WACSI’s Guinea Mission Uncovers the Power of Grassroots Feminism 

Conakry, Guinea—From April 14 to April 25, 2025, the West Africa Civil Society Institute (WACSI), as part of the Feminism, Action, and Mobilisation for an Inclusive Economy (FAME) Project, conducted a vital “Know Your Partner” mission across Guinea. The team engaged with twenty-one (21) women’s and feminist organisations that promote women’s rights, gender justice, and an inclusive society in various regions of the country. 

This “Know Your Partner” visit was far more than a standard bureaucratic exercise; it aimed to foster trust with potential local partners, reveal their lived realities, and pave the way for impactful, long-term collaborations focused on achieving an equitable society for women, feminists, and other marginalised groups. 

This mission is part of the FAME initiative—a bold, four-year program that spans ten countries, including Morocco, Benin, Togo, Guinea, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Ecuador, Bolivia, and the Dominican Republic. It is supported generously by the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and features a committed team of partners working in a global consortium. Key partners include Geres, EmpowerHer, CARE International, CONLACTRAHO, the South Asian Women Development Forum (SAWDF), and WACSI, which leads the teams’ efforts in Africa. 

WACSI’s primary goal during the ‘Know Your Partner’ mission to Guinea was to engage with, listen to, and understand the specific needs and well-being of organisations who demonstrated interest in the FAME objectives beyond just their written profiles. This included interacting with various teams within the organisations, assessing their legal and compliance statuses, structures, financial health, capacity gaps, key programmes, and operational contexts. 

The discussions highlighted several key thematic areas that shape feminist organising in Guinea. These include community-driven approaches to sexual and reproductive health, grassroots campaigns against gender-based violence and harmful practices, and economic empowerment initiatives aimed at women and girls in vulnerable situations. The work of these organisations transcends urgent social issues, it includes provision of vocational training, trauma-informed support, and advocacy campaigns aimed at policy reforms in favour of women’s political participation, economic empowerment and financial inclusion, girl-child education, ending child-marriage and people-living with disabilities.  

A common request that emerged from these discussions was the importance of strengthening the institutional capacities of women-led and women-focused organisations, enhancing the resource mobilisation capacity of the team for financial resilience, proposal writing and budgeting skills, monitoring and evaluation skills, as well as networking and advocacy skills, among other needs to enhance their operational and programmatic impact.  

“This project will allow us to strengthen our team’s capacity in programme design, financial management, and even project delivery,” noted Aminata Diallo, a feminist leader based in Conakry. Echoing this sentiment, Mariam Conde added, “This project will greatly help CABEC to grow. It gives us the opportunity to create a more favourable environment for women and girls.” 

With presence in ten (10) countries across Africa, Asia, and Latin America, FAME is not only transforming how feminist and marginalised groups receive support but also committed to strengthening the institutional resilience of grassroot organisations for greater impact.   

WACSI will continue to identify and engage like-minded organisations in selected countries in Africa to advance the objectives of FAME project while building trust, mutual respect, a shared vision for a more equitable and inclusive world.