The women's movements that emerged in the 1990s were distinct from women's mobilization in the early post-independence period in several ways. First and foremost, they were generally autonomous of the ruling party and state. Women's organizations set new broader agendas and selected their own leaders. They obtained new sources of funding independent of state patronage networks, which women's organizations had depended on to a greater extent in the past. The new women's organizations took advantage of changes in donor funding patterns favoring nongovernment organizations (NGOs) after the 1990s, providing them the impetus to expand.

What then gave rise to these new movements in the late 1980s and especially in the 1990s? There is no single explanation for women's heightened activism in Africa, but three key factors are considered here. These include (1) international influences and the diffusion of ideas and tactics across Africa with respect to women's rights; (2) a changing resource base in which some women's associations had greater access to alternate sources of funding; and (3) in some countries the opening of political space for women's associations as a result of democratization and political liberalization. These factors are important because they shaped the ways in which the movements sought policy changes, the kinds of issues they took up, and their levels of success. This chapter discusses how these factors came into play.