Cate Nyambura has always dedicated herself to the cause of sexual and reproductive health and rights of African communities. As the new Africa advisor, Kenya-based, she explores and initiates projects that strengthen local communities in achieving their own goals. ‘Dioraphte has taken a bold step by choosing a clear new focus in their philanthropic strategy in Africa.’

‘The world is interconnected. Building up real understanding of what is important cannot be done at arm’s length. It’s better to immerse yourself and really feel the possibilities of meaningful change that comes from within communities.’ Cate Nyambura has a strong conviction: the best way of facilitating impactful initiatives is to be at the frontline. Her years of working at a grassroots level have brought her to this position. ‘Being present enables me to better understand the culture of the local people involved. Reading a written proposal and seeing the actual work on the ground are really two different things.’

Full member of the team

Educated in public policy, gender studies and biomedical research, Nyambura is an experienced consultant for community-based, regional and global initiatives in sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). Her topics range from adolescent health, HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment, to gender-based violence prevention, and more. In July 2025 she started in her advisory role at Dioraphte. Nyambura will lead the further development and implementation of the new strategy on SRHR on the African continent. As a full member of the team of advisors she will operate from Kenya.

Taking bigger steps

The Netherlands wasn’t new to Nyambura. Some 11 years ago her first trip outside of Africa was to Noordwijk. ‘Many international meetings about my topics of interest are held in the Netherlands. The Dutch have always invested heavily in promoting SRHR around the globe.’ She is positive about the direct and straightforward communication style the Dutch are known for. ‘It suits me well; I consider myself one of the most direct and straightforward Kenyans’, she says with a smile. ‘A certain directness makes things much more efficient, so that one can take bigger steps.’

Decline in government funding

Taking these steps is more than necessary, she adds, in a world in turmoil with many certainties at stake. Geopolitical issues, such as the war in Ukraine, lead to changing priorities for European governments. ‘Reallocating public spendings to domestic security heavily impacts budgets for development aid. On top of that we experience radical cuts from the Trump-administration. Worldwide there is a major decline in government funding, and philanthropy has to try and fill at least some of the gaps.’ Apart from declining budgets, many countries are swinging towards the political right. This is especially challenging for SRHR topics that are likely to be scrapped from the agenda under right-wing policy, Nyambura says.

Invest in local initiatives

Nyambura is convinced that the renewed Dioraphte strategy in Africa is needed to make a difference. ‘Our grant budget will never fill the gaps, so it’s even more important to fund local communities and enabling them to meet their own priorities. Our strategy is to let people in the frontline in charge. As a pan-African feminist, I’m very much inspired by a quote from the McArthur Foundation on funding of black feminist initiatives. It says: this is the time to fund movements and fund them like you want them to win. Where the large-scale funders pack up and go, it’s up to smaller philanthropical organisations to invest in locally rooted initiatives. The future is community-based and community-led.’

“It’s a change that will make African communities win”

New partnerships

In the first half year as an advisor for Dioraphte, Nyambura set up ten new partnerships. She gives two examples. One is the Young African Women Initiative, with a project on de-stigmatising teenage pregnancy and supporting holistic interventions. ‘It’s about building skills and self-confidence and offering pathways for re-entry back to school. Or – if going back to school isn’t possible – giving access to livelihood. So teenage mothers can take good care of themselves and their children.’ The other example is Golden Boots Uganda, an initiative that combines sports tournaments with a festival style market. Young people will find information and have access to services like contraception, cervical cancer screening and HIV testing.

Do things differently

The new Africa strategy for which Nyambura is responsible, will not only change the focus to specific SRHR issues, like in these two examples. It also differs – as she puts it – in terms of ‘how and whom we want to walk and work with.’ Nyambura: ‘Philanthropy can take risks that many other funders cannot. I applaud the board of Dioraphte for making such a bold shift in the strategy. Thematically this is important and very timely, because SRHR issues are strongly politically contested. Moreover, Dioraphte has made a firm choice of putting local communities and their organisations in the lead. Recruiting me, based in the continent, is a clear sign of Dioraphte’s commitment to do things differently. It’s a change that will make African communities win.’