Gracious Gifters Foundation (GGF) is proud to be implementing an institutional strengthening project with the generous support of the African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF)under the Zimba Grant.
Titled “Power in Structure: Strengthening the Institutional Capacity of Gracious Gifters Foundation for Sustainable Feminist Action and Impact,” this project focuses on building GGF’s internal systems, leadership capacity, and strategic direction to ensure long-term, effective, and feminist-rooted impact for women and girls in Cameroon.
Why This Project Matters
GGF works primarily in Cameroon’s conflict-affected North west and Southwest Regions, areas deeply affected by the ongoing Anglophone Socio-political crisis.
According to UN OCHA (2023), over 2.2 million people are affected. Women and girls in these communities face intersecting challenges including gender-based violence, early marriage, displacement, limited access to education, poor reproductive health services, and economic exclusion.
While GGF has been actively responding to these realities through advocacy, sensitization, and community empowerment, the organization recognized that to sustainably serve others, we must also strengthen ourselves.
As a young, girl-led and youth-driven organization, GGF identified key institutional gaps such as the absence of formal internal policies, limited operational tools, lack of a strategic plan, and the need for staff capacity building.
This project was therefore designed to strengthen GGF from the inside out — ensuring that our systems, governance, and leadership are aligned with feminist values and best practices.
What the Project Is Doing
Over a three-month period, the project is being implemented across four core pillars:
- Developing Feminist-Aligned Policies
With support from a consultant, GGF is developing and adopting three key institutional policies: Human Resource Policy, Financial Management Policy, and Safeguarding Policy.
These policies will guide ethical governance, accountability, staff welfare, and the protection of all community members engaged in GGF’s work.
- Capacity Building for Staff, Volunteers and Partners
An intensive capacity building workshop is being conducted for staff, volunteers and partners including Lead Child Africa, Hope in Pink Foundation and Just Now Action, focusing on: Feminist Leadership and Governance; Feminist Program Design, Project Management, and MEL; Advocacy and Networking for Gender Justice and lastly Feminist Fundraising and Resource Mobilization.
These sessions are meant to strengthen both technical skills and feminist consciousness within the organization.
- Strategic Planning for the Future
A three-day strategic planning retreat will bring together the expertise of a consultant, alongside GGF leadership and staff to develop a 2026–2030 Strategic Plan, providing a clear roadmap for growth, resource mobilisation, partnerships, and long-term impact.
- Strengthening Operations Through Equipment and Auditing
To improve documentation, communication, and reporting, the project is supporting the procurement of essential tools including laptops, printer, modem, and basic office supplies.
The expertise of an Auditor is as well employed to promote transparency and accountability, improve financial management, prevent fraud and misuse of funds as well as, strengthen donor trust and ensure legal and regulatory compliance.
Expected Impact
By the end of this project, GGF will have:
- Three functional feminist-aligned institutional policies
- At least 12 trained staff and volunteers with improved skills in governance, MEL, fundraising, and advocacy
- A validated five-year strategic plan
- Stronger collaborations with other women led and youth organizations
- Increased credibility and readiness to manage larger donor-funded projects
- Most importantly, GGF will emerge as a more structured, accountable, and sustainable feminist organization, better positioned to serve women and girls in crisis-affected communities.
Building Feminist Institutions for Feminist Futures
This project goes beyond training and documents — it is about building a feminist institution that can last, grow, and lead.
Strong movements require strong organizations, and AWDF’s support is enabling GGF to build the foundation needed for long-term gender justice work.
With strengthened systems, skilled leadership, and a clear strategic direction, Gracious Gifters Foundation will be better equipped to continue amplifying women’s voices, combating gender-based violence, and creating empowered communities across Cameroon.
We remain deeply grateful to the African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF) for believing in our vision and investing in our journey toward sustainable feminist impact.
