Kenyan Woman Issue 11

1

Issue Number 11 • November 2010

Issue Number 11 • November 2010

EDITORIAL This month marks the time when the world gets together to reenergise efforts on the fight against gender based violence.

Violence against women in any form acts as an impediment to gender equality and realisation of genuine human progress. Violence reduces a woman’s dignity and makes her suffer from inferiority complex as well as lowers her self-esteem.

As we mark the 16 days of activism, it is important to advocate for ending the belief that a woman must be disciplined through beating to make her toe the line. That a woman who is wearing a short dress is provocative enough to be raped; that a three month old baby girl will heal a man’s sexually transmitted infections or HIV and hence the urge and need to defile her.

It is important that during these 16 days of activism, and in seeking to end violence against women, the Constitution of Kenya implementation process takes cognisance of the fact that the new law must be put in place immediately for it to protect women against violence.

It is important that advocates in the fight against violence work with men to demystify the myth that machoism is what makes a total man. Kenyans at large must unite to bring to and end cases of violence against women and girls.

Culture has been a major excuse of violating and abusing women. Girls and women are beaten because culture says so. Girls and women are mutilated in the name of culture leaving them with untold reproductive health problems and scars.

Policy makers and the media need to join hands with the advocates in the fight against gender based violence to reduce if not totally eliminate anything that infringes on a woman’s dignity in the name of being violated.

The Government must be pressured to ensure that the new law implementation process hastens to address areas where violence on women is most invisible. This must be done in the spirit of teamwork that involves both men and women.

Awareness creation on the need to end violence against women is key in this fight. Men who beat their wives or daughters must be made to realise that their actions do not make them tougher or stronger.

Husbands who beat their wives must be told that their actions are having a negative effect on the development of their children.

Soldiers and militants must be told that women cannot be raped as weapons of war.

Although the 16 days of activism in the fight against violence is a global campaign, it needs to be expanded to 365 days or 12 months of a whole year where there will be no violence against women.

Take charge of implementation Ranneberger tells women they hold the key to Kenya’s future

B

…By Florence Sipalla efore voting for the new Law, many women in Kenya especially those living in the slums expressed fear of violence during the referendum.

Most of the women said they would be travelling to their rural homes before August 4, the date of the referendum, to ensure their safety as they reflected on the tensions that were rife before and during the 2007 General Elections.

However, according to the US ambassador to Kenya Mr Michael Ranneberger women have the key to ending violence as they have been at the forefront of peace building.

The key, says the envoy, is that women’s organisations must take the lead role in the implementation of the new Constitution if they have to put a stop to situations of violence.

Ranneberger was speaking when he launched the Gender-Based Violence Monitoring Report on Kenyan Constitutional Referendum August 2010.

The report

US ambassador to Kenya Michael Ranneberger receives the monitoring report on Gender Based He commended women for Violence during the Kenyan Constitutional Referendum August 2010 from Lucy Wamuyu, Programme their efforts in peace building re- Officer Research and Publication COVAW as Executive Director Mary Njeri looks on. Picture: Correspondent. calling that they played a big role in bringing peace in the post electhey are the same issues that emerged during the “It is only through these that women’s rights are tion violence of 2007. post election violence and that these factors form protected.”

The report was initiated after women living part of Agenda Four Reforms.

Kenya is known for lagging behind in the in the slums expressed fear of violence during Agenda Four is part of the National Coalition region where statistics show it is performing the constitution referendum. The G-10, a Coali- accord that brought in peace and put in place dismally in affirmative action implementation. tion of 12 women’s organisations spearheaded by conditions that will make sure Kenya does not Women are missing at the high levels of decision Coalition of Violence Against women (COVAW) experience violence again. One of the items on making within Kenya’s governance structure. and FIDA Kenya put in place a mechanism to Agenda four is the Constitution Review.

Ranneberger said: “Looking at Kenya’s develmonitor the August 2010 referendum and espeopment progress, statistics overall indicate it’s the Support cially violence related incidents. worst in the entire region.”

The two organisations set up a hotline where He also indicated that the US government He reiterated: “Change comes a lot more women could call or send text messages to alert would support women in political parties to quickly when people realise that the time for them of any violence taking place before and empower them as Kenya gears towards the 2012 change is now.” during the referendum. Incidences of violence elections.

The Ambassador called on G-10 to talk to reported in the daily newspapers also informed The envoy reiterated the importance of wom- parliamentarians through lobbying and advothe study. The report would serve as a useful tool en’s inclusion and engagement in the county de- cacy to see to it that the implementation process for activists to lobby for safe space for women to volution structures to deal with “the culture of is successful.” exercise their civic duties. impunity, negative ethnicity and poverty.” He Violence Ranneberger reiterated that the process of encouraged the G10 to continue with the advoGiving the rationale behind the report, Ms law implementation must be “transparent, inclu- cacy work they are doing on the implementation Claris Ogangah, Deputy Director FIDA said: sive and credible” and this can only happen if the of the new law. women are in it through all the stages.

He said: “The G-10 has shown the way of “Women and girls are at increased risk of physiHe pledged the US government support to forming networks. They can ensure the county cal and sexual violence. Rape and other types of women as they monitor and engage in the Con- formations are done in a way that is transparent.” gender based violence seem to be a ‘rule of war’ stitution implementation process.

The envoy stressed that although a process of during such times.”

In giving a breakdown of what actually took Ranneberger reiterated: “Women must have a change was on the way, it was not on the surface role to play in the implementation process of the yet and therefore Kenyans must still work hard to place on the ground, Ms Mary Njeri, COVAW Executive Director said there were other instancConstitution if it is to benefit all Kenyans as it is ensure total change. not for political leadership or parties.”

“If it will be seen it will be as a result of youth es of violence that were unrelated to the voting He added: “The women are the right drivers and women’s movement,” observed Ranneberger. process but were highlighted in the report.

“Thanks to the monitoring process, incito ensure implementation is done in a way that is He reminded the women that the first process transparent.” of seeing change is the implementation of the dences that could have passed as normal violence The Ambassador appreciated that the issues Constitution to ensure the Bill of Rights and that Continued on page 2 coming out of the report are important because women take their rightful place in governance.

2

Issue Number 11 • November 2010

Women in North Eastern eager to be part of new law processes

Naima Abubakar and Isnino Madhode, during a media advocacy workshop for CSOs in Garissa organised by African Woman and Child Features Service. Women need more information on how they can actively participate in the devolved government. Picture: AWC …By Joyce Chimbi

T

emperatures are high but that does not deter the people of Garissa from going about with their chores.

It is barely noon but the markets are alive with activity with business people selling their wares.

Although this region is geographically removed from Nairobi County, the melting point of politics that define the direction the country takes, the residents are not only politically conscious but are keen on acquiring as much information as is possible that would help bring the region out of marginalization.

It will certainly take a long time before this region achieves the kind of development that other regions have managed to attain. However, this new political order is a good beginning.

“For many years we have been left alone to suffer, sometimes we are not sure whether we are Somali’s from Kenya or the Somalia. The Government has ignored and left us marginalized,” participants complained during a recent Media encounter held by the African Woman and Child Features (AWC) in the County of Garissa.

“But we are happy now. The government has begun to pay atten-

tion to us, there is a new Ministry of North Eastern that has been set up. We feel that this is a new beginning.”

These sentiments were echoed by female participants drawn from both Garissa and Wajir parts of North Eastern Province.

Equal share Amina Hassan said there is hope the region will get into mainstream governance that will open fundamental opportunities for socio-economic and even political growth.

“As a woman, I am happy with the new Constitution, I have read the Bill of Rights and it has very significant provisions. I feel empowered by the clause on Affirmative Action because it is important that we have gender equality in leadership positions,” Hassan explains.

She adds: “If both men and women share power, then our governance will be wholesome because both gender bring something important to the table.”

Although the participants expressed great optimism that this is a new dawn for the region, they say there is very little information on how the Constitution implementation process is running.

“We only know that a Committee is being set up to handle the process but people need more information.

We need to know how, as women, we can participate in the process so that we can be empowered to be part of those 47 seats,” says Hassan.

She explains: “Women’s representation in leadership is still very low. If women are made to understand their role in the implementation process, then so much ground will have been covered and they will not be left behind as the country goes to the next level.”

During the forum, it was emphasised that it was not enough to have passed a new Constitution, it is important that people remain vigilant and take up their role to ensure the reform process is citizenry driven.

Participants expressed satisfaction in the fact that there will be a devolved system of governance because it will bring resources down to the grassroots level. This will give the ordinary Kenyan an opportunity to get involved in key decision making processes at the local level.

Although the system is yet to kick off, participants said they are ready to make resources work for them once the system comes into full implementation in 2012.

Women hold the key to Kenya’s future Continued from page 1

meted out against women could have gone unnoticed were it not for the monitoring process,” explained Njeri.

And it was not just the actual violence that came out of the report. A woman was hospitalised because the referendum process ignited memories of the trauma she underwent during the post-election violence.

“This work will be used to lobby for safe space for women to ensure that they can fully participate in

voting processes without worrying about their security because women deserve a safe space to enable their full participation in national processes,” said Njeri.

The report lauds the UWIANO platform and other early warning and response initiatives launched before the referendum for contributing to a peaceful outcome.

“Building an effective partnership framework for early warning, early response in Kenya is what has been missing for far too long,” ex-

plained Ogangah.

Women are often targets of violence when there is unrest. “However, the biggest challenge has been in documenting experiences of women which then inform interventions for the purpose of generating policy/legal reforms that will then ensure best practices in dealing with SGBV,” said Ogangah.

She added: “As long as women’s rights continue to be violated during peace time, violence against women during conflict is inevitable.”

Bill of Rights gains ground as men face the test in Mwingi …By Musembi Nzengu

E

ven before the dust settles on the euphoria of celebrating the new constitution, absentee fathers in Mwingi find themselves in a tight corner.

Women in the town are taking full advantage of the provision in the Bill of Rights Chapter that demands both parents to take full responsibility of their children.

Many single mothers and other married women whose husbands have abdicated their responsibilities are literally pulling all stops to bring partners to book.

An official from the Mwingi Centre for Human Rights and Civic Education (CHRCE) says since the promulgation of the Constitution on August 27, 40 “ducking fathers” have agreed to take responsibility of the children they had long abandoned or neglected.

Increased cases Speaking in Mwingi, Ms Florence Ndeti, a programme officer with CHRCE said women have been flocking their office seeking help on how to compel men who fathered their children to take responsibility.

“Previously, we would on average handle two such cases in a week but with the new constitution, an average of four women visit our offices every day seeking assistance,” says Ndeti.

There are two categories of women seeking assistance to compel fathers to take care of their children. These are women who are either married but with neglected children or those with children born out of wedlock.

Bill of rights Accompanied by the organisation’s executive director, Mr Peter Mutemi, Ndeti said the affected women got the impetus to seek their children’s rights on the strength of the Bill of Rights chapter that compels parents to take care and protect their children in equal measure.

Part three, section 53 (1) of the Bill of Rights Chapter states, “Every Child has the right to parental care and protection, which includes equal responsibility of the mother and father to provide for the child whether they are married to each other or not...”

Ndeti says in all the cases they have handled, the affected men committed themselves to take good care and protect the children to avoid litigation.

However, Mutemi said the organisation was ready to facilitate the court process in case one party fails to honour his or her side of the bargain.

“We are ready to facilitate the court process for expert interpretation of the law should any party become difficult,” said Mutemi.

With the foregoing, it requires proper interpretation whether the

law affects people who broke their union long before the new Constitution came to existence.

Among the people who benefited from the CHRCE intervention is 25-year-old Mutaki Kilonzi who is a mother of five. She hails from Itendeu village of Kyethani location of Mwingi Central district.

Kilonzi got married nearly ten years ago after she dropped out of standard three at Kavuvwani primary school in 1999. A couple of years ago, her husband left her and married another woman who has three children.

“Since he married the new woman, he stopped providing for our children. He is not even paying school fees for our standard one daughter,” she lamented during an interview.

The desolate woman disclosed at the time of the interview that the standard one daughter had already been sent away from school for her being unable to raise KSh15 fees.

However, she said since she sought the assistance of the CHRCE officer her husband had already started providing some essential items like bar soap, sugar, cooking fat and body nourishing oil albeit in small quantities.

When we met her in Mwingi town, she was coming from the CHRCE office to seek the enforcement of the agreement they had entered with her husband as the latter appeared to back track on the pledges he had made.

Commitment In a different case Kavata Kilonzo separated with her husbandKilonzo Mutemi Nzoka- following a domestic misunderstanding. The husband had since left the responsibility of fending for the children to her until recently when the CHRCE intervened.

Nzoka had consequently committed himself in writing to provide for the children in terms of facilitating medical attention, school fees and clothing. Due to the domestic row, Kavata has since moved from her matrimonial home together with her three children and has rented a house in Mwingi town.

The children attend school at Mboru primary school while the mother works as a casual laborer at the Kitui Millers factory.

The physical separation notwithstanding, Nzoka has further agreed to send KSh500 to his estranged wife to cater for the children’s upkeep.

Mumoni, who is sitting the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examination this year at Nguuku Mixed Secondary in Mumoni district, has reason to celebrate. The father of her two-monthold baby agreed to contribute financially to the child’s upkeep.

The 17-year-old girl will get KSh1,500 every month for upkeep until the child comes of age He has also agreed to pay KSh7,500 to meet sundry expenses.

3

Issue Number 11 • November 2010

Penehupifo Pohamba

Namibia’s First Lady Penehupifo Pohamba gives her speech during the African Women’s Decade Launch held in Nairobi. She believes in empowering women economically to improve their living standards. Picture: Correspondent …By Akumu Ajiambo

T

he just concluded African Women’s Decade launch felt the presence of this first lady. She made speech and was a darling of the media as photographer after photographer captured her in the many activities that she was involved in.

Yet if you met her in the streets, Mrs Penehupifo Pohamba would just be the usual ordinary woman.

Most would not even associate her with the high profile that is her life.

Namibia’s first lady is not interested in drawing attention to herself. The impression one gets is that she is ill-at ease with the security detail around her.

Involvement Yet her life has not been as soft as the impression that one gets of her.

She has been a freedom fighter. Yes. She was a member of the SWAPO — the South West Africa People’s Organisation that was the political and liberation movement in Namibia.

Her participation in the political struggle of her country was practical, training as a midwife and nurse and providing medical care services to Namibian refugees living in Angola and Zambia.

She chooses not to be actively involved in politics, leaving that to her husband, despite being a member of SWAPO.

Stiff penalties However, she continues to participate in the public arena, and she is a fearless critic of gender-based violence. She has openly called on lawmakers to enact stiffer legislation and penalties to deter perpetrators of crime particularly gender-based violence.

Pohamba admits that the incidents of domestic and sexual violence in Namibia and Africa generally, are disheartening and pushing for an end to this is close to her heart.

“As women of Africa we must put more robust efforts in place to deal with domestic and sexual violence. We have to fight hard to ensure that perpetrators of violence against women and vulnerable people including children are brought to book,” she said when she addressed delegates at the African Women’s Decade Launch.

“I visualise a Namibia and Africa where women and girls do not face the constant threat of being violently attacked. I hope for a situation where all children whether boys or girls have equal access to opportunities,” she says.

Women’s empowerment is close to her heart and the First lady believes that by giving women a source of livelihood, “they will be able to sustainably support themselves and their families”.

She says: “I endeavour to not only give blankets and food but also to teach the vulnerable how to create their own wealth and sustain a livelihood.”

The First Lady reiterates: “As a mother, I believe if the women of this continent were economically empowered they would dramatically improve their lives, and this will translate to improved economies and better living standards in the region.”

Pohamba wants lending institutions to provide loans to women.

“Lending institutions should support women to expand from small and micro to macro enterprises that generate more income and support more people,” she says.

Arguing that it is time more women ventured into large scale business, Pohamba reiterates that the tendency has been that most

Namibia’s First lady takes the lead in fighting for women’s empowerment

stagnate at the micro level.

“I do not underestimate the potential of small businesses as they play a crucial role in the economy.

However, it is time women ventured into bigger businesses.”

Her husband Hifikepunye Pohamba assumed office as President of Namibia in March 2005, but Pohamba kept a low profile. However, she can no longer afford to linger in that luxury. She is now a huge public figure charged with fulfilling her role as First Lady.

She has chosen to devote her time to improve the status of women. That is why she could not miss the launch of the African women’s Decade and played her role effectively.

A mother of five children and grandmother, Pohamba has carved out her role as a fighter for women’s rights. That is beside the core responsibility of being by the President’s side when he retires home. She is his companion, advisor, wife and mother of his children.

Her struggle Pohamba is no stranger to the struggles that women go through spending their hard-earned money on the upkeep of their children and families. In 1974 as a newly married woman to her late husband Malakias Shiluwa, she left Namibia via Angola ending up in Zambia. Despite being a young mother, she enrolled for a medical training course in Zambia and also received military training.

She began working offering her services mainly to Namibian women and children, who were left in the settlements while their husbands were at the war-front pushing for independence. She would later make a bold

“I endeavour to not only give blankets and food but also to teach the vulnerable how to create their own wealth and sustain a livelihood.”

— Mrs Penehupifo Pohamba

move, something that was not common among women in that period, leaving her husband with their two young children to travel to Jamaica for further studies. Before travelling to Jamaica she had also trained as a midwife in Tanzania.

While training as a midwife in Jamaica, Pohamba’s late husband was killed in a landmine and due to the difficult travel conditions, she never made it back for the funeral.

Maternal health However, despite the tragedy of becoming a widow at a young age, she rose up from the ashes and returned to Zambia, picking up her two children and resuming life from where she left it.

With two young children, she worked in the settlements providing medical care to Namibians. Through her experienced hands thousands of Namibian children were born in exile.

However, light would be shed on that dark period after she met Hifikepunye Pohamba who later proposed and married her.

Despite being married to a man with a high profile, Pohamba strongly believed in the need for a woman to work and supplement her husband’s efforts in taking care of the family.

Up until the time they moved to State house in Namibia, she continued to work as a midwife.

Her passion for maternal and children’s health is unparalelled. Her legacy as a first lady is to leave a mark as having pushed for improved maternal health not only in Namibia, but in the continent at large. This was evident when she addressed delegates at the Decade when the bulk of her speech concentrated on maternal health.

“Despite the progress we have made in Africa, women continue to die needlessly during pregnancy, birth or soon after. Some of the causes of maternal deaths such as prolonged and obstructed labour and issues such as HIV/AIDS and malaria can

easily be dealt with,” she says.

Pohamba has been at the forefront pushing for increased male involvement in issues of maternal health. She has also pushed for interventions to reduce teenage pregnancies which also contribute to maternal mortality.

“In Namibia 16 percent of all the pregnant women are teenage girls.

Due to their tender age they have difficult pregnancies and are the ones who often suffer obstructed labour which if poorly managed it leads to death,” she says.

She says hospitals must be brought closer to the communities because the long distances between people and health care facilities are a contributing factor to high mortality in Africa.

Pohamba is the patron of Namibia’s Campaign for the Accelerated Reduction of Maternal Mortality in Africa. Through this campaign her country has come up with strategies to reduce maternal deaths.

“As a woman and mother, I am concerned about the health of the girl child, pregnant women, the mothers and the newborn babies. I endeavour to contribute to efforts that the Government is making to ensure that the plight of every mother and child in Namibia is addressed,” she says.

Mobilisation The First Lady is currently mobilising resources from local and international donors to support an initiative to build maternal shelters and clinics in all regions in Namibia.

She is also patron for various humanitarian initiatives including Nampharm Foundation, a non-government organisation that sources funding to enable corrective surgery for children born with cleft palates.

She is also involved in initiatives to fight HIV/Aids.

She urges African Union member states to devote their efforts to fight poverty and promote economic empowerment of women.

4

Issue Number 11 • November 2010

Victims of gender based violence need shelter for recovery …By Duncan Mboyah

W

ith increased cases of gender based violence in the country women and the children remain the biggest casualties.

The Government is being asked to set up a rescue centre to protect survivors from being harmed by the accusers.

Threat Evidence emerging indicate that even though the victims are arrested and arraigned in a court, those that get bail continue to threaten the victims.

“Some women are badly beaten as others are raped and they continue being threatened by the suspects which forces them to look for refuge as they follow up on the cases in a court,” says Ms Mary Njeri, Executive Director Coalition on Violence Against Women (COVAW).

Gichuru called on the Government to come with the rescue centres all over the country that will offer accommodation to victims of gender based violence and enable them recover from the ordeal and live decent lives as is the case in South Africa and Zimbabwe.

“Those arrested for causing violence should be confined as opposed to giving them bonds since their presence within the society before the cases are finalised is equal to torturing women whom they molest,” explained Gichuru.

Fear Most of the women who seek assistance from COVAW refuse to go back home for fear of being beaten and raped again. This forces the organisation to seek alternative settlement for them.

The organisation’s mandate is limited as besides providing free services, they only offer psychological support to the victims yet the number of cases continue to rise.

“We are currently working in collaboration with Kenyatta National Hospital’s department of Gender Based Violence Centre (GBVC) in encouraging victims of rape and other forms of violence in reorganising their own lives after going through such traumatising ordeals,” she reiterated.

COVAW is currently lobbying for Family Protection, Marriage and Matrimony Property bills to help safeguard the rights of married women.

The head of GBVC Dr Margaret Mak’Anyengo said sexually violated women are treated free of charge but thorough medical attention that include scans are too costly for these women to afford and they require assistance.

Rescue centres She noted that being the only referral centre in the region, the employees are overwhelmed because many patients are referred from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Sudan for treatment.

“It is important that the Government allocates funds for all Counties to put up gender based violence centres so that abused women get good service within their home areas,” she reiterated.

Present at the time was the Baroness Vivien Stern, a long standing Member of Parliament of the Upper House in Britain who toured the Centre and commended the management of KNH for coming up with the idea of helping women who have been violated in the region.

Baroness Stern who is on a two week volun-

A victim of gender-based violence recuperates in hospital. Government needs to establish rescue centres across the country to cater for rising number of survivors.

Picture: Correspondent

tary exchange programme with COVAW that is mandatory within the British Parliament is trying to understand how women who have been violated can be assisted and also how the vice can be reduced within the society.

Baroness Stern, a member of the Parliamentary joint Committee on Statutory Instruments in the London Borough of Lambeth is

planning to use the session to increase interest in several bills that touch on women’s issues in Kenya. These include the Marriage Bill, Matrimonial Property Bill, Family Protection Bill and Equal Opportunities Bill.

The delegation heard the ordeal of a grandmother whose two year old grand-daughter was defiled and had her uterus removed.

Violence against women touches heart of the decade

…By Jane Godia

T

he topic of violence could not be avoided among key speakers at the launch of the women’s decade. This brings to the fore the fact that gender based violence is an issue of concern as it is a barrier to women’s empowerment and advancement. Violence also hinders girls and women’s right to living in dignity.

It is clear that violence against women bars them from realising their dreams as it hampers their self esteem and stops them from advancing ahead.

15 days activism This year marks the 19th since the 16 days of activism to end gender based violence was started. The 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence is an international campaign originating from the first Women’s Global Leadership Institute sponsored by the Centre for Women’s Global Leadership in 1991. Participants chose the dates, November 25, International Day Against Violence

Against Women and December 10, International Human Rights Day, in order to symbolically link violence against women and human rights and to emphasise that such violence is a violation of human rights.

The 16 Days Campaign has been used as an organising strategy by individuals and groups around the world to call for the elimination of all forms of violence against women.

In his key note address at the launch of African Women’s Decade 2010-2020 President Kibaki reiterated the need to end Gender based violence. He said: “We must enact legislature that facilitate empowerment of women. While the Constitution of Kenya calls for 30 percent Affirmative action, it is important to create a legal framework that will eliminate gender based violence which is of great concern to the continent.”

Kibaki added: “Concerted efforts will be required in dealing with Gender based violence.”

While Kenya has gone ahead and moved to ensuring that there are Gender based recovery centres in al-

most all hospitals, the rate at which victims are trooping to these facilities remains an issue of concern.

Rape The launch of the Decade coincide with a damning UN report from the Democratic Republic of Congo indicated that soldiers, rebels and peace keepers were all using rape as a weapon of war. The rate at which women were being raped in DRC was pathetic.

Between July 30 and August 4, 2010 nearly 500 women and girls, and some boys and men, were raped in and around the village of Luvungi in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in a campaign of the ongoing terror waged

It is high time more women soldiers were sent on peace keeping missions to reduce the violence being meted out.

by armed groups who use rape as a weapon of war.

In a speech read on her behalf by Special Programmes Minister, Ms Esther Murugi, Kenya’s First Lady Lucy Kibaki said Africa remains a continent in conflict with women and girls being the greatest victims. “Women want to be involved in peace building. For there to be ever lasting peace women must be brought on board.”

The First Lady’s sentiments are in line with UN Resolution 1325 that calls for women to be part of the peace building process.

The UN Deputy Secretary General Dr Asha Rose Migiro welcomed the idea that the beginning of the launch marks 10 years of UN security Resolution 1325. The resolution calls on all partners in armed conflict to take special measures to protect women and girls from gender based violence particularly rape and other forms of sexual abuse, and all forms of violence in situations of armed conflict.

It is high time more women soldiers were sent on peace keeping

missions to reduce the violence being meted out.

However, violence against women happens not only in situations of armed conflict. It happens within the walls of our houses, from our neighbours and even within our offices and to girls in institutions of learning.

Dedication Migiro challenged African leaders to take their commitment to end violence against women seriously.

“Violence against women and girls is endemic in our society and we must join hands to end it. Women must be partners in ending the violence and ensuring sustainable peace,” Migiro stressed.

She added: “The Decade provides an opportunity to end the violence.

African leaders must take serious their commitment to end violence against women and girls.”

It is only when women are brought to the table of making peace with men involved will violence against women in times of conflict come to an end.

5

Issue Number 11 • November 2010

Trust fund makes grants to initiatives against violence

G

ender based violence remain a challenge to many nations. While the act occurs when one inflicts pain, whether physical or psychological, the cost of treating the victim remains challenging as it is high and calls for funds that are at most time unavailable.

A United Nations trust fund announced additional grants worth $10 million to 13 initiatives devoted to supporting local and national efforts to end violence against women and girls in 18 countries across the world.

Rape in DRC sets alarm bells ringing

Trust fund The UN Trust Fund in Support of Actions to Eliminate Violence against Women (UN Trust Fund) said the new grants will complete its 14th grant-making cycle of 2009, delivering a total of $20.5 million for 26 projects in 33 countries and territories. Belarus, the Marshall Islands and Sri Lanka will be receiving the grants for the first time.

The Fund is the only multilateral grant-making mechanism exclusively devoted to supporting local and national efforts to end violence against women and girls. Established by the UN in 1996, the Fund is managed by the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), which is part of the newly established UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), on behalf of the UN system.

“Violence against women destroys families, fractures communities and hampers progress on development goals,” said Inés Alberdi, UNIFEM Executive Director. “But it is a problem with a solution. Only by intensifying support and increasing investment to national and local efforts can we ensure women and girls are safe from violence and can lead healthy, productive lives,” said Alberdi.

She added: “The UN Trust Fund’s ability to award these additional grants is a welcome sign towards translating pledges by government and international donors into resources to support action on the ground.”

With the latest grants, the Fund will have supported 317 programmes in 124 countries and territories with more than $60 million to date. However, resources for the Fund fall drastically short of the vast demand.

For the current grant cycle alone, the Fund was able to meet less than three percent of the demand. A total of 1,643 applications with grant requests totalling $857 million were received.

The Secretary-General’s campaign UNiTE to End Violence against Women includes a specific target of raising $100 million annually for the UN Trust Fund by 2015, in recognition of the urgent need to address violence against women and the Fund being a pioneering inter-agency initiative to advance progress on the ground to respond to this pervasive human rights violation.

The new UN Trust Fund grantees will spearhead pioneering approaches worldwide.

Programmes In Turkey, the Mother Child Education Foundation will model a highly innovative programme engaging fathers in the prevention of gender-based violence within the family, while the Jordanian Women’s Union will establish the first regional non-governmental organization (NGO) network in Egypt, Jordan and Morocco to tackle trafficking and protect women migrant workers’ rights.

Acid Survivors Trust International will pilot groundbreaking strategies for ending acid burning against women in Cambodia, Nepal and Uganda, while the Beijing Cultural Development Centre for Rural Women in China will develop protection mechanisms for girls “left behind” and at risk of sexual abuse in the countryside, while their parents work in urban centres.

In Peru, the Asociación de Comunicadores Sociales Calandria will empower rural adolescent girls to become leaders in the anti-violence movement. The Women United Together of Marshall Islands will strengthen domestic violence legislation and protocols, ensure enactment of culturally sensitive laws, and establish a gender responsive national policy.

In Burundi, the Ministry of Human Rights and Gender will focus on sexual and domestic violence, with an emphasis on prevention of violence in schools, while the UN Country Teams in Belarus, Sri Lanka and Indonesia will support multi-sectoral interventions to enforce national laws addressing violence against women and girls.

— Courtesy of Unifem Website

Women in Democratic Republic of Congo running away from the war. Many women in the country have been victims of sexual violence as the country fails to achieve relative peace, soldiers and rebels as well as peace keepers are using rape as a weapon of war. Picture: From UNHCR website

L

ast year the African Union declared this decade, 2010-2020, the African Women’s Decade.

Between July 30 and August 4, 2010 nearly 500 women and girls, and some boys and men, were raped in and around the village of Luvungi in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in a campaign of the ongoing terror waged by armed groups who use rape as a weapon of war. To date, armed groups and soldiers from the Congolese armed forces have raped over 200,000 women.

The UN Secretary General, Mr Ban Ki Moon’s Network of Men Leaders and members of the MenEngage Alliance and the Athena Network call on the African Union, its regional bodies and member states to take urgent action to demonstrate their commitment to ensuring that this decade improves women’s lives and brings an end to the endemic violence faced by women and girls across the continent, especially in the DRC.

State commitments The announcement by African heads of state that 2010 to 2020 would be the decade of the African Women was met with hope and excitement. The announcement followed a decade in which African heads of state signed numerous commitments to ensure protection for women from sexual violence in situations of armed conflict and to increase women’s leadership and involvement in peace-building in conflict and post-conflict settings. These binding commitments include the 2005 Maputo Protocol, United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 on Women, Peace and Security in October 2000, and UNSCR 1820, which addresses

the issue of sexual violence in conflict, in June 2008.

The United Nations has acknowledged that its MONUSCO forces failed in their peacekeeping mandate and did not do enough to respond to warnings issued by villagers about impending attacks. The UN has committed itself to doing things differently. They must now act on those commitments.

To date, however, neither the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo nor the relevant regional bodies have issued statements condemning the violence. The African Union has been silent and so have the Southern African Development Community, the East African Community and the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region, which just last November held a meeting to address sexual violence in the Great Lakes region.

Members As members of the UN Secretary General’s Network of Men Leaders to the United Nations UNiTE to End Violence Against Women campaign and as members of the global MenEngage Alliance active in over 40 countries, and members of the Athena Network, advocating for gender equity in the global response to HIV and AIDS, we call on the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the African Union, SADC, the EAC, the ICGLR and the United Nations to take immediate and urgent action to hold accountable the perpetrators of this violence and to take measures to prevent such violence from occurring ever again.

Specifically, we call on the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the African Union, its regional bodies the

SADC, the EAC, the ICGLR, its member states and the United Nations to do the following: 1. Provide immediate health care, and support to survivors of rape and to those affected by violence.

2. Take swift action to arrest and prosecute those responsible for the attacks, including those involved in planning, sanctioning and colluding with the attacks. As a state actor, the DRC Military, or FARDC, must be held to the commitments made by the DRC government or face war crimes charges.

3. Substantially increase the numbers of peacekeeping troops on the ground.

4. Take women’s and children’s experiences and priorities into account in planning and monitoring protection measures, including confidential consultation, feedback and complaints mechanisms and adequate representation on security committees and other community protection bodies.

5. Develop programmes and policies, including mass media and community education campaigns that challenge the stigma faced by survivors of rape 6. Develop programmes and policies that educate men about women’s and girls’ rights and challenge notions of manhood that contribute to rape and domestic violence.

7. Accelerate engagement with non-state armed groups in the DRC to demand that they uphold international law and cease using rape as a weapon of war and other human rights violations against civilians.

Courtesy of www.genderjustice.org.za

6

Issue Number 11 • November 2010

Decade launched on platform of high expectations …By Joyce Chimbi

S

ince the first International Women’s Conference held in Mexico in 1975, the women’s movement has come a long way. Although major strides have been made towards gender equality, a lot still needs to be done especially in Africa.

In Kenya, as is the case with many African countries, women account for more than half of the population yet their presence is yet to be felt in key positions of leadership and decision making. The political arena has remained hostile as the patriarchal system of socialisation has made the terrain too rough and uneven for women.

The economic sector is not any better even though women account for more numbers in terms of providing labour, they remain unseen at the managerial level.

It is against this backdrop that Kenya, picked by the African Union, launched the African Women’s Decade. The country will also act as the secretariat to the Decade. Through the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Development, Kenya hosted the significant forum under the theme “Grassroots Approach to Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment”.

The Conference was officially opened by Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka in a landmark moment that urged women to continue forging ahead towards gender equality.

The African Women Decade culminated in a five day conference where its key thematic areas presented an opportunity for gender experts and activists to undertake consultations to ensure that it will succeed in achieving its objective.

Held at the Kenyatta Internation-

al Conference Centre (KICC) from October 11 to 15, the Decade brought together slightly over 2,000 delegates from the continent and in the Diaspora including 700 women from the grassroots.

The event was graced by the Vice President of the Gambia, Dr Isatou NjieSaidy, who is the outgoing chair of the Gender and Women’s Affairs Ministers as well as Vice President of Zimbabwe Mrs Joice Mujuru. Also present were the first ladies of various countries who included Penehupifo Pohamba of Namibia, Ethel Mutharika of Malawi and Olive Kabila of Democratic Republic of Congo.

Although the President of Liberia, Mrs Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was expected to attend, she sent a representative.

Progress Kalonzo emphasised that Kenya had made great strides towards gender equality by ensuring the Affirmative Action clause was entrenched within the Constitution and “that there were special seats specifically reserved for women”.

He said: “The Government of Kenya is committed to the development of men, women, boys and girls and that the country would actualise gender equality by accelerating implementation of the Dakar Declaration and Maputo Protocol.”

His sentiments were echoed by the Minister for Gender, Children Affairs and Social Development Dr Naomi Shabaan who said glaring gender gaps still exist and that women are grossly misrepresented in decision making positions.

However, Shabaan reiterated that even though remarkable progress had been made, more work needed to be done.

Kalonzo called for women’s economic empowerment and urged that small business enterprises targeting women should be a means of entering big league business.

He said health must be addressed from a gender perspective because the health of a woman is also the health of a nation and the “collective health to the African personality”.

Speaking on the African Union Gender policy, Kalonzo emphasised that the member states should show more commitment to promoting social, political and economic progress for all and more so for women who continue to be marginalized.

The Vice President was applauded when he urged the delegates to

Delegates from different African countries during the African Women’s Decade Conference. Below: Minister for Gender, Children Affairs and Social Development Dr Naomi Shabaan gives her speech at the launch. Pictures: Correspondent.

count on him as a committed gender equality champion who was keen to ensure that women were empowered to take up positions and opportunities that would help them move forward in various ventures.

Discrimination The African Decade presented an opportunity for the continent’s women to draw the attention of their governments to the fact that women still suffer from gross discrimination due to customs and practices that continue to undermine and oppress them.

“We are challenging policy and key decision makers to work with us in creating an environment that guarantees women have access to the same opportunities as men. This should, however, not be mistaken as a battle between men and women

or as women competing with men,” said a delegate.

She added: “It is simply a call for all stakeholders to help the African woman lead a more dignified and fulfilling life. The face of poverty, HIV and morbidity continue to be that of a woman, we want that to stop.”

The Decade launch marked the beginning of a journey that expects to see the African woman rise to the next level.

This was beautifully captured in a song by the State House Girls High School who said that the African woman rises to be the best that she can. And with that, the Conference was launched with pomp and colour on a platform of high expectations in the hope that this would be the beginning of a fruitful decade in the struggle for gender equality and women empowerment.

7

Issue Number 11 • November 2010

Working with men to end gender inequality and equilibrium they are looking for. Yet laws and policies have been in place. But laws and policies mean little if institutions and culture do not offer a conducive environment from which they can operate.

However, for Rev Mutava Musyimi, MP for Gachoka, the world must realise that when women struggle for fairness, justice and space they are fighting for health, balance, equilibrium and more oxygen in society.

A society that is not balanced is not sharing the air that it has equally and one side is left congested, unhealthy and lacking enough air.

“Instruments of socialisation and numbers are crucial to ensuring gender equality and women’s empowerment,” reiterates Musyimi.

…By Jane Godia

C

ultural and socialisation processes have affected the way women and men interact. In these processes gaps have been noticed where women have carried the burden of suffering inequality.

And as women seek to tilt the status quo, calls emerging indicate that women’s empowerment and gender equality cannot be achieved if women only speak to themselves. Calls for women’s deliberations to include men echoed all round the just launched Africa Women’s Decade 2010-2020.

Having been a Permanent Secretary under four women Cabinet Ministers, Dr James Nyikal lauded the fact that women were discussing important issues that needed action taken on them. However he regrets that women were only speaking to themselves.

Including men “I have been working with women and attending important meetings such as this one, but it is unfortunate that women do not include men in the process. It would bear fruits if women included men in their deliberations for there to be effective change.”

Echoing Nyikal’s sentiments was Mr Phillip Otieno of Men for Gender Equality Now. Otieno, a young man told a gathering at a side event that was discussing women in decision making that women must not sit

PS Ministry of Gender, Children Affairs and Social Development Dr James Nyikal consults with AU Director Women, Gender and Development Litha Musyimi- Ogana. Picture: Correspondent. alone but that they must also talk to men.

“Talk to men to take your progressive ideas forward. When working with boys and men look for partnerships without stigmatising them to bring them to the level of gender equality,” Otieno reiterates.

While culture has played a big role in the way gender equality has manifested, approach and gender cannot be divorced if women seek change. Justice Roslyn Naliaka Nambuye says the way women approach men in attempting to bring change is important.

She reiterates that men must also not forget that where a mother never sat back is the home that most disciplined men came from.

“Homes with the most disciplined men are the homes where mothers were steadfast and never sat back,” says Nambuye.

However, Otieno maintains that while changing old men might be a herculean task, women should start working with young men and boys.

“Women must redirect the way men are thinking which is dictated by their socialisation. They must demystify men’s fears.”

He elaborates: “Time has come to challenge cultural practices. Start with the person in the home, the move to institutional, then ideological respectively for there to be real change.”

Otieno says women must start by bringing change among younger men and boys by creating an awareness of gender equality among them.

“It is easier to teach a young boy than have an old man change.”

Women have been taken on a ride for too long. The launch of the Women’s Decade is a spring board in which the women can get the space

Rights Women must use culture, media, family, education and religion to fight for their rights. He poses: “How are we going to find our space in these places?”

Musiymi explains: “When we find our space, there will be health equilibrium and balance.”

All in all change can only be effectively felt if our socialisation processes change within our cultural set up.

The idea that men do not cry and that girls must cook and play with dolls will have to be demystified. Boys and young men must learn to share the platform with girls and young men.

This way they grow up knowing that the cake is there to be shared equally.

Decade key to gender equality and women’s empowerment have been adopted by the African Union, and which most importantly are geared towards the empowerment of both men and women.

None of these, however, can be achieved without the commitment of government. According to the Ministry of Gender, it is against this background that the Decade seeks to “urge the African government to allocate resources to gender equality programmes specifically women’s economic empowerment, increased access to agricultural land, farm inputs, credit, technology, markets and access to clean water as well as improve women’s health to reduce maternal mortality and to address HIV/ AIDS.”

…By Joyce Chimbi

I

n an event graced by dignitaries and delegates from across African Union member states, Kenya ushered in a 10-year campaign that is hoped will improve women’s condition in all sectors.

The campaign dubbed the African Women’s Decade is specifically focused on gender equality and women empowerment.

The launch of the African Women’s Decade, therefore, represents a significant re-birth in the women’s movement. The overall objective of the Decade is to improve the status of the African woman at the grassroots level as enumerated in the Decade’s thematic areas.

Themes

Gender equity The rationale behind this Decade is to have a ten year campaign to deliver gender equality, women’s advancement and the respect of women’s rights in Africa. This is key particularly for Kenya in light of the new Constitution.

According to the Ministry of Gender, Children Affairs and Social Development: “Critical to gender equality is the realisation of women’s rights as enshrined in the Maputo Protocol. The Protocol is a progressive and comprehensive instrument that guarantees women’s economic, social, political and civil rights.”

It is, therefore, important to note that the goal of this Decade is to accelerate ratification, domestication and resource allocation for imple-

Some of the women participants at the Decade Launch. The women were able to share best practices from across the globe. Picture: Correspondent mentation of gender equality related instruments.

This has been inspired by the need to ensure that governments make use of international instruments that they have already committed to.

Further, it is also a platform for capacity building, awareness raising and gender mainstreaming in order to promote the achievement of the goals stated in various Declarations, Protocols and Conventions which

To achieve these fundamental goals, the Decade will be guided by various themes such as that include: women and decision making, young women movements, health, maternal mortality and HIV/Aids and more significantly fighting poverty and promoting economic women’s empowerment and entrepreneurship.

As the estimated 3,000 delegates met and consulted at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre, it was an important forum to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment in Africa. It is also significant to note that Kenya will greatly benefit from hosting this launch.

Some of the benefits involve the fact that it will propel Kenya to review the progress made in the imple-

mentation of the international instruments. This is significant because the new Constitution makes reference to international instruments and by doing so recognises them as critical tools towards empowering the Kenyan citizen, and specifically the Kenyan woman.

It will also provide an opportunity for Kenya to ratify some of the laws like the Maputo Protocol as provided for in the new Constitution. This forum is also good for business opportunities for Kenya such as tourism and airline industry among others.

Participation This year has, therefore, been very significant to Kenya because it was only recently that the country promulgated a gender sensitive Constitution. It has also been given the opportunity to host a forum that begins a ten year campaign towards gender equality and women’s empowerment.

However, it is not enough that the Decade has been launched; women have been urged to be more proactive and to look out for opportunities that will facilitate gender mainstreaming. In Kenya for instance, this calls for women to be aware of the gender provisions in the new Constitution and to be conversant with ways in which they can participate fully in the implementation.

The launch was, therefore, critical because it was used as a platform for women to share best practices from across the globe. It is a good beginning and women are hopeful it will bear fruit.

8

Issue Number 11 • November 2010

A new beginning for African women …By Jane Godia

W

omen in Kenya have had two reasons to celebrate with a span of two months. The first came in August with promulgation of the new Constitution.

The second came in October with the launch of the African women Decade in Nairobi.

While one event is local and the other is continental, reference to the other cannot be avoided. And as women mark the beginning of a 10 year campaign for women’s political advancement and empowerment, reference to the new Constitutional dispensation cannot be avoided.

Giving the key note address at the launch of the Decade, President Kibaki reiterated the fact that women and girls have a right to live in dignity.

“Women and girls face special challenges which in many ways hinder their ability to realise their full potential,” Kibaki said.

New beginning While governments are aware of the challenges and even as more women are now aware of their rights, more needs to be done to realise women’s full potential.

Kibaki was, however, optimistic that the Launch of the African Women’s Decade 2010-2020 will mark a new beginning for an effective, focused and reenergised programme of empowering women.

Speaking at the same event, the African Union chairman and Malawi President, Mr Bingu wa Mutharika said the Decade launches a new chapter on women’s empowerment and gender equality. “By adopting the new Constitution, Kenya has shown that through dialogue you can set a new programme. Kenya has set herself on a new path,” said Mutharika.

Education How then can women’s empowerment be achieved?

Both Kibaki and Mutharika agree that education holds the key.

For Kibaki, education holds the key to unlocking many obstacles facing women and girls. “Even tough free and compulsory primary education is working in Kenya, the challenge remains with retaining and ensuring girls complete school.”

He added: “This challenge is pushed further by forced and early marriages among other socio-cultural influences. Kenya is working to ensure that girls remain in school to completion.”

At the same time, Kibaki reiterated, Kenya is working to ensure that education that is provided is devoid of gender biases and that the girl is able to fit in the job market that is not gender biased.

“Empowering girls requires that legislation is put in place which guarantees that she has equal access to opportunities,” stressed Kibaki.

According to Mutharika Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) underscore women’s empowerment.

“There is need to increase women’s access to higher levels of education

to prepare them to take more responsibility in economic and governance decision making,” reiterated Mutharika.

He added: “There is need to have more women taking up responsibilities. Malawi is already doing and the enrolment of girls to boys is at par.”

Lack of women’s empowerment and gender inequality has left women suffering and the developing world wallowing in poverty. The patriarchal society in Africa which looks at women as being inferior to men has greatly contributed to feminisation of poverty.

There is need to educate society that women are equal to men and there should be no discrimination in terms of governance and economic activities.

Delayed efforts In many cases the social status of a woman will determine the type of economic activity she will be engaged in. In this case, women who do not have a level of education or those who have only gone upto primary school are the lowest level. While education is key in realising MDGs Africa has been accused of lingering behind in meeting the targets.

According to Dr Asha Rose Migiro, the United Nations Deputy Secretary General, Africa must not be afraid of gender equality and women’s empowerment “because as we empower women it trickles down to men and boys”.

“We must work to empower the African woman and girl and work towards achieving MDGs. We must ensure girls contribute equally to the society of tomorrow,” she said.

Action

Migiro reiterated that the continent must move from commitment to action and that the launch of the Decade calls for advocacy and consultations.

“The Decade should be used as an opportunity to accelerate women’s empowerment. Even though we have challenges on the way, these can be overcome with meaningful gender budgeting and planning,” Migiro reiterated.

She added: “Human capacity must be built to ensure women and girls are involved in key decision making.”

But according to Mutharika, as we fight for women’s empowerment we must also question how far we have gone and what needs to be done.

“Women are still struggling but as we launch the women’s decade hard questions need to be asked and answered. What has been done before?

What is new in the Decade? What suggestions are coming out?’ posed Mutharika.

For Mutharika MDG 1, which seeks to eliminate extreme poverty will only be realised if it remains the agenda of our talk.

From top: President Kibaki officially launches the African Women’s Decade as local and international dignitaries look on. Minister for Gender, Children Affairs and Social Development Dr Naomi Shabaan shares a light moment with Namibia’s First Lady Penehupifo Pohamba. Pictures: Correspondent.

Mutharika said: “We must invest finances for women to do better and be able to stand on their own two feet. We must also get rid of barriers to women’s access to finance and remodel strategies.”

He challenged African leaders to look for a conducive environment for African women to access credit.

As Kibaki said women can only be empowered through increasing their participation in decision making at all levels.

“Expanding the role of women in the political arena will enable gender mainstreaming in the challenges facing women and girls.”

Kibaki reiterated that the new Constitution gives women greater

“Empowering girls requires that legislation is put in place which guarantees that she has equal access to opportunities.”

— President Kibaki.

opportunity to participate in decision making and devolved structures of government. This is one of the thematic areas that the Decade seeks to mitigate within the ten years.

“With the new Constitution 15 percent of the national budget will go to local levels to enhance economic growth and this resonates with the Decade’s themes.”

AU support The African Union committed itself during this time to support one project per country per theme during this Decade. According to the chairman of the African Union Commission Mr Jean Ping the AU is calling for a move from declarations to commitment.

The Commission has asked each state to set up national committees that will identify viable projects within the grassroots and the Commission will fund one project per theme per year.

“There will be 53 projects for each

of the 10 years and by the end of the decade there will have been 530 projects,” Ping said. He added: “The projects will require additional support and we are appealing to development partners to contribute generously to the projects fund.”

Pledge And as the Decade began its long journey that will span ten years, Kibaki, Mutharika the UN and AU all vowed to give it total support and ensure that women’s dreams are realised. “I pledge to support the realisation of the African women’s Decade,” Mutharika reiterated.

Migiro said: “gender equality is the pillar of the African Union and this is our chance to put the principle into practice. This Decade is the chance to implement solutions to challenges facing women.”

She added: “The UN will partner with the African Decade to promote interest of women and girls throughout the African continent.”

9

Issue Number 11 • November 2010

What next after launch?

A hard question that demands hard answers as CSOs suggest monitoring

…By Jane Godia

A

t the end of the 10 years after the launch of the African women’s Decade, it is expected that there will have been 530 projects implemented across the 53 African states.

Key issues Speaking at the launch of the Decade, the chairman of the African Union Commission Mr Jean Ping said member states had been asked to come up with national committees that will identify viable projects with the grassroots.

Even though each member state is expected to contribute one percent of their national budget to the kitty that will fund the projects, the issue of commitment remains key.

Many countries have been known to sign documents within the AU but keeping to their promise remains a challenge.

Mid-review Even as Ping said they hoped to achieve all the targets by the end of the Decade, the question of monitoring and evaluating what will be happening was loud and the audience demanded answers.

The Minister for Gender, Dr Naomi Shabaan urged the African Union chair, Dr Bingu wa Mutharika who is also the President of Malawi to allow

for a mid-term review of the Decade after five years.

“I hope that then in 2020 we will have something to celebrate,” Shabaan reiterated.

Nigeria’s First Lady, Dame Patience Goodluck in a speech read on her behalf by Mrs Hajia Amina Sambo, wife of the country’s vicepresident said: “the Decade should avail a platform to work out modalities to champion women’s issues and ensure they are able to occupy elective decision making positions.”

Accountability However, on the home front there are calls for close monitoring of the Decade so that it is not just hot air being blown on women’s faces.

Ms Deborah Okumu, Executive Director Caucus for Women’s Leadership said in Kenya the projects will be identified by the Ministry of Gender. However, she said the ministry structure does not make it accountable to the women’s movement.

“Kenya will gain by the fact that the Decade Secretariat will be based in Nairobi. It will have to lead by example and since each country is expected to put part of its budget to support implementation, it will be action oriented.”

However, Okumu maintained that there has to be a powerful evaluation for reporting. “This way those who have not implemented will be put to account like it is done in the Commission on the Status of Women within the United Nations system,” Okumu stressed.

She observed: “The Decade needs closer coordination and realisation that it is for the good of all and this was further heightened by the big presence of women from the grassroots.”

She called on civil society organisations to push for the monitoring part and demand that African union has a forum every year to ensure that what it promised is being fulfilled.

But the Executive Director Co-

“The Decade is grassroots. Governments are there to give money. However, the grassroots will monitor if they have given the one percent of their budget to the gender desk to give money for grassroots work to be done,” — Mary Njeri

alition of Violence Against Women (COVAW) Ms Mary Njeri said the Decade is a grassroots project and priorities must be engaged from there.

Grassroots “The Decade is grassroots. Governments are there to give money.

However, the grassroots will monitor if they have given the one percent of their budget to the gender desk to give money for grassroots work to be done,” Njeri said.

She added: “what we need to do is organise our priorities as a country. We cannot do all the 10 themes but we need to tap into AU resources. We need to prioritise one theme and see if it goes with the big agenda of the African women’s Decade.”

The same sentiments were echoed

by Isabella Karanja, executive director of National Council of women who said the women’s movement must ensure it holds the government accountable for actualisation of the Decade.

“Since the Decade has a grassroots approach, we must educate women at the grassroots so they are able to hold the government accountable,” Karanja reiterated.

She urged women’s CSOs to have their own meeting to chart the way forward.

The AU is government. CSOs must have a forum from which they

Women engage during break at the African Women’s Decade launch. Women at the grassroots need to be educated to hold governments accountable.

Picture: Correspondent.

will engage the government and make it accountable,” Karanja reiterated.

Sensitisation However, she called on Kenyan women to grab the opportunity to actualise benefits of the new Constitution since the government has now ratified the Maputo Protocol.

The leader of the largest women’s organisation in Kenya, Maendeleo ya Wanawake Organisation, Mrs Rukia Subow said this is the time to do a lot of sensitisation on women’s rights.

“The presence of many women from the grassroots was important since they gained from the deliberations that went on,” she said.

Partnership While appreciating the idea of funding projects, Subow said the AU project is better but one organisation is small. She called on other development partners to chip in so there can be multiplicity of projects being funded.

However, she said since the AU has representatives in women’s organisations, they will be monitoring what is going on.

“The Maendeleo ya Wanawake is a member a member of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the AU and with International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) we will be talking to them,” Subow reiterated.

10

Issue Number 11 • November 2010

Holding the leadership baton Rachel Shebesh pioneers generational handover as Africa embraces new face …By Rosemary Okello

F

or many women, the launch of the African Women’s Decade 2010-2020 in Kenya by the Africa Union heralded a new beginning.

With it, the continent’s women will have space to influence discourse and debate on gender equality and women’s empowerment.

They will also be able to prioritise gender issues for mainstreaming at all levels of development.

For Kenya, the Decade launch marked a new dawn. For the first time in the country’s history, the older generation publicly bequeathed their leadership role to the younger generation, by handing over the leadership torch to Ms Rachel Shebesh, in a symbolic sign of passing the baton to.

“This has never happened in the history of this country and normally when younger women enter the leadership of women’s movement, they start like a stream entering into a big river and flow with the momentum,” says Ms Deborah Okumu, Executive Director of Caucus for Women Leadership.

Responsibility For Rachel, this is not only a big honour but also a huge responsibility. For the 39 year old Nominated Member of Parliament, the idea was very noble. “It signified so many things for me but most of all it demystified the myth that women are their worst enemy,” says Shebesh.

For the MP, the symbolic ceremony of passing over the torch to her as the face of the younger generation is a big statement not only to the older generation who always think that politics belongs to them, but also to the younger generation to start being part of the country’s leadership.

“When Mama Jane Kiano gave me the torch, it spoke volumes and I wish to assure the older generation that I will not fail them. The leadership bestowed upon me and my peers will take to the next level the hard work they have done in the history of Kenya.”

For Kenyan women, the passing over the torch reaffirms that need for the younger generation to start being part of the democratic process especially with the new dispensation through the new Constitution which has many opportunities for women.

“For us to reach this stage, where older generation can publicly confer leadership, it has taken a lot of consultations and years of preparation,” says Shebesh. She explains: “There had been a conversation among the older generation especially when they realised that there was a disconnect between the old

and young generation and that there was no meaningful mentorship taking place. I must thank the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Development for organising this event which will become part of the historical discourse of women’s organising in Kenya.”

For Shebesh the bold step taken by the older women was also meant to send a strong statement to the country’s leadership especially men that time has come for the younger generation to be engaged in leadership issues.

This is because for the longest time in Kenya and other parts of Africa, those aged 35 and below have never been given space. There has been concern on how the “older generation” operates and the way they do things.

There has been a definite disconnect and gap between older and younger generations.

Even though in the past decade, Kenya has had the younger generation at the forefront in championing for democracy through the new Constitution, there have been more noticeable differences between the generations today than ever before. There has been no meaningful ascension to leadership especially in the political front.

This despite the fact that within the private sector many younger people are making a mark as leaders in their own right. All over the world there has been a departure and things have changed so much as younger people are now being elected into the highest offices throughout the world.

Shebesh, is aware that the younger generation has got what it takes to take Kenya forward but she is worried that the women are not organised in a manner that is able to sustain the leadership into the next level.

“The way women’s issues are being handled by the various women organisations is more programmatic rather than raising the consciousness of women and the public in general on the role of women as leaders,” says Shebesh.

She adds: “There needs to be mobilising of women into a movement where they can use their critical numbers to open space for engagement.”

The MP is of the opinion that there is need to create a process where women can be part of the country’s leadership discourse, especially

“I

now when the implementation of the new Constitution is in earnest.

“The women of Kenya have to be careful so as not to lose out in the process knowing very well that we are coming from a weaker position,” she warns.

Women engagement

Aware that a lot of civic education needs to be done around the Constitution, especially for women so that they are able to internalise opportunities for them in the new law, Shebesh is worried that women’s engagement should go beyond just advocating for numbers. She reiterates that the time has come for them to start engaging with the political parties.

“The new Constitution has made political parties stronger and for women, especially the younger generation, if one wants to get into any political leadership there is need to start engaging with the political parties.”

Promising to make a difference when it comes to younger generation and leadership as the Nominated Member of Parliament Rachel Shebesh during torch bearer, Shebesh says: “I an interview.

Picture: Correspondent. want the torch to have a meaning to many young people who see politics as dirty and would generation. It will be the focal point to monirather concentrate in their professional ca- tor how the new Constitution is being implereers. I would like it to be the symbol of leader- mented from a gender perspective. She hopes ship for younger people and to make sure that to have the office hosted at the Ministry of everyone is engaged in charting a new path Gender, Children and Social Development. of leadership where the older generation will Even though Shebesh is aware of the dauntwork hand in hand with the younger genera- ing task, she is ready for it. For someone who tion.” cut her teeth into politics through her father’s Her main agenda as she carries the hercu- mentorship she has learnt her lessons on leadlean responsibility that has been placed on her ership and also realised that engagement with shoulders is to start a taskforce on women’s grassroots women is the way into national leadership in Kenya. leadership.

The taskforce will involve all the women’s As patron of Vision Sisters, an organisation organisations and will include the younger which brings together over 3,000 slum women, Shebesh says: “Grassroots approach in engaging women into leadership will help both the young and old to be part of the Counties’ leadwould like it to be the symbol of leadership for younger ership and make sure that women form the people and to make sure that everyone is engaged in critical numbers.”

She is positive that in the next five years charting a new path of leadership where the older that Kenya will benefit from the women’s leadership and that in national politics, poligeneration will work hand in hand with the younger ticians will stop using women as projects for generation.” votes but instead as partners in national de— Rachel Shebesh velopment.

Time for change as young generation takes over the mantle …By Jane Godia

T

he struggle for women’s empowerment has been long and tedious.

As the African Women’s Decade was launched in Nairobi, the global spotlight could not help looking at how far women have come and the suffering they have had to endure.

Speaking at the launch of the Decade, Dr James Nyikal, Permanent Secretary Ministry of Gender, Children and Social development had to mention the women who have led in the struggle. The women who include Phoebe Asiyo, Jane Kiano, Prof Miriam Were, Zipporah Kittony, Wilkista Onsando, Dr Julia Ojiambo and Nyiva Mwendwa.

These older women joined the rest of the continent in celebrating the African Women’s Decade. They also handed over the leadership mantle to the younger women led by Nominated MP Rachel Shebesh and Tsha Nswaliswali of Swaziland.

“The older women are giving the leadership mantle to the younger women to carry forward,” Nyikal said.

This was done in a symbolic ceremony, which was as a way of showing appreciation to the older women who have given a lot to the women of Africa.

Speaking on behalf of older women, Jane Kiano said: “This is a great day for the women of Africa as we hand over the torch to our daughters. We will not leave them alone. We

will walk with them and guide them. The men of Africa should do the same.”

Solidarity The meeting brought together over 2,000 women who included 700 from the grassroots.

Messages of solidarity for the African women came from all over the world.

Speaking when he opened the ministerial session of the meeting, Prime Minister Raila Odinga lauded women who have made a difference including Nobel Laureate Wangari Maathai and Africa’s first woman president Ellen Sirleaf Johnson of Liberia.

“The gains being experienced are as a result of tireless efforts by women of Africa working in concert with government and

non-government organisations, with gender sensitive men and other key partners.

The journey has not been an easy one but we know that any journey worth making, is not always easy.”

Raila regretted that despite the gains, a number of things still hold women back. The Prime minister urged the women to review work done by experts, as it will help in the promotion of gender equality.

“I urge you to pay close attention to financing for gender equality which has been a great challenge to many African nations. It is time to consolidate the gains made by African women and intensify efforts to reach global and regional targets for gender equality in the next decade and beyond.”

11

Issue Number 11 • November 2010

Through the eyes of grassroots women

…By Ruth Omukhango

T

he just ended African Women’s Decade Conference in Nairobi not only provided a time for women to review progress made in the struggle for gender equality and for them to come up with strategies to accelerate efforts to advance the status of women in the region, it also created an opportunity to empower grassroot women in the region.

While experts sat behind closed doors to deliberate on strategies for the next 10 years, grassroots women took it upon themselves to map out their local strategies and network on how to move the women’s agenda forward.

Interaction According Ms Dorothy Awino Jumba, Women’s Assembly coordinator in Kisumu representing Caucus for Women’s Leadership, the conference gave women space to interact beyond Kenya’s borders and therefore bring out the fact that the challenges faced by women remained the same across the board.

“The conference has brought us to a realisation that the time for lamenting is over and we need to focus on change,” said Jumba.

She emphasized that grassroots women need to focus on opportunities that will bring them gains while using the threats as ladders to success.

These sentiments were echoed

by Ms Susan Chebet from Eldoret who said that the thought of using grassroots approach in empowering women was very good.

However, Chebet regretted that most of the grassroots women did not get to know the contents of the Nairobi Declaration which was read in French because they did not have

access to the translation gadgets.

“It is like the grassroots women will not be able to contribute meaningful to the Decade because they did not get to know what was contained in the Nairobi Declaration.

The Decade was held under the theme: Grassroots Approach to Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment.

Like Jumba, many other grassroots women confirmed the conference motivated them because they were able to interact with different regions and to identify themselves with peers from different regions and countries and deliberate on the same issues regardless of the levels of development.

The grassroots women are optimistic that the Women’s Decade will be a boost to their empowerment by ensuring that they are fully represented and actively involved in all platforms of decision making. They hope they will get the space to speak and contribute directly to addressing issues that affect them.

According to Susan Owino, a women’s leader from Migori, it is a good idea that the launch of the Decade was done in Nairobi. However, she regretted that the organisers appeared not to be prepared as most grassroots women were not able to access materials and there was a lot of confusion over where parallel events were being held.

“At first we were told to go to the tents only for them to change to

Women in a celebratory mood during the launch. Grassroot women took it upon themselves to map out their local strategies and network on how to move the women’s agenda forward.

Picture: Correspondent.

rooms but without conveying the information to the women,” lamented Owino.

However, all these women agreed that the conference brought the realisation that women have to make deliberate efforts to harness all opportunities that come their way. They must come up with initiatives that will engage men at the grassroots level. “These must include elders and religious leaders to contribute to the promotion of gender equality at the household and community level.”

There were over 2,000 delegates representing civil society organisations and women leaders from grassroots organisations coming from 53 African countries. Grassroots women made it clear that for them to achieve what the Decade stands for, they have to enhance and harness power from within the community level which includes family level, before moving up the ladder to the counties and national levels.

“We have realised that similarities are not equalities and we should tap on the strength of men to bring a balance of growth. This means tapping on comprehensive leadership at all levels,” explained Jumba.

Despite the enthusiasm, the women also queried the level of in-

“We have realised that similarities are not equalities and we should tap on the strength of men to bring a balance of growth. This means tapping on comprehensive leadership at all levels.”

— Dorothy Awino Jumba

teraction during the deliberations and urged for a team of experts to breakdown the policy issues into manageable portions that can be understood by ordinary women.

Owino called on women from different regions to get together and breakdown the thematic areas to their local situations.

“Coming from Nyanza, I suggest that women from the region come together so they are able to understand the thematic areas and see how they can take charge of the issues raised,” she advised.

They were eager to voice that most rural women know what they want and are capable of vying for political posts. All they need is for the myths to demystified and this can only be done by professional women leaders.

Financial aid The same sentiments were echoed

by Ms Grace Nduyo, national coordinator of the National Council of Women of Kenya (NCWK) representing Upper Eastern and Tharaka districts in Meru region. Nduyo pledged to make a difference by creating awareness around the Women’s Enterprise Fund which is expected to empower women financially.

Nduyo, was nominated as a Councillor in 2002. She later vied for the Parliamentary seat in Tharaka Constituency but did not make it and, therefore, of lack of support from the women. “In my area women do not believe women can be leaders and they would rather vote for a man than a woman.”

She laid emphasis on the fact that she will strive to change the

mindsets of women that women are capable leaders.

“We did not know that the Government has over KSh2 million for women’s groups and my duty will be to organise the women’s groups to get this money and be empowered,” explained Nduyo.

Besides the plea to provide civic education on the provision of women in the new Constitution, Nduyo also challenged the Government even in the new dispensation to empower women by opening a women’s bank which can finance and empower women at all levels.

Owino from Nyanza echoed the same sentiments. She said that women were asked tap into the funds available from the Women’s Enterprise Fund.

“It was the first time that women from Nyanza were encouraged to come together and not fear taking loans,” reiterated Owino.

However, in looking at the way forward Owino said it is important that women and the Government come together to see how the funding being offered by the African Union will be utilised.

Strategies She however lamented that it did not come out clearly to the women on what strategies the funding will be availed and where the fund will be based.

Chebet also called for genuine women from the grassroots to be part of the national committees that will select projects.

“Let us have genuine grassroots women who will genuinely advocate for women’s goals,” urged Chebet.

12

Issue Number 11 • November 2010

Common market poses challenges to women traders

…By Michael Oongo

W

hile previously traders at the Kenya Uganda border used panya (illegal) routes to get goods across the border, things have changed for the better.

Those who were previously suffering and hiding, while looking for boys to carry goods for them across the border are heaving a sigh of relief.

However, they fear that things might not look as rosy as they sound.

Ruth Ogolla and Isabella Njeri are both women traders at the border town of Busia. They had been doing small scale business for years before they established what they have now.

Asked what they thought of the common market protocol, they expressed fears for the small scale traders, majority of whom are women.

Panya routes While things have changed along the border, Ogolla established a business that did not require using panya (illegal) routes to get to customers.

The East African Common Market Protocol established through the East African Community poses a challenge to many women who are doing small-scale businesses along the region’s borders.

“My fear for the open market is that it is likely to drive small scale traders out of business because our Ugandan customers will now access goods from Nairobi without necessarily sourcing for them through us.”

She is also worried about the diversity of currencies used to trade in the region between Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi. Currently, even though the trade is conducted using the dollar as the universal currency, the exchange rate of the local currencies varies to the disadvantage of Kenyan business people.

“It is very difficult doing business with Ugandans at the border because they demand that they buy from us using their own money which is much weaker than the Kenya currency,” she argues.

For instance, she notes, KSh100 is exchanged at USh2,800 but when

you change this into Kenya shillings the same will give KSh80. “This puts Kenyan business people at a disadvantage in cross border business,” explains Ogolla.

“The common market can only be worthwhile for us if the member states introduce a common currency under one central bank to facilitate smooth transaction of business between the states,” she advises.

Ogolla’s sentiments are echoed by Njeri, who runs a retail shop and operates an Mpesa agency opposite the customs yard at the border town.

“When you sell your goods in Ugandan currency, you are likely to make a huge loss because our currency is stronger than theirs hence when they sell to us and we pay for their goods either using our currency or theirs,” she observes.

Traders at the border also complain of constant harassment by security personnel in both Kenya and Uganda who demand bribes even for very small items one crosses the border with.

“It is true that most traders are still giving bribes to these security officers because they are ignorant of the protocol treaty,” says Njeri. She adds: “There is need for awareness creation among the small scale traders doing cross border business.”

From a small beginning of selling commodities across the KenyaUganda border town of Busia in 1978, today Ogolla stands out as one of the most successful business women by the local standards, thanks to hard work, persistence and determination.

“I was born and brought up in a business family so I learnt the ropes quite early in life,” says Ogolla who owns Busia Villa Hotel and a fancy residential mansion along the Kisumu-Busia highway.

Ogolla, a mother of eight has weathered tough business chal-

lenges to reach where she is today.

Sheer persistence and hard work are the virtues that have propelled her.

She advises women to consider venturing into business not to be faint hearted.

“I started my business with very little capital but I have managed to build it up through savings and borrowing from commercial,” Ogolla told the KenyanWoman.

To get where she is today was not easy. She has done all sorts of businesses across the common border especially dealing in consumer commodities such as cooking fat, sugar, bread, wheat flour and sodas which have been in high demand in Uganda.

“I started my business at a time when the relationship between Kenya and Uganda was not cordial and we had to sneak goods through middlemen to reach customers on the other side of the border,” explains Ogolla.

Although business was good then, all those trading along the border had to contend with the risks involved considering the hostility by both the Kenyan and Ugandan security personnel who had to be bribed frequently to allow goods through.

“We endured all these and somehow with help from my husband, Mr Wilson Ogolla Olendo, I managed to put up this hotel in early 1990s,” she said during the interview at her hotel, the Busia Villa.

It is from this business that she has been able to educate her children.

Her children have attained university education; one is a lawyer while the other one is a banker.

“Currently I have three children in local universities; two are in the United Kingdom while one is at the Christian University in Uganda,” she says beaming with the pride. She encourages other women who would like to venture into business not fear the unknown.

“When you sell your goods in Ugandan currency, you are likely to make a huge loss because our currency is stronger than theirs” — Isabella Njeri

A truck carrying goods crosses over into Uganda at Malaba border point.

Women fear that the open market is likely to drive small scale traders like themselves out of business. Below: Isabella Njeri at her shop near the customs yard in Busia town. Pictures: Michael Oongo.

Ogolla was born in a business family. Her late father, Mr Omumbo Acholla was a prominent businessman in Kisumu and Siaya towns. She believes that for anybody to succeed in what they are doing, all the family members must be involved to ensure each and everyone plays a role in it.

“My late father involved all his children in his business and it was through this move that we managed to learn a lot about doing business,” she confides.

Ogolla has encouraged all her children to be part of their business. “There are many challenges in business but if you put your family together including the children and work as a team, they will grow up disciplined because it would inculcate in them a culture of hard work which is necessary in sustaining the business,” explains Ogolla.

Njeri who began her business in 1985 started by selling goods like wheat flour, cooking oil, plastic wares and sugar to Uganda using the panya routes to evade customs officials from both sides.

“Although we are carrying out what others thought was illegal business, it was good at the time because then Uganda had no factories to manufacture most essential consumer

goods after the economically devastating era of Dictator Idi Amin Dada who made industrialists flee the country,” she recalls.

Njeri and Ogolla encourage more women to join business because they believe it is the most effective way to empower themselves economically without being too dependent on their spouses.

Affirmative action Says Ogolla: “We are grateful that the Government is taking affirmative action on gender equity especially through the Constitution which has given more consideration to women in terms of representation in every sector of the economy.”

She adds: “Women are the pillar of the family and empowering them is like strengthening the whole family structure. Give a woman KSh100 and an equal amount to a man. The man will eventually drink the money while the woman will think of buying food for her children.”

Both women believe that women should be encouraged to venture into business by creating for them an enabling environment such as access to loan facilities and freedom to do business by their spouses without unnecessary hindrances.

13

Issue Number 11 • November 2010

Micro-finance seeks to enhance women’s economic independence

Mentorship plans for rural business women …By Ryan Mathenge

P

…By Ben Oroko

F

or many years, women from the Gusii community in the western Kenya have been victims of the community’s conservative land inheritance and ownership customary laws.

The laws have left them in a position that has continued to enslave them economically.

The age-old customary laws have for decades alienated and denied women from the community the right to inherit land from their spouses and fathers. The traditions have also denied them an opportunity access to bank loans for lack of collateral.

Self help group However, where there is a will there is a way and an idea whose time has come cannot be stopped.

Somebody somewhere heard the cries of Gusii women and change has been brought to their doorstep.

Those who have joined hands and organised themselves into self-help groups have a reason to smile. A local savings and credit co-operative (Sacco) society has introduced a micro-finance project through which women are now able secure loans on group collateral arrangements.

Wakenya Pamoja Sacco Society in partnership with Centre for International Development and Research (CIDR), a French-based non-governmental organisation, have come to the women’s rescue after successfully rolling out the first phase of the project in 2006.

This was done on a pilot scheme at the Sacco’s Ogembo Branch in Gucha District.

Women weeding a farm in Kisii. Women are getting together to form self-help groups to enable them access credit facilities. Picture: Ben Oroko

The project mostly targets vulnerable people and organised women’s groups whose efforts to secure bank loans and credits from major commercial banks to finance their businesses and other investments have been suppressed by lack of collateral.

Ms Agnes Moraa, 25, treasurer of Ebigeri Self-Help Group, Giasaiga Sub-location in Gucha District, says that apart from having an account with the Sacco, the conditions set for the groups to secure loans require that the beneficiaries must be in well organised self-help groups.

“They must also have experience in basic book-keeping and financial management skills especially management of merry-go-round members’ funds,” explains Moraa.

Describing the Sacco’s microfinance loans as a God-sent opportunity for women in the region, Moraa says their lives have been transformed at household levels by the micro-finance credits.

“I can testify that since our group members started accessing the micro-finance credit from Wakenya Pamoja Sacco Society, our lives have improved,” she says.

Moraa adds: “We have developed a culture of saving that has tremendously changed for the better.”

Besides facilitating the women members finance in micro-business investments, the loans have also empowered them to venture into horticultural farming activities that have transformed their living stan-

dards and improved their financial base at household levels.

Economic independence “At family levels, the loans have assisted the women to be self-reliant financially reducing cases of economic dependence on their spouses,” says Moraa.

Recruitment of group members is done by peers, people known to each other or one another for easy follow-ups in the management and repayment of the loans disbursed to the group members.

“The executive committee officials are mandated by the members to play an oversight role to ensure the loans disbursed are put into the intended projects to enable the members repay the loans promptly as per the agreement signed on their behalf between the group and the Sacco.

The group’s chairperson, Ms Jessica Mbaka says: “The members are taken through rigorous training on basic book-keeping and business management skills before they are allocated the first phase of the loans ranging between Sh3,000 to Sh7,000 depending on the recommendations from the group members at the plenary.

The amount of loans dispersed and repayments are designed to fit into the cash flow of the borrowing members to mitigate against defaulting by any of the Group members since the loans are secured on group collateral basis.

“The Sacco has immensely assisted local women in organised groups to secure micro-finance loans and

credit with ease to finance their businesses and projects,” explains Mbaka.

The loans have socio-economically empowered women in the rural areas, majority of who could not access micro-finance loans from commercial banks.

Conditions for securing loans from banks especially for women who are not in any formal employment has been very difficult because they demand for collateral, which is mostly a land title deed that the women do not have possession of.

“Unlike commercial banks where micro-finance loans are secured through collateral, groups identified to benefit from our Sacco’s micro-finance loans secure the loans on group setting collateral basis encouraging more women to apply for loans to finance their businesses with ease,” explains Mbaka.

Besides assisting women improve their living standards the loans have built the rural women’s capacity in poverty alleviation. However, Ms Annah Mong’ina, a member and a beneficiary of the micro-finance scheme admits it has been able enhance socioeconomic development at household levels and to the immediate communities.

Mong’ina observes: “Considering the important role women play in food security and poverty alleviation, the loans have brought majority of the women from the rural setting on board to contribute towards the campaign against rural poverty to spur socio-economic development in the country.”

rofessional businesswomen have launched a mentorship programme targeting rural based women.

The programme is educating the women on how to be successful in the various small scale businesses that they run.

Under the Business Entrepreneurship for Women Associations, the professionals have planned a countrywide programme to visit all the 47 counties educating grassroots women on how to interact with others in various parts of the country.

Association members led by chairperson Ms Joan Mwangi were at St James Cathedral Hall in Murang’a where they encouraged women to be ready to form business associations to gain from the increased trade opportunities. She also said they will be invited to participate in National and International Trade Fairs.

Mwangi said: “We are targeting women based in the rural set up to educate them on how they could add value to their products to fetch more return from the market.”

In Murang’a District, the association officials said they want to target those in the pottery trade owing to high demand of the ceramic products in the market.

“Clay soil in Murang’a is regarded as the best for those dealing with ceramic. We need to equip the potters with knowledge on how to add value to their end products for high gains,” explained Mwangi.

During the session, Murang’a mayor, Mr Joseph Njoroge lauded the association’s efforts in reaching the rural based women who had been neglected for years only to be exploited by middlemen.

“Women have played a major role in improving the economy in rural areas and adding more knowledge will make them soldier on,” said Njoroge.

Chairman of District Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mr Peter Kiguta reiterated how women continued to lead in establishing small scale business in the rural areas as men preferred being in urban centres.

“We have seen a great impact as women continue to perform better in the rural environment,” said Kiguta.

14

Issue Number 11 • November 2010

Making inroads in cane farming

…By Ajanga Khayesi

L

ong before the white man came to Kenya, those living by the lake region wouldgather food from the forests. Later, with the coming of the colonialists, women stayed in the village as their husbands worked in the white highlands of Nairobi, sending money back home.

This has since changed as the African woman has grabbed the family steering wheel with equal zeal as confirmed through a spot check in rural Nyanza. The women have turned to farm managers to increase family income, a move motivated by inflation that has triggered the upward rise in the cost of living.

Women leading The women are contributing towards upholding human life by reducing poverty levels through enhancing foodsecurity.

Ms Sarah Alego, from Guliago village, Chemelil Location, Muhoroni District, is one such woman who has been growing sugarcane to boost the family’s financial status.

She is one of the finest farmers whose farm activities are splendid in its formalities and captures a village woman’s interpersonal ambitions and symbolism.

Married to Mr Peter Juma Alego, Sarah started selling maize at the Chemelil market 12 years ago. She transformed the business proceeds into farming on the family land.

She initially tried to plant maize, sorghum, millet, sunflower and vegetables before putting her hands on sugarcane farming.

Alego’s farm lies three kilometres from Chemelil sugar factory and 500 meters off the Chemelil-Nandi Hills road. The farm lies on the lower foot of the Nandi Escarpments, cane cultivation requires tropical climate with a minimum of 60 centimetres of annual humidity. She manages 20 acres under sugarcane farming.

Farming process

though she has school going children. This forces her to hire on average ten labourers at KSh6,000 per acre for weeding which is done on monthly basis until the age of four months. Sugar cane matures for harvest after 18 months.

Once planted, the plant can be harvested several times if the farm is well managed and sustained. Jackline Omondi who assists Sarah says after each harvest, the cane sends up new stalks, called rations.

“Successive harvests give decreasing yields, eventually justifying replanting. Two to ten harvests may be possible between planting season,” explains Omondi. Whenever Alego faces financial constraints, she opts for support from the co-operative.

“During the next planting season, most farmers in the area approach the Chemelil Outgrowers Sugarcane CoOperative Society for loans in terms of materials such as tractors, fertilisers and transport among other inputs which are repaid during the cane sales at the factory,” explains Alego.

According to Alego, an acre of land in the region now yields 25 tonnes of cane. Once cut, the sugarcane begins to lose its sugar content and immediate disposal to the factory is necessary.

Harvesting programme “Before cutting, each farmer must inform the factory management about the harvesting programme which includes the day set aside for cutting mature cane,” Alego explains.

She adds: “The factory has put in place arrangements for people to cut, loaders and tractors to ferry the cane.

The factory costs for all the services offered are not free but are deducted from the payment after weighing the cane to rate the harvested tonnage.”

Despite lamenting about the KSh2,800 paid per tonne, and pocketing KSh2,000 after factory deductions, Alego concurs that the total amount paid is enough to boost the family income if well accounted for.

She says other factors that contribute to low yields include lack of incentives and subsidies from the Government and erratic rainfall that subjects farmers to plant in the months of April and August when abundant rains are experienced.

tween rollers to collect juices containing sucrose,” explains Omondi.

The remaining fibrous solids, called bagasse are burned for fuel energy.

The remains of cutcane on the farm have useful benefits to the farmer. The green stems and leaves are used as animal feeds while the dry stems are burnt as fuel energy in the kitchen. The mixture of animal wastes and parts of waste cane are heaped as compost manure.

After leaving subsistence farming for commercial enterprise, Alego looks at the agricultural sector as a profitable venture if farmers are given the necessary technical support in addition to implementation of agricultural policies to improve production.

For such large farms, tractors are hired for the ploughing, harrowing, levelling and trenching strips for the planting. Cane germinates from stem cuttings as the common reproduction method in the area. Each Transportation hand planted cane must contain at The harvested cane is transported least one bud. to the mills using heavy tractors that Alego fears consistent use of fercarry an average of 40 tonnes each. In tilizers and pesticides on the same the mills, a sugary juice is extracted land for many years reduces soil ferfrom freshly harvested cane, to form tility ‘because fertilisers add acidity white sugar for local consumption or making the end result as tired soils’. export.

Among women who comprise 80 “The mill washes, chops, and percent of agrarian reform beneficiauses revolving knives to shred the ries, the costly farm inputs including cane.

Shredded cane is repeatedly fertilisers, pesticides, labour and mixed with water and crushed bemarketing have drastically eroded Alego’s earnings.

She buys stem cuttings for planting from other farms at “The sales procure money KSh3,000 per tonne and each 25 kg bag of fertiliser at KSh2,500. for educating children and “During planting season, purchasing daily necessities to 50 tonnes of cuttings cost KSh150,000 and 50 bags of support family up-keep,” fertiliser at KSh125,000 are re—Sarah Alego quired,” explains Alego.

Sarah’s family is small al-

Income One major set back to sugar cane farmers is when the factory delays farmers’ payments thus causing uncertainty among the peasant villagers.

“The sales procure money for educating children and purchasing daily necessities to support family up-keep,” she says.

Channelling of Constituency Development Fund (CDF)

From top: Sarah Alego during the interview at her sugarcane farm. A tractor transporting harvested cane to the factory. Sarah Alego, Jackline Omondi (centre) and Daisy Achieng (right) tilling the farm.

Pictures: Ajanga Khayesi.

money or the introduction of Agricultural productive package to assist the poor in the community will go a long way in improving the livelihood of women in the sugar cane growing zones countrywide.

Alego recommends the mushrooming micro-financing institutions that support women activities.

She regrets that some husbands have

developed a habit of forcing their wives to surrender the loan to them which they instead use for leisure and entertainment with friends.

However, sugar cane farming shall continue to play a significant role in the agribusiness economy if efforts being put by people like Alego to fight poverty are picked up by other women.

15

Issue Number 11 • November 2010

The invaluable time of unpaid care givers

A

s billions of international dollars flow to Aids-affected countries in Africa, a new study conducted in six countries shows that tens of thousands of unpaid female caregivers between the ages of 20 and 49 routinely donate on average 69 hours per month to care for the sick and vulnerable — a donation of time worth millions of dollars each month.

The study, Compensation for Contributions: Report on Interviews with Volunteer Care-Givers in Six Countries, was conducted by caregivers, care giving organisations and the Huairou Commission in six countries to quantify unpaid labour contributions and highlight the gaps that exist between Aids policies and working conditions on the ground.

The countries studied were: Cameroon, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, South Africa and Uganda. Four of the participating groups were members of GROOTS International.

86 percent of volunteers in Kenya, South Africa and Uganda reported receiving some kind of training.

- Of those reporting having received training, 52 percent have had only once-off initial training before beginning their volunteer care giving work. In contrast, 15 percent receive ongoing weekly training. In Malawi, 94 percent of those who have received training received only once-off initial training. Over one-third — 36 percent — of all volunteers who received training were trained by the organizations they volunteer for. This was most common in Cameroon and least common in South Africa.

More than half, 51 percent, received training from other NGOs while 40 percent received training from government health services.

Training by government health services was most common in South Africa and least common in Cameroon.

Wages

Volunteers

Volunteers report that they are Calculating the number of hours responsible for between one and worked into wages in each country 150 households each, including the study found, for example, that those with supervisory responin Kenya where volunteers work an Pamela Adoyo consults with AIDS caregivers Ruth and Susan. Caregivers devote invaluable time taking sibilities. Almost all volunteers average of 24.4 hours per week, procare of HIV/AIDS patients at little or no pay. Picture: New American Media (96 percent) reported conducting fessional wages would translate into home visits.

KSh13,704 ($168.46) per caregiver The median number of ($1,282.23) while in South Africa, 22.2 government and donor recognition of carewhile Government wages would tally hours per week would translate into R780.44 givers’ relentless contributions to coping with households receiving care is four, with an KSh4,294 ($52.79). the HIV epidemic, including their vital work average of three people per household on “If we estimate the unpaid care labour force ($10182.05) monthly.”

Director of the Gender Team, Bureau for as community development change agents lo- anti-retroviral therapy and two who are ill in Kenya to be 16,000, the Government wage but not engaged in drug therapy. Most volscale per month to compensate these women Development Policy, UNDP Ms Winnie By- cally and globally.”

African leaders of the research initiative unteers also care for an average of four would be $844,640 and private wages would anyima said: “Caregivers understand that Aids be $2,695,360,” said Debbie Budlender, chief is not just a health concern but a complex de- were part of the Huairou Commission’s dele- orphans or other vulnerable children. velopment issue with local and global econom- gation at the International Aids Conference in More than half of volunteers engage in advoresearcher for the project.

Vienna, Austria where shared the research re- cacy public forums, train household caregivShe added: “In Malawi, where volunteers ic, human rights and gender implications.”

She added: “The findings from this study sults. They were also able to dialogue with key ers, organize and mentor orphans who are not work an average of 8.2 hours per week, monthly compensation would average MK1947.70 are an important platform for galvanising stakeholders on immediate actions that can be family members, and follow up on orphans’ school performance. taken to support home-based caregivers.

Less than 50 percent of volunteers search Roughly one-tenth of all volunteers interviewed have no formal schooling, with the for bursaries and schools for orphans and vulnerable children, distribute supplies from highest number, 22 percent, in Cameroon.

Roughly 2/3 of all volunteers have received NGOs and government, help widows reclaim 1. Only seven percent of volunteers are given a general stipend to help cover the time and monsome special training. The lowest rates of train- land and property, and undertake work for reey costs incurred while caring for patients. Twenty percent of volunteers in Uganda and 19 ing were found in Cameroon (30 percent) while ferral organizations.

Key findings

percent in South Africa receive stipends.

2.

A majority — 87 percent — reported incurring costs while doing volunteer work that is not compensated by the host organisation. This was least common Cameroon where 78 percent of volunteers reported incurring costs associated with care work.

3.

More than 3/4 — 75 percent — incur costs buying food for themselves while working or buying food for beneficiary households. Malawi’s volunteers are most likely to report these kinds of costs.

4.

Overall, 62 percent of volunteers reported spending money on other items for beneficiary households. In Malawi and South Africa, this number is as high as 80 percent.

5.

Twelve percent of volunteers receive money for food, with this being most common in Nigeria (28 percent).

6.

The most common form of compensation reported by volunteers (41 percent) is money to buy protective gloves. In South Africa, 81 percent of volunteers receive money to buy gloves as compared to only three percent in Cameroon.

7.

Fourteen percent of volunteers receiving money for clothing, 12 percent for transport. Nigerian volunteers are the most likely to receive compensation for clothing and transport.

8.

More than half of all volunteers — 55 percent —reported working at other jobs than earn them money. Engagement is additional work is most common in Kenya (80 percent), followed

by Uganda (72 percent) and Malawi (64 percent). South Africa has the least number of volunteers engaged in paid work.

9.

At least 25 percent are engaged in some kind of farming labour, 12 percent are involved in selling items and two percent are working for pay in other health-related work.

10. Overall, 54 percent of all volunteers across the six countries are members of savings merry-gorounds that are most common in Kenya and Uganda. No volunteers in South Africa said they were members of merry-go-founds.

11. Thirty-two percent of volunteers are members of income-generating projects, with the highest numbers in Cameroon, Malawi and Uganda.

Indonesia rejects plan to subject girls to virginity tests Bottom of Form …By AFP

T

he Indonesian government has dismissed a lawmaker’s proposal to force teenage schoolgirls to undergo virginity tests.

Women’s Affairs Ministry official Wahyu Hartomo said such tests would violate basic human rights and potentially harm the health of young women.

“That kind of test violates human rights and will have serious psychological impacts on students,” he told AFP. “It is more effective for our generation to receive moral education from their parents at home, especially with the (bad) influence from the Internet.”

“Lawmakers in Sumatra island’s Jambi province have agreed to drop the idea, which was proposed by local parliamentarian Bambang Bayu Suseno,” Hartomo said.

Suseno believes girls should be required to pass virginity tests before they can enter state-funded high schools, citing concerns over pre-marital sex among teenagers in the

Muslim-majority country.

“The idea is simple. Parents are obviously afraid of their daughters being deflowered before the time comes, so before they continue their studies they can undergo a virginity test and automatically protect their dignity,” he told The Jakarta Post newspaper.

Deflowering “Why are girls who lose their virginity allowed to go to public school?” he posed.

Indonesian officials are struggling to balance the country’s rapid modernisation, especially the runaway growth of Internet use, with traditional, mainly Muslim values.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has signed a controversial anti-pornography law, backed filters against online pornography and warned that a “frenzy” of Internet use could tear the nation apart.

Earlier this year police entered classrooms to check teenage students’ mobile phones for evidence they had downloaded celebrity sex clips that went viral on the Internet, causing a national scandal.

16

Issue Number 11 • November 2010

Major initiative to boost women’s health …By Duncan Mboyah

T

he Global Alliance for Clean Cook Stoves has been launched to help cut the estimated 1.6 million to 1.8 million premature deaths linked with indoor emissions from inefficient cook stoves.

The initiative will also make a contribution to reducing deforestation by curbing the large quantities of wood and other biomass used to make charcoal or by households switching to alternative fuels including cookers powered by solar energy.

In addition to meeting the health targets of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), especially among women and children who are often the most exposed to indoor air pollution, the Alliance may have wider and indeed global benefits.

Emissions The UN Under-Secretary-General and UNEP Executive Director, Mr Achim Steiner said inefficient cooking stoves are estimated to be responsible for approximately 25 per cent of emissions of black carbon, particles often known as soot, of which 40 per cent is linked to wood burning.

He noted: “The initiative offers an opportunity to also advance the science of black carbon as it relates to environmental change.”

Clean energy systems, including more efficient cook stoves, can be too expensive for the rural poor despite fuel savings and the multiple health and environmental benefits. A cook stove can cost $0.80 to $5 and in some cases

much more which can be too costly for someone living on less than $2 a day.

UNEP is already supporting a black carbon and cook stoves demonstration project called “Project Surya” in rural areas of India.

Surya aims to provide sustainable, effective and incentive-based action plans as well as infrastructure and technologies to switch to cleaner technologies such as efficient cooking stoves.

A pilot phase of Project Surya in India covers 500 households and a population of 2,500 people. The pilot phase, with Prof Veerabhadran Ramanathan as the Principal Investigator and The Energy Resource Institute (TERI) as the Indian implementing agency, tested several available commercial cook stoves for climate, health benefits and fuel efficiency.

They used specially designed cell phones capable of collecting and uploading data on pollutant exposure and cooking time periods as well as wireless technology, indoor air quality sensors and an outdoor climate monitoring tower.

Pilot phases of Surya are also being developed for other developing countries such as Bhutan, Nepal and Kenya.

It is hoped to link the declining emissions of black carbon, both indoor and outdoor, with the reduced impact on the regional climate as detected by the monitoring tower and satellites taking the pollution levels of the atmosphere.

The project is run by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Global Clinton Initiative and spearheaded by the UN Foundation. UNEP has around 10 years’ experience working with partners, including the

UN Foundation, in catalysing the penetration of renewable energy systems in developing countries.

The African Rural Energy Enterprise Development (AREED) — along with sister initiatives in Brazil and China, known as BREED and CREED, respectively — has also compiled a number of lessons learnt in terms of cook stoves.

AREED’s most successful project to date has been in Ghana where start-up funding and support has been provided to a local company called Toyola Energy.

The company manufactures a stove which uses charcoal 40 per cent more efficiently than conventional cook stoves.

By 2010 the company had supplied over 50,000 households in six regions of Ghana with improved energy-efficient stoves and expanded their market to neighbouring countries.

Pollution Indoor air pollution from biomass fuels has become a worldwide concern. The burning of biomass fuels in traditional stoves is an inefficient process which results in the release of heavy smoke containing large amounts of toxic pollutants such as carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, sulphur dioxide, aldehydes, dioxin, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and respirable particulate matter.

In Kenya, where 96 per cent of people lack access to grid electricity — wood and dung (biomass) provides over 75 per cent of all energy.‘ Clean fuel to cook the food that people eat, light for study and power to run tools for earn-

ing a living is almost nonexistent — and wood makes dangerous smoke which kills.

According to the World Health Organisation, wood smoke cause respiratory infections, lung disease, ear and eye problems, breathlessness, chest pains, headaches and giddiness.

The resulting human exposures exceed recommended WHO levels by factors of up to 20 or more.

Average smoke levels were recorded at over 100 times the accepted international standards and several hundred times higher during cooking times in Kenya.

Reduced smoke Working with Maasai women in Kajiado County, a non-government organisation Practical Action helped the women develop a simple smoke hood, which has reduced smoke levels in the houses by up to 80 percent.

The pilot phase also included gathering baseline socio-economic data, and assessing different technological options for cooking as a way to evaluate the acceptance of the stoves by the public.

UNEP has around 10 years’ experience working with partners, including the UN Foundation, in catalysing the penetration of renewable energy systems in developing countries.

With the successful implementation of the pilot phase, Surya is embarking on the demonstration phase, which will last two years and will involve two to three rural areas, each with a population of 15,000 people spread from north to south India.

Widows want help with poultry project

…By Catherine Njeri Gatuiria

R

esearch shows that women spend 14 hours a day looking for water. When women have water near them they are able to use their time better because they are able to indulge in other activities that would better their lives.

Women who are widowed and have to take care of their families in the absence of the men suffer equally as they have to play the double parent role.

Income generation However, a group of 31 widows from Nuu Division in Mwingi came together in an income generating project that they thought would uplift their standards of living and be economically empowered.

The women who embarked on a poultry project sought to have a means through which they would make their lives and that of their families better. However, lack of clean water is starting to bear heavy costs on the project.

After receiving 500 layers chicks worth KSh40,000 from Provide International, a non-government the Uumisyowa Ndiwa (Hope for the widowed) poultry project is counting loses instead of profits. The cause of their suffering being lack of access to clean water.

The group is now seeking assistance from the government and donors to make the project viable.

According to Provide International Programme Officer, Ms Lena Ndusya Kitheka, the group is experiencing problems because they lack access to clean water for feeding the chicks.

She says: “Soon after receiving the donation, the group lost 370 chicks after one of the members fetched contaminated water which she fed to the birds leading to mass deaths.”

The group had opted for a poultry project because the climatic conditions in Mwingi are favourable to rearing chicken. The chicken easily persevere the harsh dry conditions and only need to be provided with adequate food and clean water.

The women’s efforts are dogged by serious water problems that force them to spend many hours looking for the commodity for the remaining 130 birds. They only hope that a donor will come forth and help them initiate a water project that is easily accessible as currently the nearest source is four kilometres from the project site.

Hurdles “Water is a serious problem for the group because the women have to walk for more than four kilometres in search water which they scoop from a well sunk at the dry water bed in a seasonal river where they in turn wait for the water to percolate,” explains Ndusya.

She adds: “Acquiring food for the chicken has also been a major problem since there are no chicken feeds distributors in Mwingi.”

The food has to be sourced from Nairobi — approximately 300 Kilometres from Nuu market — at astronomical costs.

The problem is further aggravated by the fact that there is only one passenger bus that plies the NuuNairobi route and when one misses it, he/she has to wait for the next day

The mash layer chicks reared by the Nuu Widows’ Group. The group is experiencing difficulties in accessing clean water for feeding the chicks. Picture: Catherine Njeri to take the trip.

Lack of a ready market for the eggs has also been a challenge as the group members have to transport the eggs to Mwingi town, 79 kilometres away at the risk of breakages since the road is in a dilapidated state.

Ndusya, however, is optimistic that things will change for the better for the group and that they will be able to improve their standards through the sale of eggs as demand is increasingly high in the local schools and hospitals.

She noted: “The widows’ group

stands to exploit the advantage of being the only eggs distributor in the entire Mwingi East District.” Alice Kitheka, a member of the group says before the group was introduced to chicken rearing it had tried various other projects that flopped.

Government help She said since their current undertaking was promising, the Government should post more agricultural extension officers who will build the capacity of locals on how to maintain and develop livestock re-

lated projects.

Kitheka urges the Mwingi East District department of Social Services or other donors to extend financial support to the group to enable it replenish the mash chicks stock as the ones they have are already mature and have to be disposed off.

“In the next two months we will have to sell all the mature chicks but we do not have enough money to buy more layers chicks in order to sustain our project. We seriously need monetary support to carry on this project,” said Kitheka.

17

Issue Number 11 • November 2010

It is time to go beyond numbers …By Duncan Mboyah and Ruth Omukhango

F

or years, women in Kenya have been at the fore-front of ensuring they participate in the decision making at all political and leadership spheres. The concern has been to increase their number in all spheres of political decision making in order to make an impact. However, a recent study by African Woman and Child Feature Service (AWC) emphasises that the issue of ‘quality’ leadership is more critical besides ‘quantity’ of women at decision-making tables. The study shows clearly that while numbers of women in leadership and decisionmaking is key, the quality of women who take up these positions must clearly be taken into account as it must be effective.

The qualitative study “Beyond Numbers: Narrating the Impact of Women’s Leadership in Eastern Africa was carried out in Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania. The objective was to demonstrate the value that women bring to public leadership in these countries. The study was also motivated by the need to strengthen the case for increased involvement by women in governance and political leadership.

Successes In a detailed way the study presents the successes that women in positions of leadership have had on policy and other governmental operations as well as the challenges that they continue to face. Qualitative research techniques such as case studies, review of documents and indepth interviews were used to gather data for this study.

Ms Rosemary Okello-Orlale, Executive Director of AWCFS said study gave a voice to all interest groups and was, therefore, important for democracy and development in the regional countries.

“The essence of the Beyond Numbers is to understand and document the value and genuine broad-based participation of women in all processes of governance which can be used to have the most convincing argument for increasing the representation of women in governance,” explained Orlale.

She added: “The stories captured in the book is a reflection of changes that are beginning to surface in the realm of state power and women felt that they bring a different dimension in governance structures as opposed to just numbers.”

Quoting a research conducted in the Scandinavian countries that has shown women bring a strong social

From left: Rosemary Okello, AWC Executive Director, Barrack Muluka publisher and media consultant, Norah Matovu-Winyi, FEMNET Executive Director, Phoebe Asiyo, veteran politician and women’s leader and Atsango Chesoni, immediate former Vice Chair Committee of Experts on the Constitutional Review. Picture: Correspondent justice agenda to governance, Orlale said there is little comparative research of this kind that has emerged from developing countries.

She noted, however, that simply having women in decision-making structures does not equate to gender sensitivity as there are often barriers to women’s effective participation in structures.

Her sentiments were echoed by Ms Norah Matovu-Winyi, Executive Director of African Women’s Development and Communication Network (FEMNET) who said women in the political arena encountered numerous challenges unlike their male counterparts. “This explains the reason for the few women in Parliament,” said Matovu.

Challenges Among the challenges identified in the study were; family pressure, negative publicity from the media and gender stereotypes as constraints to women in leadership positions.

As she applauded the contributors of the study, Matovu emphasised that the Kenya as a country has so much to learn and borrow from its neighbours who had already attained more in terms of numbers of women in Parliament.

Rwanda is leading the region with 56 percent of its parliamentarians be-

ing women. Uganda and Tanzania stand and slightly over 30 percent.

Generally Rwanda and Uganda were the case studies for the book as the numbers of women representation in governance positions begun to shoot upwards. The study was started in 2006.

Despite having come from far, women in the region still have a lot to do in making the Beijing recommendations a success in all the countries.

“Getting more women into Parliament is critical in terms of putting our foot at the door but there is need for women to be effective by providing leadership that can move the women’s agenda forward,” reiterated Matovu.

Kenya’s new Constitution has created a position of leadership for women by providing for affirmative action of at least one third of one gender.

Matovu cautioned women leaders to be on the look out for the appointment of more women in order to given an opportunity to upcoming leaders.

The same sentiments were echoed

by Mr Barrack Muluka, a media consultant, who emphasized the need for a fresh breed of women in order to phase out a few women who continue to be recycled in all decision making appointments.

He cautioned women to be care-

ful and stop emulating men in the way they run the public offices so as to benefit from the one-third parliamentary gender allocation that has been set in the Constitution.

“Let us look at the quality of people to be nominated for such seats to avoid the wrangles that dominate male led positions,” he added.

According to the long standing politician and former legislator, Mrs Pheobe Asiyo, the study has documented the long walk in the women’s movement in the region and is highly informative. She reiterated the need for more documentation of successful women stories.

“Despite the shooting down of the Affirmative Action Bill in 2005, I am delighted that the number of women parliamentarians has increased and majority of male parliamentarians are seeing gender based violence issues as uncouth and primitive ways of resolving problems,” Asiyo pointed out.

Benefits She commended the benefits of the new Constitution such as dual citizenship that is to be enjoyed by Kenyans as one of the success stories from women’s struggles especially those whose foreign husbands had been denied an opportunity of becoming Kenyan citizens while foreign women married by Kenyan men

are accepted.

Asiyo narrated how during her tenure in parliament, male parliamentarians were opposed to enacting laws that could safeguard women against gender based violence.

Yet, as Orlale put it, “The value that women bring to public leadership and the development agenda are immense. Women have got ways of holding the society together. The issue of number is easy to deal with if you have a positive leadership which treasures and value the participation for women.”

Leadership She gave the example of Rwanda which can be confirmed as one crucial point of how a country can develop and have a positive GDP growth.

The Rwandese have achieved this by having women in leadership positions and necessary policies like Affirmative Action.

“Women work harder than men, they know what they want, they are gifted and they make a lot of difference in influencing change from the bottom-up and can articulate better than men the issues affecting women with a gender lens,” Orlale explained.

The intention of Beyond Numbers is to form a regional grouping that would move the women’s agenda forward.

Executive Director: Rosemary Okello-Orlale

The Kenyan Woman is a publication of African Woman and Child Feature Service E-mail: info@awcfs.org www.awcfs.org

Editorial Director:

Arthur Okwemba

Managing Editor:

Jane Godia

Sub-Editors:

Florence Sipalla, Mercy Mumo

Contributors:

Akumu Ajiambo, Joyce Chimbi, Musembi Nzengu, Ruth Omukhango, Michael Oongo, Ben Oroko, Ryan Mathenge, Ajanga Khayesi, Catherine Njeri Gatuiria, and Duncan Mboyah..

Design & layout:

Noel Lumbama (Noel Creative Media Ltd)

This paper is produced with support from The United Nations Democratic Funds (UNDEF)