a training component.

PillarTHREE

AGENCY, ADVOCACY AND PARTNERSHIPS

By partnering with local and global change-makers, such as WDB Trust, UN Women, and UNISA, our dialogue, relief, and empowerment initiatives are backed by leaders in strategic planning and execution.

PillarFOUR

RESEARCH AND KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

Our intensive and ongoing research works to uncover the intricacies of vulnerable and indigent communities, so as to design and execute powerful, tailored strategies based on real evidence.

Addressed systemic issues for poverty eradication

At SAWID, we recognize that poverty and injustice are deeply rooted in systemic issues. We conduct longitudinal research to understand the root causes of poverty and identify the systemic issues that perpetuate it including examining economic policies, social structures, discrimination and inequalities.

Development Caravan model of poverty eradication

SAWID has undertaken rigorous research to study successful initiatives from around the world and to generate evidence on the effectiveness of poverty eradication strategies and policies. We visited Chile and Tunisia, and other countries and used the research findings to advocate for evidence-based policies and interventions and to design an integrated poverty eradication model that addresses the access needs of the marginalised and empower families.

Managing Dialogue Platform

More than 20 000 women have participated and been empowered by the Dialogue platform and accessed training, and information to establish organizations and to build supportive networks.

Facilitated Peace missions in the country and Africa

SAWID intervened in the Alexandra Xenophobic attacks in 2008, facilitated many Peace dialogues in the country, worked with Liberia, Sudan, Zimbabwe, Burundi, Tunisia, the DRC, Congo Brazzaville etc. to facilitate women participation in peace processes and sharing of best practice in governance and gender equality.

Building Collaborative Partnerships

We have built strong partnerships with local communities, NGOs, governments, and international organizations to foster a united front against poverty and injustice. SAWID has an MOU with the University of South Africa (UNISA) to research on the manifestations of poverty, indigency and vulnerability in communities and families, with the University of Pretoria (UP) on Peace and Security and the broader development agenda, with the South African Local Government Association (SALGA) on capacitating women councilors, with WDB Trust on Dialogue platform management and with Gender Links on women’s rights. We have partnered with the Institute of Justice and Reconciliation on a Peace & Security, Reconciliation, and Healing program aimed at creating spaces for reconciliation and psycho- social healing and popularising the National Action Plan on Women Peace and Security.

Enterprise Development model development

SAWID has developed an incubator- like model of enterprise development to support piloting micro businesses designed with scalability and replicability in mind. We have four pilot sites for Bee-Keeping and honey marketing enterprises in North West, Gauteng and Limpopo, in partnership with the MDA, poultry farming, apparel making and agricultural micro businesses in Daveyton in partnership with UNISA.

Will and Estate Planning for women

Annually in September SAWID in partnership with several legal institutions, hosts awareness activities to educate women about Wills and Estate planning.

Women in Leadership

We actively support the participation of women in leadership by nominating women to influential positions.