Over the last ten years, the Sunrise Campaign, End Violence, Empower Women, has gained momentum across the Southern African Development Community (SADC), reaching over 3000 women in ten countries, 600 of these in South Africa. The programme has contributed to the growing evidence on the nexus between economic empowerment and sustainable solutions to Gender Based Violence (GBV). Underscoring the policy level significance of this project, in 2020, South Africa adopted a National Strategic Plan on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (NSP GBVF) with a stand-alone pillar on Economic Power. Read our Economic Justice Policy Brief. Read the overview pamphlet.

Key Facts

3000 survivors of GBV now entrepreneurs

 Winner of the 2016 Mail and Guardian Investing in the Future Award Increase in income, agency, relationship control and IT skills; decrease in GBV
Sunrise Campaign South Africa What the campaign involves, how it has evolved Changing lives, changing communities

Sunrise Campaigns around Southern Africa

eSwatini Lesotho Madagascar Mauritius South Africa 
Botswana Namibia Mozambique Zambia Zimbabwe

Key partners

Stories of Change



Zimbabwe: Itai Makara
Mauritius: Valerie Simerone
South Africa: Matsikama