International Women's Day (8 March) is a global day celebrating the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future. Since 1911, International Women's Day has honored the work of the Suffragettes by celebrating women's success worldwide.

The day is a reminder to us of the ongoing inequities still to be redressed. For us, International Women’s Day is a chance to honor women’s activists of the past by celebrating the future: the voices of young African women.

In celebration of International Women’s Day 2013, Make Every Woman Count will host a month-long Web-Showcase of African Art, Poetry, Literature, Essays, and Visual Display highlighting the voices of young African women. Young women across the world are using the internet to voice their opinions and call for an end to injustice everywhere. As an organization that seeks facilitate the growing magnitude of  African women voices in the online public stage, our Web-showcase will be a medium by which African women can celebrate International Women’s Day with their full voice.

Now more than ever, we are at a time of evaluations and new initiatives. The deadline for the MDGs is fast approaching in 2015 and the African Women’s Decade has just begun. The international community met during the end of 2012 in Rio to set a new development agenda: ”The Future We Want.” So far, it is possible to conclude that the goals of the African Women’s Decade to ensure “the execution of commitments on gender equality and women’s empowerment from the grassroots, national and regional to continental level” is far from being realised. The Millennium Development Goals will only to a small degree be fulfilled. It is estimated that there will still be 920 million people living under the international poverty line, of which the majority will be women and youth. We still have a long way to go. The outcomes of Rio +20 can hardly be called a success. Even as gender issues are widely accepted as central to any and all development agendas, the governments at Rio +20 failed to recognise the centrality of reproductive rights in sustainable development.  The high-level event at Rio +20, which brought together UN Women’s committees and heads of state, produced a call to action with concrete policy recommendations on integrating gender equality and women's empowerment in all sustainable development frameworks. Nonetheless, the omission of reproductive rights in this ‘call to action’ is a major step backwards.

Now is the time to take a stand. African women, whose voices have largely been ignored, must be given the platform to speak, to set new goals and to get involved. No leader or policy-maker in the world can know what African Women actually want, need, or even what works, if the group is denied access to the world’s microphone. Therefore, Make Every Woman Count invites all young African Women between 15-35 years-old to enter the stage, pick up the microphone, and let your voices be heard. Join us in sharing your vision for the future. What future Do You Want as a Young African Woman?

We seek all kinds of contributions ranging from essays to poetry, blogs, videos, visual art,...only imagination sets the limits. We hope to showcase a diverse variety of forms of expression by African women. If you want to contribute in Making Every Woman Count this International Women’s Day, please participate by following the directions below. You need not have any previous writing, blogging, design experience.

Please note that this is not a paid opportunity, but an opportunity as an African women to contribute your voice to International Women’s Day and the African Women’s Movement.

SUBMISSION:

Written Pieces

    Essays or blogs should be between 500-1000 words; poetry or other forms of Art need not follow the word limitation.

If applicable, properly cite your sources through links and introductory statements such as “According to Human Rights Watch (link to the piece). Do NOT use footnotes. Include links within your text.

Submission - If possible attach your article in Microsoft Word format, otherwise copy it directly into the email. Please note that we cannot accept .pdf files.

 

Photography and Artwork

1. The photograph or artwork must be an original piece
2. The submission should have a title and at least a one-sentence description of the piece.
3. Attach the file preferably as a .JPG file.
   
   

Videos

1.     Please contact us with your submission through e-mail.

 

For ALL forms of contributions the following applies:

The subject line of the submission email should read: “Submission: Firstname Lastname, Country of Origin.

Please also attach a brief bio of yourself in one paragraph (approx. 3-5 sentences) consisting of where you’re from, what you do, how you have fun, what you love etc. Examples can be found on existing blog posts and if possible a photo of yourself.

All submissions must be sent to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Deadline:
Friday, 15th February 2013

 

Thank you!