Regional workshop
"Amplifying the voice of women affected by AfDB projects
in West Africa".
Annual General Meeting in Abidjan (Côte d'Ivoire)
- May 26 and 27 in Abidjan
With the support of the Foundation for a Just Society (FJS), Lumière Synergie pour le Développement (LSD) accompanies women from communities in Senegal, Guinea, Côte d'Ivoire and Burkina Faso through training, capacity building and the defense of their rights in the context of resistance to the nuisances of ADB-financed infrastructure projects in their respective communities.
BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE
Africa remains a development paradox, a continent rich in natural resources and yet a symbol of poverty.
Furthermore, over the past ten years, African countries have made enormous progress on the macroeconomic front. In fact, according to a United Nations report, between 2011 and 2020, average African GDP growth reached 3.1%, even outstripping the global average of 2.4%1.
However, millions of Africans, especially women and young people, have not benefited from this growth. According to the World Bank, Africa alone accounts for 60% of the world's 830 million people living in extreme poverty, i.e. 380 million people2.
. And according to the AfDB, if nothing is done, Africa will be home to almost 9 out of 10 of the world's poorest people (or 87%) by 20303.
To stimulate economic growth and seize the continent's opportunities, Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) such as the African Development Bank (AfDB), the World Bank (WB) and other public bilateral development banks are increasingly focusing their investments on large-scale infrastructure.
Indeed, the weakness and absence of infrastructure is a major constraint and remains an obvious obstacle to Africa's development. This enormous need for investment is well known, and according to the AfDB, it costs around USD 315 billion and USD 24.5 billion per year in agriculture and infrastructure respectively. Over the past fifteen years, a number of international initiatives have been launched to reduce the continent's infrastructure gap: ▪PIDA, the Program for Infrastructure Development in Africa in 2012,
▪"Africa 50" set up in 2015 and endowed with 860 million USD,
▪African Union Agenda 2063 launched in 2013,
▪Compact with Africa under the G20 umbrella; and finally recently,
▪Mission 300 launched in 2025 jointly by the ADB, the WB and the Foundation
Rockefeller.
OBJECTIVES
The overall objective of this workshop is to amplify the voice of women and communities affected by AfDB-financed infrastructure projects through effective participation in the Annual Meetings.
Specifically, the workshop aims to :
● Mobilize Women and Affected Communities during ADB Annual Meetings;
● Promote the sharing and pooling of information, experience and know-how.
advocacy strategies for the respect of their rights ;
● Create a synergy and a space for exchange during the Annual Meetings between the affected communities and the CSO members of the ADB Working Group for the elaboration of better strategies of struggle ;
EXPECTED RESULTS
The following results are expected at the end of the workshop:
Involve at least 15 women in ADB Annual Meetings;
Involve at least 10 CSO members of the AfDB Working Group in AfDB Annual Meetings;
Strengthen the capacities of women affected by ADB's Integrated Safeguarding System;
Share cases of violations of ADB policies and how communities and CSOs have worked to protect social and environmental rights in infrastructure projects;
Meet with members of the AfDB's Senior Management and Board of Directors during the AfDB's Annual Meetings;