‘The Need Is So Great’: Tsitsi Masiyiwa On New Gender Fund
IN MARCH, AFRICAN PHILANTHROPIST AND SOCIAL entrepreneur, Tsitsi Masiyiwa, and other world philanthropists came together to raise $1 billion to advance gender equality and women’s leadership. The organization, Co-Impact, launched The Gender Fund to bring significant resources into a grossly underfunded space and address “gendered systems” – the underlying norms, laws, practices, sanctions, and decision-making processes that lead to systematic barriers and persistent discrimination against women and girls.
According to the organization, “while funding for gender equality has been rising over the last decade, only 1% of that funding has reached women’s organizations”.
Masiyiwa spoke to FORBES AFRICA about the fund stating that what attracted her to the initiative is the big focus on women.
“I believe that the world is made a better place when there’s justice and inclusivity. In the world, everybody has the potential to thrive. So, the attraction was number one, the agenda that we are focusing on women and girls and empowering, encouraging them to go into places of leadership, encouraging them to use their voices, and exercise their power. So that really inspired me,” Masiyiwa says.
According to Co-Impact, this kind of fund aims to transform systems to be “more just and inclusive” so that at least 100 million people have better healthcare, quality education, and the opportunity to
