WDB Trust Remembers Our Beloved Patron, Gertrude Shope
Born on 15 August 1925, Ma Shope’s life was defined by courage, clarity of purpose, and a lifelong commitment to the empowerment of African women.
TAP Graduations – Empowering Women Through Skills Development
The Training Academy Programme (TAP) continues to make significant strides in empowering women through skills development.
CSW69 in New York: Global Advocacy, Local Action
WDB Trust was honoured to take part in the 69th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW69), held at the United Nations Headquarters in New York from 10–21 March 2025.
Learning from the Source – WDB Trust Visits the Heart of Microfinance
In March 2025, WDB Trust teams from Microfinance, Finance, IT, and the Training Academy departments embarked on a powerful learning journey to the Grameen Trust in Bangladesh — home of community microfinance and social business.
AfWID commitment: I am the one Africa has been waiting for
On 31 January 2025 at the closing ceremony of African Women in Dialogue (AfWID) 3 forum, over 1,200 women from 54 African countries came together to adopt a bold, personal declaration: “I Am the One Africa Has Been Waiting For.” This commitment is a collective pledge to act with intention, accountability, and courage in advancing the rights, power, and agency of African women. Grounded in healing, solidarity, and feminist action, it affirms that the future we seek begins with the steps each of us is willing to take — right now, right where we are.
From Reflection to Action – African Women Reclaim the Future
On 27-31 January 2025, over 1,200 African women gathered in South Africa for African Women in Dialogue (AfWID) 3 – a convergence of stories, struggles, solutions, and sisterhood.
Skills development key to empower rural women pull households out of poverty by City Press
From the typical rural housewife, who combines regular care for her family with other duties, to single parents and widows who shoulder family responsibilities, the challenges are enormous for rural women.
Mrs Zanele Mbeki’s portrait unveiled- ‘I was born a girl’ exhibition
Congratulations to our Patron, Mrs Zanele Mbeki, for being honoured at the “I was born a girl’ Art Exhibition by Sinako Interaction Art, organised by the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) in collaboration with the Embassy of Finland. During the event, a portrait of Mrs Mbeki was unveiled in her honour, a testament to her tireless pursuit of women’s empowerment and development.
AfWID 2019 workbook
The launching theme of AfWID 2018 was ‘Strengthening the Continental African Women’s Movement Within the 4th Industrial Revolution Towards a New and Value-based Ecosystem’. It is becoming clear to me that this is likely to become the underlying theme for all our future Forums, which will be driven by the purpose of strengthening the African continental women’s capacity to create a new world, underpinned by values of respect for all creation.of progress into a more cooperative society.
AfWID 2019 Magazine
To herald an age when nobody is left behind, as AfWID, we then gestated and delivered an opportunity for women to use their voices as agents of change by articulating in their own voices and languages their personal narratives, challenges, successes, and ideas
of progress into a more cooperative society.
