The Women in Philanthropy and Impact Africa (WIPIA) last month launched its gender-based initiative during the UN General Assembly at Goals House in New York City, USA.
The initiative was founded by three dynamic philanthropic African women.
Dr Sindy Zemura is the CEO of Southern Africa Embrace Foundation, followed by chairperson of the Nigeria Office for Philanthropy, Thelma Ekiyor-Solanke; and managing director of Avandis Consulting and founder of the Africa Women CEOs Network, Dr Anino Emuwa.
With an urgent need to meet the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal number 5 (SDG) by 2030, which focuses on achieving global gender equality, WIPIA’s mission is to harness the leadership of women in philanthropy.
The SDGs are 17 goals identified by the UN that aim to address the urgency of environmental, economic and political challenges in the world by 2030.
WIPIA’s core objective is to direct and mobilise funding toward inclusive, sustainable solutions in key areas such as social entrepreneurship, closing gender and digital divides, universal education, and climate resilience.
Co-founder of WIPIA, Ekiyor-Solanke, told guests about the organisation’s strategic role in driving conversations about channelling catalytic capital to support women and girls.
“The right capital in the right amounts, through a collaboration of the right people, can make significant advances over the next few years; and WIPIA hopes to be at the centre of those conversations,” said Ekiyor-Solanke.
Chairpersonof Cartier Culture and Philanthropy, Cyrille Vigneron, emphasised that women empowerment was not just a moral imperative, but also a smart investment.
“By exploring many things on different fronts, we’ve seen that philanthropy can actually drive systemic change in a very different way. It can start small but grow to scale.
“Every time we can do something, we should do something to prevent this from happening again,” he said.
The Nigerian Minister of Art, Culture and Creative Economy, Hannatu Musawa, celebrated the crucial role of African women in shaping the continent’s development.
“Africa can only work if we empower women because they are the foundation of what our communities are all about,” said Musawa.
The event featured high-profile panelists such as the CEO of the African Diaspora Network, Almaz Negash; the executive Vice President of Philanthropy at the Milken Institute, Melissa Stevens; and managing director for Africa and Global Partnerships at the World Resources Institute, Wanjira Mathai.
The panel was moderated by CNN’s Stephanie Busari, focusing on how philanthropy can create scalable, lasting impact across Africa.
The Star
hope.mafu@inl.co.za
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