NEW Africa Leadership Program Overview

The Network of Women Investing in Africa (NEW Africa) Leadership Program is a multi-stakeholder

initiative to mobilize the next generation of African female leaders (Change Agents) aged 35 and under

who are recognized for their strong commitment to championing social issues and dedication to creating

innovative, integrated solutions to address challenges spanning Agriculture, Health, Education, Water,

Energy, Infrastructure and Technology.

In Women’s Hands

Multiplier Effects of Investing in Women Research confirms that women reinvest 90% of their

incomes in their children and families, and that putting

incomes and assets in the hands of women leads to

higher investments in food security, health and

nutrition, education, and human development.

The NEW Africa Leadership Program’s capacity-

building framework will focus on agriculture-led

development and the role of women in agriculture

cognizant of the fact that 65% of Africa’s population is

rural, and that over 80% of the rural population, most

of whom are women, depend directly on agriculture for

their livelihoods.

Above – Mpule speaks with a mother and her

daughter at Nyangabgwe Hospital in

Francistown, Botswana. Mothers invest

heavily in their children’s health, nutrition

and wellbeing.

With over a decade of experience in convening and partnering with multi-stakeholders to empower

women to create multisectoral approaches to pressing social issues, the MPULE Institute and its partners

will equip NEW Africa Leadership Program Change Agents with leadership skills, tools and capacity-

building and training opportunities that will enable Change Agents to strengthen and scale their own

social programs and commitments.

The Feminization of Poverty

African women earn 10% of all incomes & own 1% of all assets on the continent

The NEW Africa Leadership Program

is an advocacy and public policy initiative

to highlight the vital role of women in

development and unlock the potential for

economic growth that lies in African

women.

The goal of this innovative campaign is to

increase African women’s representation

and participation in global development

agenda—leading to more resources and

capabilities in their hands, and increased

investment in social services and labor-

saving technologies most beneficial to rural

and urban women alike—leading to new

opportunities and areas of productivity in

sectors proven to lift women and their

families from poverty.

Above – African female leaders who support our work. From left: Joy

Phumaphi, former Minister of Health (Botswana) and former Vice

President of the World Bank; Graca Machel, former Minister of

Education (Mozambique), founder of New Faces New Voices, co-

founder of The Elders; Lady Gladys Olebile Masire, former First

Lady of the Republic of Botswana

Poverty is Gendered in Africa Gender inequality in access to and control of a wide

range of human, economic and social assets and other

socio-economic, political and cultural constraints,

presents enormous challenges for women to achieve

economic empowerment, and constitutes a key

dimension of human poverty that results in

deprivation in education, health and nutrition. The

feminization of poverty means that women and the

poor are often one and the same across Africa.

Above – Mpule visits a young mother living with

HIV/AIDS in Gabane, Botswana. The MPULE

Foundation works closely with the Gabane

Community Home-Based Care Programme

Although progress has been achieved towards gender equality in African parliaments, notably in Rwanda

where women occupy 52% of parliamentary seats, women continue to be under-represented in most

structures of power and decision-making, and in the public and private sector. This has impacted

negatively on their ability to derive full benefit from the economies of their countries and the

democratization process. Women face two problems in particular: under representation and low

participation (compared to men) in formal political, economic and social institutions. The lack of

women’s decision-making power in the family and household in particular limits their ability to make

choices to safeguard the health, education and welfare of their children

Women and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) The challenge to eradicate poverty and hunger, achieve universal primary education, reduce child

mortality, improve maternal health and combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases remains critical for

Africa to achieve inclusive growth and development. Limited education and employment opportunities

for women in Africa have reduced annual per capita growth by 0.8%. Had this growth taken place,

Africa’s economies would have doubled over the past 30 years. Millennium Development Goal 3 on

gender equality is shown to have multiplier effects that advance achievement of the other MDGs, proving

that women’s empowerment is critical to realization of all the Millennium Development Goals.

“Promoting gender equality, women’s empowerment and ending violence against women is

essential to human development, poverty eradication and economic growth” – Mpule Kwelagobe

Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment

Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (GEWE) Framework

The NEW Africa Leadership Program’s Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (GEWE) framework

will empower Change Agents to become gender equality and women’s empowerment champions who

will advocate for the elimination of all forms of discrimination and violence against women and girls,

promote women’s rights to own and inherit property and have equal access to productive assets and

resources, ensure girls and women have access to critical social services such as education and

reproductive health services, and increase women’s political participation and access to decision making.

Women's Human Rights

Economic Empowerment

Political Empowerment

Social Empowerment

The MPULE Institute will build upon 12 years of extensive experience in global advocacy and public

policy to strengthen women’s rights, ensure their voices are heard, increase their participation in

development and decision-making roles, which will benefit women and men, and girls and boys equally.

Agriculture-Led Development Women play an important role in agricultural development across Africa. Women constitute 50% of the

agricultural labor force and are responsible for 80% of the food production and 50% of the agricultural

output.

NEW Africa Leadership Program Capacity Development framework

Agriculture is an engine of growth and poverty reduction in agriculture-dependent countries in Africa

where it is the main occupation of rural women and the poor, often one and the same. GDP growth

generated by agriculture is 4 times more effective in reducing poverty than non agricultural growth. But

the agriculture sector in Africa is underperforming because women, who represent a crucial resource in

agriculture and the rural economy through their roles as farmers, laborers and entrepreneurs, face more

severe constraints than men in access to productive resources.

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

Gender equality in

agricultural development has potential to

increase women's yields by

30%

raise overall agricultural productivity by

4%

reducing poverty and hunger by

17%

AGRICULTURE

WATER

HEALTH

INFRASTRUCTURE TECHNOLOGY

EDUCATION

ENERGY

Closing the Gender Gap for Development The NEW Africa Leadership Program will serve as an internetworking platform for Change Agents through a

Peer Approach (PA) strategy. The MPULE Institute will engage in comprehensive research on Gender

and Development (GAD), create multisectoral programs and agendas for the NEW Africa Leadership

Program and convene African female political, social and economic thought-leaders from government,

private sector corporations, financial and investment banking institutions, research policymaking and

diplomatic mission, multilateral agencies, academic institutions and non-government organizations to

engage with Change Agents, provide mentoring and development and further the dialogue and capacity

on closing the gender gap for development.

Among its goals the program will:

Increase Change Agents awareness on Gender and Development dimensions and issues, and

approaching social entrepreneurship from a holistic multisectoral integrated systems approach

Assist Change Agents in accessing funding, grants, fellowships and collaborative opportunities

with stakeholders, including writing winning proposals

Increase visibility of Change Agents social initiatives and endeavors by utilizing the program as

an advocacy and public policy platform for Change Agents

Foster transformative private-public partnerships and innovative multisectoral solutions that

allow program Change Agents to achieve scale, efficiency and effectiveness in their social

enterprises and investment approaches

Change Agents will learn about our partners corporate social responsibility (CSR), sustainable

development (SD), philanthropic, social investment and sustainability initiatives and identify

areas of convergence with their own initiatives

African policymakers and gender machineries will disseminate information about international

gender instruments and continental gender policies that can strengthen the work of Change

Agents

The MPULE Institute will provide year round capacity-building sessions through workshops,

seminars, and other formal and informal networking sessions and meetings for Change Agents

both within and outside their countries

Gender Mainstreaming The MPULE Institute will advocate for all stakeholders to engage in gender analysis—which is the

systematic gathering and examination of information—in order to identify, understand and redress

inequities between women and men, girls and boys, based on gender roles and gender relations, to review

their existing policies and strategies and ensure greater and better participation by women, and to produce

gender disaggregated data that reveals the impact of policies and programming on women

Moving forward, Change Agents will be encouraged to make women’s concerns an integral dimension of

the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programmes in all development

spheres so that women and men may benefit equally and inequality is not perpetuated.

African Women’s Decade 2010-2020 The NEW Africa Leadership Program is aligned with the Africa Union African Women’s Decade (AWD,

2010-2020) on advancing Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (GEWE).

Gender and Development Gender policies and action plans guiding and informing the NEW Africa Leadership Program and advocacy

and public policy campaign include:

MPULE Institute The MPULE Institute is a New York City-based advocacy and public policy think tank that champions

agriculture-led development, pro-poor inclusive green growth, gender equality and women’s

empowerment, and sustainable development pathways in Africa. We engage in participatory grassroots

research to understand development constraints firsthand at the village/district level, and collaborate with

international stakeholders to advocate for and implement dual bottom-up top-down multisectoral policies

and innovative approaches.

MPULE Foundation

The Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW, 1979)

The Beijing Platform for Action (BPfA, 1995) and Dakar Platform for Action (1994)

African Union Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa (SDGEA, 2004)

UN Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security (2000)

African Union Gender Policy and Action Plan (2009) & Maputo Declaration (2003)

African Union Protocol on the

Rights of Women in Africa (ACHPR Protocol, 2003)

Since 1999, the MPULE Foundation, our Botswana-based foundation,

has partnered with nearly 20 multi-stakeholders including the

Government of Botswana, the United Nations Population Fund

(UNFPA), Harvard AIDS Institute, African Youth Alliance (AYA),

Botswana National Youth Council (BNYC), Bristol Myers Squibb’s

Secure the Future AIDS Foundation, Botswana Council of Churches

(BCC), Botswana Family Welfare Association (BOFWA), Botswana

Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS (BONEPWA), Coping

Center of People Living with HIV/AIDS (COCEPWA), Youth Health

Organization (YOHO), the Botswana Council of Women (BCW), and

supported the Magic Johnson Foundation, Hale House, God’s Love

We Deliver and amFAR AIDS Research. The MPULE Foundation has

launched health and empowerment programs in 20 urban and rural

areas across Botswana, and in 2001 was recognized with the Jonathan

Mann Human Health Rights Award by the International Association

of Physicians in AIDS Care (IAPAC).

Above – Mpule receives the Jonathan

Mann Human Health Rights Award in

Chicago, USA

About Mpule K. Kwelagobe

Mpule Kwelagobe is the founder and CEO of the MPULE

Institute, and President of the Botswana-based MPULE

Foundation, which she founded in 1999 to address the

HIV/AIDS crisis in Botswana. She was selected as a Global

Leader for Tomorrow (GLT) by the World Economic Forum in

2003, and again as a Young Global Leader (YGL) in 2006. She

is one of two people to ever receive the Freedom of the City Key

to Gaborone, Botswana (the first is former President, Sir

Ketumile Masire). She was also awarded Freedom of the City

Keys to Asuncion, Paraguay and Port-Of-Spain, Trinidad. In

2000, she was appointed as a Goodwill Ambassador by the

United Nations (UNFPA) for Youth and HIV/AIDS. She holds a

degree in International Political Economy (IPE) from Columbia

University in the City of New York. In 1999, Mpule Kwelagobe

became the first African woman to win the Miss Universe

pageant.

Above – Mpule with Her Excellency

President Joyce Banda of Malawi