Sonke extends great appreciation to the government of Australia for its generous 500 000 Australian dollars (R5 million) support of our programme, “What’s Violence Got To Do With It”, which aims to prevent gender-based violence against women and girls in South Africa and Tanzania.
The Australian Minister for International Development and the Pacific, Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, visited our Johannesburg office this week to discuss our work and to present the grant.
The grant is in line with Australia’s objective to support women’s social and economic empowerment.
“Gender is a key component of our development assistance”, said Fierravanti-Wells.
The country has set a target to have 80% of its aid investment allocated to gender-related work.
Sonke has a long-standing relationship with Australia in our human rights work. We currently have two Australian volunteers working with us on various projects, including advocacy for sex workers’ rights and related research.
