Southern Africa GBVPrevention​Forum

The Southern Africa Trust works to amplify the voices and agency of marginalized populations in regional policy-making, championing efforts to reduce poverty and inequality in southern Africa. Their Gender Justice initiatives actively strengthen civil society alliances focused on gender equity at both national and regional levels. A powerful example is their GBV Dialogue on Tertiary Institutions, hosted in partnership with the Netherlands Embassy and the Ford Foundation, which convened student activists from across Southern Africa to tackle GBV on campuses and launch a regional tertiary-level GBV prevention network byfostering collaboration across borders and creating accountability mechanisms. SAT hashelped redefine institutional norms and build collective action against GBV.

The Ford Foundation is a globally recognized philanthropic organization committed to dismantling systemic inequality. Its international Gender, Racial, and Ethnic Justice strategy emphasizes support for women and girl-led organizations in the Global South, focusing on prevention of GBV, centering survivors, and addressing intersectional power structures In Southern Africa, the Foundation contributes significant resources and technical support to the Gender-Based Violence and Femicide Response Fund in South Africa in efforts to strengthen survivor services and address challenges like forensic backlogs that impede justice

The Australian Embassy in South Africa integrates gender equality as a foundational principle of its foreign policy and international development work. The High Commission in Pretoria actively promotes gender equality across its engagement in Southern Africa, embedding women’s rights and GBV prevention into its aid and diplomatic initiatives.Through inclusive development policies and events like International Women’s Day celebrations, the Embassy emphasizes empowering women, encouraging male allyship, and advancing egalitarian norms, both locally and regionally.

While the Netherlands Embassy supports a wide range of social justice and human rights efforts, its partnership in GBV prevention programming stands out. Notably, they collaborated with the Southern Africa Trust and Ford Foundation to host the multi-country dialogue on GBV at tertiary institutions, positioning them as key supporters of regional GBV advocacy and student-driven solutions. Through such engagements, they contribute to nurturing cross-border coordination and elevating the gender justice agenda.

The Embassy of Ireland has a longstanding commitment to ending gender-based violence through policy advocacy and civil society collaboration. They support South Africa’s National Strategic Plan on GBV and Femicide, working closely with government and civil society partners to ensure policy effectiveness at grassroots and national levels. The Embassy’s work has underscored the importance of coordinated, inclusive approaches, particularly for marginalized and rural women, affirming that Ireland’s diplomatic efforts prioritize accountability, stakeholder capacity-building, and inclusive policy influence.