Editor’s note

Welcome to the February edition!

One month and half into 2011 and we have hit the ground running and our team is already swamped with work. Of course, this is not a novelty due to the kind of work we do at Gender Links. Gender Links keeps re-inventing itself, which is why there is never a dull moment. Our staff members are busy writing their inputs for the annual report and also for the 10-year commemorative publication, which will be launched next month before the big day! We are also getting ready for a major audit, writing proposals to donors, completing election reports and working on GBV research, among many other things.

Our first quarter is usually the busiest time of the year because of planning, our annual board meeting and the beginning of the new financial year. This year will be even busier as we prepare for our 10-year anniversary and our second Gender Justice Summit, both at the end of March.

GL is also spreading its wings over Southern Africa and we’ve officially registered our newest office in Lesotho. March will also see the launch of another new GL office in Mozambique. At the moment we are busy translating several institutional publications into Portuguese (talk about diversity!). These are very exciting times in terms of institutional growth and expansion.

We were recently privileged to welcome former South African Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka to our Johannesburg GL office where we had an interactive discussion with her about her recent research paper: “Women – a driving force to win against poverty: seen through the Complexity and Scenarios nexus”. Yes you guessed right, we were back in our academic/think tank mode. And why not, with all our connections to people who are passionate about gender advancement.

I thought this month’s quote was appropriate for that reason. Yes sisters, on this journey let us remember to treat ourselves kindly and with compassion as we treat our husbands, brothers and children. We should first and foremost respect ourselves and in doing so we can treat others with the same respect and continue to also earn that respect back.

Happy reading and stay tuned for our March news.