Based in Mumias (Kenya), Women and Development Against Distress in Africa (WADADIA) originally started as a self-help group to rehabilitate and offer alternative sources of income to female sex workers in the year 2006. Due to increasing demands on WADADIAs services, the organisation developed into a CBO in 2009 and was later registered as an NGO in 2014. WADADIA’s work is founded on 3 pillars: psychosocial support, economic empowerment, and reproductive health.

The first pillar of psychosocial support entails psycho-education, counselling and support group services. The second pillar of economic empowerment involves the sharing of vocational skills training, promotion of income generating activities for women, and education and mentorship programmes. Reproductive health is the third pillar, and this focuses on working with women that have survived or currently suffering from problems with their sexual and reproductive health (for example, obstetric fistula and cervical cancer) and provide access to healthcare services (like screening, family planning, sexual reproductive health and rights products, among others).

Given its strong commitment to advance the rights of fistula survivors and challenge the discrimination and stigma that they still suffer, WADADIA was awarded the main prize during the NOW-Us! Awards of 2019.

The project Voices of Hope for Action advances the (self)empowerment of obstetric fistula survivors in Kenya to advocate for their own sexual reproductive and health rights (SRHR) and the socio-economic well-being of all women. The initiative trains survivors to become advocates and provide spaces for them to raise their voices to demand the social services that they need.

Women and Development Against Distress in Africa (WADADIA) was the main 2019 NOW-Us! Awards winner. The organisation collaborates with healthcare service providers, such as the Fistula Foundation, to identify fistula survivors already treated and waiting for the reintegration services to be part of this project. Through this project, women are being encouraged to enroll in the WADADIA reintegration centre where they can access holistic services they need in a stigma-free, safe, and inclusive environment.

Fistula Foundation pays for their treatment while WADADIA takes care of the vocational training whereas the Voices of Hope funds support with life skills training as well as start-up kits once they complete their training. After the training, the survivors are supported to start-up with a relevant business plan to promote their financial independence.