March 17 marked 20 years of the existence of the women’s rights organisation, Gender Links. birthed by a visionary, Colleen Lowe Morna, who at an unfashionable time saw the need to make gender part of the agenda in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region specifically. Today, Gender Links finds itself housed in 10 SADC countries, including a Lusophone base in Mozambique and Francophone base in Madagascar.

Gender Links reaching this milestone is not a small feat, when organisations such as these depend on funding that is usually the first to face austerity measures when donors face financial challenges or need to divert funds. This is especially true when one considers that their work started at a time when zoning in on gender, as it relates to women, was not fashionable...