Kenyan Woman Issue 13

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Issue Number 13 • Januar y 2011

Issue Number 13 • January 2011

Commission offers hope Body to manage law reforms renews faith in implementation process

…By Jane Godia

W

hile 2010 ended with despair over whether the Constitution implementation will take place, the new year started on a positive note with the President signing the Constitution Implementation bill.

By appending his signature the Bill, the President put on track the Constitution implementation process. This saw the Constitution Implementation Commission team being sworn into office. The President’s action was an indication of his true spirit towards ensuring the reform process as set out in the National Peace Accord.

The Commission is headed by city lawyer Charles Nyachae. However, as per the new law, gender balance is integrated into its composition. Three women Ms Catherine Mumma, Dr Francesca Omosa and Dr Elizabeth Muli were nominated to join the team.

Time is not on the Commission’s side and the team that was sworn in is already two months behind schedule. It is calling for support from Kenyans to ensure that it fulfils its responsibility.

“We will begin by constructural engagement with the Kenyan people,” said Nyachae immediately after taking oath of office.

The Commission, which will work on a five year term will report to the Constitutional Implementation Oversight Committee chaired by Mandera Central Member of Parliament Mr Mohammed Abdikadir. The Commission will coordinate with the Attorney General and the Kenya Law Reform Commission in preparing and tabling to Parliament legislation to put to effect the new

Constitution within the deadline.

The Commission will review the existing laws to ensure they conform to the new Constitution.

It will liaise with the Committee to ensure that Parliament passes 49 bills.

The Commission is expected top fast track its work so it keeps within the schedule set in the new law.

The Commonwealth Secretariat has provided a team of international experts to help in speeding up the drafting of bills. Four foreign legal experts are to help in the preparation of crucial bills required to enforce the constitution.

The experts are Mr Michael Shane Wright from New Zealand who will assist in drafting Continued on page 4

Members of the Constitution Implementation Commission (CIC) pose for a photo with the Minister for Justice Mutula Kilonzo (third left) and outgoing Chief Justice Evans Gicheru (centre).

Picture: Correspondent

EDITORIAL

Women cry out for justice as ICC names top six suspects

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owards the end of the year, the International Criminal Court (ICC) raised a huge storm in Kenya by naming six prominent Kenyans as having been the architects of the post election violence that shook the country in December 2007.

The six named are accused of various crimes including murder, rape and destruction of property. The aftermath of the post election violence that saw neighbour turn against neighbour, left many Kenyans without a roof over their heads.

For the women of Kenya, the post election violence is a period many would not like to relive. Majority of the women suffered traumatic experiences during this period. Women were raped and beaten for the mere fact that they either belonged to a certain community, were married to a certain community or simply for the fact that they are women.

Today, many of these women are nursing emotions and wounds that might never heal.

Today majority of these women are living with terminal diseases such as Aids, contracted from the events of the post election violence.

Today majority of these women are bringing up children borne as a result of rape that they experienced in the post election violence.

Today many young women have dropped out of school, their careers nipped in the bud as a result of the rape and violence they experienced in the period after the December 2007 polls. These girls also got pregnant, contracted HIV or suffered both.

The people who committed the crimes against these women and girls will never go to The Hague. They will never face the judges in the ICC as they are not among the six named.

This means that justice for the women who suffered in the post election violence may never

come, except if perhaps the Kenya Government finds it necessary to set up a local tribunal to put to account those who committed the atrocities.

It is now three years since the crimes against humanity were committed and women are still crying for justice.

However, the naming of the six suspects has been turned into a political and tribal circus. It is now being treated as a target against a community or persons. There are certain communities that are now raising money to hire lawyers for the suspects yet over 350,000 Kenyans still live in pathetic conditions in IDP camps as they have nowhere to go.

When the women were raped because of disputed polls, the rapists were settling scores.

The big question then was and still remains how would raping a woman give one the president he wanted? How would chasing away a wife from a different ethnic group bring the

presidential candidate that one had hoped for?

One pregnant woman had her womb split open because the child she was carrying belonged to a man who was not from her community. The woman died a painful death, the child never lived.

Who will bring justice to the women of Kenya? Who will bring justice to the displaced families who lost homes and property?

Even as the ICC gets ready to try the six, women in many parts of these country are still living in pain seeing the people who committed atrocities against them every day, bringing up children borne out of rape and bearing the burden of diseases contracted out of sexual violence.

These women are crying out for justice and their wounds have been opened afresh with the naming of the six suspects and reliving events of December 2007.

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Issue Number 13 • January 2011

Call for Poverty drives slum women proactive to risky occupations leadership

…By Mary Nyamongo

…By Faith Muiruri

nemployment in Kenya is an issue that has centre stage with promises of job creation being offered by political leadership particularly to the majority voters who remain women and the youth.

Currently, research shows unemployment standing at an all time high of 40 percent. It is worse in informal settlements where one in two people do not earn an income. Majority of those living in the informal settlements are women.

In a study conducted in Korogocho by the African Institute for Health and Development in 2009, 50 percent of the women aged 18 to 49 indicated that they did not engage in any income generating activity while 32 percent were involved in petty trade, eight percent in casual employment and six percent in established trading.

eyond national politics, women must be active in leadership at the grassroots level in social, environmental and economic development.

These form part of issues that emerged when hundreds of women gathered at the Nairobi’s Railway grounds to mark the Gender Festival towards the end of the year.

Highlights of the event were underscored in the theme ‘enhancing women’s leadership roles’ and included celebrating gains realised by women in leadership positions, their struggles and lessons learnt.

The festival reflected on lessons learnt, examined Kenya’s women leaders and leadership. It also explored opportunities that exist today and in the immediate future.

The festival also celebrated those who have supported women leaders and leadership. The first woman mayor in Gusii, Ms Claire Omanga, moved the crowd with the story of how she was able to clinch a councillor’s seat in highly male dominated field. She later went on to win the mayoral seat being the first woman from the region to hold the coveted position.

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Risky job In one village, known as Highridge within Korogocho, women are engaged in what could be considered dangerous occupation. Here, groups of women are to be found cleaning plastic bags in the Nairobi River as it flows through the village. The women stand in the River, whose water is not clean, without wearing any protective gear.

Some of the women are accompanied to the river with their children. Apart from the stench emanating from river, health risks and long-term effects of this occupation are key concerns.

In the last four years, Indeti has been washing plastic bags in the river.

She says they are exposed to many health hazards in their efforts to earn a living. At the time of the research, Indeti was four months pregnant. She reflected on her life as a child and what led her to this occupation.

“I dropped out of school in Standard Three when my father died and my mother was unable to pay for my education,” says Indeti. She adds: “I stayed at home for a while and in the process conceived and gave birth to a baby girl. Life became so hard I left the village and came to Nairobi to look for ways that would enable me take care of my mother and daughter.”

Life in Nairobi was not easy and Indeti had to find ways to fend for herself. She did menial jobs like washing clothes for wealthy households but this was unreliable. In the process, she

Indeti washing polythene bags at the river. As women in the slums have few opportunities to earn a living, they are forced to work in risky environments. Pictures: Mary Nyamongo. met her husband, a casual labourer in Industrial Area and they got married.

Through this union, she has a son who she takes with her to the river because she does not have someone to look after him during the day. In order to supplement their income, Indeti has done the job of washing plastics in the river since 2007.

Working with the other women who clean plastic bags, which they collect from the Mukuru dumpsite, which are then packaged and sold to firms that recycle waste.

For a full day’s work, starting from 7am to 6pm, the women are paid KSh300 for cleaning depending on the plastic bag load. However, due her pregnancy, Indeti is only able to stand in the water from 10am to 4pm. Consequently, her pay is halved to KSh150 per day.

She says: “If I had an option, I would not be working here because of the risk this job poses to me and my unborn child.”

Women like Indeti take up such tasks because they do not have viable alternatives. In Indeti’s case, her husband’s pay is not regular and when he finds work, he is paid KSh300 per day. This is not enough for the family’s daily needs.

Indeti needs KSh500 per day to buy food, water and other household goods. Her family is only able to make

it through the day if they combine their daily earnings. However, casual labour is unreliable and sometimes both go without work for weeks, a factor that puts a strain on the young family.

The women are constantly worried about infections but they do not have choices. Standing in dirty water exposes the women to a myriad of risks including contamination and injury from dirty objects. Although the women would love to have protective gear such as boots and gloves, these items are too expensive and do not last long.

Accidents Indeti’s nails are discoloured and she has lost count of the accidents she has encountered during her work.

The last time she was cut by a piece of glass. The wound took about six months to heal. At the time of the interview she had an infected fingernail that looked like it could fall off at any time. However, she had not sought medical care because she did not have any money.

Poverty is what drives these women to risky occupations. Due to the desire to deliver in a health facility, Indeti is pushing herself with the hope that she will be able to save enough money to pay deposit for maternity care.

Although antenatal care is free for all pregnant women, they have to

“If I had an option, I would not be working here because of the risk this job poses to me and my unborn child.”

— Indeti pay for delivery. She has already paid a deposit of KSh200 but the clinic requires an additional KSh300 for her to secure the services.

Indeti lives in fear of being evicted from her rented one-roomed house.

She also has to struggle to support her mother and child in the rural area.

She blames limited education for her problems. “If only I was educated, I would not be living such a hard life,” says Indeti.

Lack of resources has hindered her from starting a business. She thinks that if she had KSh6,000, she would start trading in fish or second hand clothes. She is also realistic in observing that given her circumstances, raising such an amount of capital is way out of her reach.

Girl child education remains a nightmare in Mwingi

…By Paul Kimanzi

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regnancies and early marriages remain huge stumbling blocks to the advancement and empowerment of girls in Mwingi.

Towards the end of last year, the Government through the Department of Education and Children Services in Mwingi East District rescued at least 15 primary school girls who had dropped out of school due to pregnancies and early marriages.

In an operation conducted by the District Education Officer, Mr David Kambi in collaboration with the provincial administration, 10 girls were rounded up from their homes and taken to Mwingi children’s office for assistance.

Kambi said five more girls have been traced

from their homes but could not be brought together with others due to transport logistics.

The fate of one girl is unknown after she allegedly took some drugs ostensibly to procure an abortion after learning that her school headmaster was going to carry out pregnancy tests on girls.

The girl’s family members who sought anonymity told the DEO after visiting the home that the girl started bleeding profusely and was rushed to hospital.

Among the pregnant girls, five of them were Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) candidates aged between 12 and 17 years.

The affected schools included Nzanzu and Kilulu with two girls each; Kyaangu, Mathuki and Kathumo with one each and Kateiko with three girls.

One of the girls from Kilulu Primary School had already been married off by her parents but who vehemently disowned the marriage although the girl confirmed that she has been living with the man as his wife.

The larger Mwingi District Children’s officer Mrs Jacinta Mwinzi said five of the girls had undergone Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), a practice she noted was fuelling early marriage and pregnancy.

“Legal action will be taken against perpetrators who impregnate the school girls, marry off the girls or violates their rights,” Mwinzi reiterated.

She called for concerted efforts in the fight against child abuse and asked the parents to report such cases to the police so that action can be taken against the perpetrators.

Mobilisation “I was able to mobilise councillors in supporting my bid for the mayoral seat inspite of the fact that majority of them were men,” revealed Omanga.

Participants were sensitised on opportunities that exist within the various devolved development mechanisms and the role of women.

Speaking to the participants, Dr Maria Nzomo said that in “leadership you do not have to be in the limelight to make a difference”.

She said that women should strive to make a difference in their own areas of representation.

Nzomo reiterated: “Time has come for women who have been in leadership positions to pass on the mantle to the younger generation.”

Young women were not left behind as a session was set aside to allow for Intergenerational dialogue on leadership.

Speaking to the KenyanWoman, Groots Kenya national coordinator Esther Mwaura expressed the need to mentor the young women to enhance their capacities to effectively take up leadership roles in all spheres of their lives and to play their rightful role in development matters.

“The biggest challenge now is to mould young women into becoming effective leaders and take up quality positions in the society,” reiterated Mwaura.

She urged women to take advantage of the numerous leadership opportunities entrenched in the new Constitution to ascend to power.

The event which attracted women from different parts of the country was sponsored by the UNIFEM Global Fund for Women, UNDP and Action AID International among other organisations.

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Issue Number 13 • January 2011

Tabitha Njoroge Agent for change bridges generation gap …By Mercy Mumo

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eadership for some is inborn. It has nothing to do with age or years of experience. This is what can be said of Tabitha Njoroge, Executive Director of Women in Law and Development in Africa (WiLDAF), a human rights NGO focusing on women’s rights, policy formulation, law making and review.

Her quest for leadership dates back to primary school where she was a prefect and head girl until Standard Eight. From there she proceeded to Bishop Gatimu Ngandu Girls’ High School. Her personality got her leadership roles in various clubs,” says Njoroge.

Politics Does she want to take her leadership skills in political decision making? She intends to seek for nomination come 2012 through a political party. Getting acquainted with the new Constitution will give her an opportunity since we have the space we have been fighting for as women. Thereafter she hopes to be Governor of Nyeri County.

“If and when I delve into elective politics, Kieni Constituency where I was born and raised shall be the base. I would like to pursue issues of public policy and governance,” says Njoroge. She asserts: “Lack of a genuine breed of visionary people in leadership who can be trusted is what is pulling this nation behind.”

Having grown up in Kieni Constituency in a family of four children, Njoroge admits to being unique in many ways. “I am the outspoken person in my family. I do not take no for an answer. I will always demand for an explanation,” she admits.

Growing up Growing up in Kieni was not a piece of cake. Njoroge’s life to where she is today started the day she walked into Ndathi Nursery School and Ndathi Primary School from her home in Kabaru Island Scheme through Mt. Kenya Forest. In Ndathi, she learnt Kikuyu as an examinable subject.

“In rural schools, vernacular was taught up to Standard Three,” Njoroge explains.

It was when she was in Standard Four that her parents enrolled her at the St. Thomas Catholic Academy in Othaya, a boarding primary school. There she got to polish her Kikuyu-English to fine English amidst mockery and teasing from her peers.

“Schooling in such an environment felt a little awkward at first. Majority of my schoolmates hailed from wealthy backgrounds and could hardly compare to me whose dad was a casual labourer at the Railways Corporation,” she explains.

The difference impacted positively on her as it propelled her to work even harder to not only beat them in class but to also have a better life in future. Njoroge left high school with an award for best in drama in the millennium year.

After high school, she studied accounting as she waited for her results. When the results were announced, she had passed and was called to the University of Nairobi to study Bachelor of Arts. It is while at the university that her passion and interest in gender issues got her branded the ‘anti-men gender activist’ by her colleagues on campus.

By the time she was in her second year, she had earned the post of student leader. In her third year, Njoroge encountered some incidences that shaped her career. “I vividly re-

member being woken up one night at around 2.00 am by the hall night custodian (they were all male) and he was breathless.

He wanted me to help save the life of a girl whom he described as ‘bleeding heavily and was weak’. I immediately accompanied him to the room where the girl was lying and true to his words, the girl was weak and soaked in blood.”

This was a case of failed backstreet abortion. Njoroge felt it was time to save her life without asking questions. Together with the custodian, they called for the university ambulance and rushed the girl to the sick bay.

She was later transferred to Kenyatta National Hospital for what the doctors described as ‘the complete suction of abortion remains’.

By 5.00am, the procedure was over and the girl was safe. At that point, Njoroge had a lot of unanswered questions, some of which have remained so to date.

“What was even more disturbing was the increasing number of similar cases that saw me make several night emergency trips to Kenyatta National Hospital. This left a big burden in my heart for these girls and generally all campus girls.”

Concern Njoroge’s leadership was not left to only helping girls on the verge of death. She recalls another disheartening experience during admission of campus freshmen in 2004. “I bumped into this group of three female freshmen who seemed disturbed. I sought to find out what could have been the problem,” she says.

It turned out that one of the girls did not have enough money to foot her full year accommodation fees as was required and as such risked missing a room. She was neither in the company of her parents nor a relative and hence the reason why she was consulting with the other girls on the queue.

She had no friends because she had come from a village school having been the only student who made it to the university. She hailed from a poor family in Central Kenya.

“Even for this particular trip to join the university, her family could only afford bus fare for one person and this meant selling the only goat in the home to secure the needed monies. Well wishers also chipped in to send one of their own to the university,” says Njoroge.

This being her first trip to the city, the girl’s mother had spoken to the matatu driver and requested him to drop her at the university gate and that from there she would find her way around. This is how she ended up at the admission desk at the main campus.

“I kept asking myself how many other girls were going through the same. It was now evident that majority of those in public universities in Kenya were from rural Kenya and had very little information as well as resources to figure out life in the culture shocking campus environment.”

— Tabitha Njoroge

“I had to help her and together with the hall officers we managed to sort her out,” recalls Njoroge.

Survival Food and upkeep was the next hurdle. She further took it upon herself to ensure that the freshman had food at least for the first semester as Njoroge sought a work study opportunity for her.

“I kept asking myself how many other girls were going through the same. It was now evident that majority of those in public universities in Kenya were from rural Kenya and had very little information as well as resources to figure out life in the culture shocking campus environment.”

It is from these experiences that the ‘Manzi wa Campo Initiative’ was born. There was an urgent need to sustain girls in campus due to the rising demand in daily upkeep. This led to the birth of an even greater initiative ‘The CHAWOMI Initiative. CHAWOMI stands for Changing the Women’s Image.

Thereafter, Njoroge was appointed chair of the Women Students’ Welfare Association (WOSWA). By this time, it was evident that issues of women in campus needed to be addressed. Lack of security on campus was a major problem for the girls.

She recalls one incidence when two rapists came into one of the rooms in the women’s hall past midnight. “The girls screamed and we were able to break in and rescue them. The most annoying thing was to see the security guard come 30 minutes later armed with a bow and one arrow. We practically sent the man running back to wherever he had come from,” says Njoroge.

The following day they held a peaceful demonstration in protest. The university’s top administration led by the Vice Chancellor visited the Women’s Hall and gave orders for immediate action.

Gender week While still a student at the university, Njoroge organised a gender week with a focus on campus girls, their health and social responsibility. During that week, together with other female colleagues, they conducted a clean up at the Pumwani Maternity Hospital.

They encouraged caring for each other especially the less fortunate. From this Pumwani visit another initiative Project Ward 7 was born under her leadership. It was aimed

at raising funds that could help pay maternity bills for new mothers who had been detained at the hospital for inability to pay their bills.

During the Nairobi +21 conference held in November 2006, Njoroge gave a presentation on “young women on campus”.

Njoroge’s first mentor was and still is Prof Leah Marangu, Vice Chancellor Africa Nazarene University. The other is Ambassador Dr Eunice Brookman Amissah, IPAS (a global NGO dedicated to ending preventable deaths and disabilities from unsafe abortion) Africa President, who is also a member of the Committee on Women and Development (CWD).

“She gave me my first office-like space within her Nairobi office and kept track of my progress, something she tirelessly does to date. She still keeps a follow up on me and her genuine love and passion for women’s empowerment has continued to challenge me,” reiterates Njoroge.

On passing on the mantle to the younger generation, Njoroge says one cannot fight for something they do not believe in. “Present leaders should involve young people aspiring for leadership positions through mentorship and encouraging participation.”

New constitution As she watched women with children strapped on their backs and bosoms in the chilly weather on the day the new Constitution was promulgated, Njoroge says this was a wake up call to the leaders and government as a whole, that they cannot afford to fail Kenyans as leaders.

Njoroge believes that every one has the potential to make it in life but this can only be realised if people focus on the desired future rather than the regrettable and or painful past.

“I am a change agent planted by God in Kenya at such a time as this for the sake of my generation and the one that will come after me.

I speak for women, young women and girls and this is where I derive my fulfilment.”

Njoroge continues to serve as the Executive Director of Women in Law and Development in Africa (WiLDAF) which has been operational for 11 years now, having been started in 1996, as WiLDAF East Africa.

WiLDAF Kenya was registered in 1999 by a group of women lawyers including former nominated MP Njoki Ndung’u as a local nongovernment organisation under the NGO Coordination Act.

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Issue Number 13 • January 2011

Commission offers ray of hope Continued from page 1

legislation on finance; Mr Ian Gray from the United Kingdom who is the expert on Land; Werner Krull from Canada is the expert on Devolution and Margaret Nduwula from Uganda who is the expert for electoral systems and legislations.

The experts will join local drafters from the Attorney General’s office and the Kenya Law Reform Commission in preparing the 49 bills required to bring the Constitution into full operation.

Once drafted the bills will be handed to the Constitution Implementation Commission for fine tuning before they are tabled in Parliament.

Parliament is expected to pass a minimum of 16 bills before the end of this year to lay ground for Constitution Implementation.

Other than drafting of bills, the experts will also offer advice to government ministries, departments and agencies on legislative and other legal matters within their areas of specialisation.

Speaking after the swearing in of the new commissioners, Abdikadir told the Commission to immediately start vetting of Judges and Magistrates Bill as well as the Judiciary Service Bill to unlock reforms to the Judiciary.

“The Judiciary is considered a sick institution which requires urgent treatment so that it can be entrusted to oversee other reforms in the justice sector,” said Abdikadir.

Draft laws

through the Marriage Act they will definitely reap the benefits of the new law.

The Constitution is expected to fundamentally reshape the contours of political organising and participation in Kenya, introducing many substantive changes which will influence the nature of politics in Kenya.

However, the main benefit is that the Constitution gives women more space to engage politically. It offers them an opportunity to be part of political and other decision making organs through the affirmative action.

Among the key changes is the leaner cabinet now being restricted to between 14-22 cabinet secretaries who will no longer be members of parliament, the bicameral parliamentary system, devolution, introduction of independent candidature, party lists and provisions for affirmative action for people with disabilities, the youth, and women.

What women celebrate most in the new law is that if a man is chair of an organisation then the deputy has to be a woman.

…By Joyce Chimbi

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he year 2010 will go down in history as a landmark period in Kenya. After vibrant campaigns which led to the historic referendum, thousands braved the cold morning of August 27 to witness the promulgation of the Constitution.

After many years of immense investment in time, resources and energy, Kenyans finally had a document that led them into the second republic.

However, after the promulgation, what Kenyans expected to be smooth sailing turned out to be a thorn in the flesh as hurdle after hurdle tried to derail the process.

For the implementation process to kick off, two committees had to be set. In the first week of October, Kenyans were treated to a tussle over which names should constitute the Constitutional implementation committee. However, this has long been resolved.

On December 2010, Parliament cleared the list of both the Commission on the Implementation of the Constitution (CIC) as well as the Commission on the Revenue Allocation.

The CIC has nine members, three of whom are women, this was after an attempt to lock out one of the female candidates from holding a position in the significant committee.

“This would have been a big blow since we have worked very hard to safeguard women’s gains within the Constitution. Having a resemblance of a gender representation in these committees is critical,” explains Ms Esther Njagi, an activist in Nairobi.

On January 4, President Kibaki signed 54 pieces of Legislation in line with the Constitution’s Fifth Schedule that enumerates which legislations are to be crafted by Parliament and within what period. The next day these documents were handed over to the CIC.

New law In the political scene other than seeking elective positions, there are 16 seats in the Senate and 47 in Parliament that automatically go to women. Article 98 (1) (b) says: “The Senate shall consist of 16 women members who shall be nominated by political parties according to their proportion of members of the Senate elected under Clause (a)” . . . which says: “The Senate consists of 47 members each elected by the registered voters of the counties, each county consisting a single member constituency.”

The issue of land is also key to women who previously could not inherit land either from their fathers or husbands. Land is important since many women have lost their homes following the death of their husbands.

The land law states in Article 60 (1) (f): “Land in Kenya shall be held, used and managed in a manner that is equitable, efficient, productive and sustainable, and in accordance with elimination of gender discrimination in law, customs and practices related to land and property in land; However, the new law now protects widows and orphans as well as divorcees. Article 68 says: Parliament shall (a) revise, consolidate and rationalise existing land laws (b) revise sectoral land use laws in accordance with principles set aside and (vi) to protect dependants of

He also advised the Commission to conclude draft laws on the management of elections, security reforms as well as those touching on management of counties and local authorities.

However, despite these calls, it is important that the Commission also gives due priority to Bills that directly touch on women.

These include the Bill of Rights which will ensure that women immediately have access to basic rights.

The Bill of Rights is one provision in the new law that women count as a major gain.

Article 19 (1) says: “The Bill of Rights is an integral part of Kenya’s democratic state and is the framework of social, economic and cultural policies.”

Women of Kenya celebrated the passing of the new Constitution because in it there were many gains entrenched in the law.

Among the many benefits that women “The Judiciary is considered a will enjoy include being Kenyan citizens without having to go through a male relasick institution which requires tive. Women can also automatically pass urgent treatment so that it can be on citizenship to their children born to non-Kenyan fathers. They will also be in entrusted to oversee other reforms a position to pass on citizenship to their in the justice sector.” spouses after seven years.

Equality in marriage is also one gain — Mohammed Abdikadir that women celebrated and hope that

Foreign experts

From top: Catherine Mumma, Elizabeth Muli and Francesca Omosa.

Picture: Correspondent

deceased persons holding interests in any land including interests of spouses in actual occupation of land.

Fast tracking of bills that support women should be a key priority.

Women’s gains in the Constitution

1. All forms of discrimination including violence against women are explicitly prohibited; Violence against women is explicitly prohibited in the Constitution. This is a huge gain for women and girls given the high prevalence rates of gender based violence in Kenya.

2. Matrimonial property is protected during and after termination of marriage.

A woman will not be thrown out of her home just because the marriage has ended and she is entitled to share the property therein at the dissolution of the marriage.

3. Customary law that is inconsistent with the Constitution is void thus personal law which is discriminatory to women if in contradiction with the Constitution is invalid. Early and forced marriage as well as Female Genital Mutilation have been outlawed by the Constitution.

4. Women’s representation in all decision making organs is a fundamental issue in advancing gender equality. The Constitution provides a legal frame work for women’s representation which was not provided in the old constitution. There will be increased numbers of women in all decision making organs including the devolved government. Women’s representation is guaranteed in the new Constitution and the State shall take legislative and other measures to implement the principle that not more than two-thirds of the members of elective or appointive bodies shall be of the same gender. Women’s representation is guaranteed by 47

Implementation Commission must be gender sensitive in its undertakings

seats in the national assembly and 16 seats in the Senate.

5. Citizenship has been a contentious issue for Kenyan women. The previous Constitution treats Kenyan women as second class citizens because it only provides for men to pass on citizenship to their foreign wives and children but not the Kenyan women. In the new Constitution women are recognised citizens and will be able to bestow citizenship to their foreign spouses or children born outside the country.

6. Elimination of discrimination in laws, customs and practices related to land and property in land. Historically land has been the centre for controversy in Kenya, especially the issue of women being denied the right to own or inherit land. There are numerous cases where women have been disinherited off their land. The new Constitution protects widows and orphans and through it, women can own and inherit land not only from their husbands but parents as well.

7. Any government or decision making organ that does not comply with Constitution is unlawful and unconstitutional. Women in Kenya have for a long time championed good leadership and meritocracy in the hiring processes.

Corruption and violence especially sexual harassment have hampered effective participation of women in public office. The new law offers women an opportunity to get into higher levels of political leadership and decision making and hopefully this will reduce cases of corruption.

It is imperative to note that beginning February, four foreign experts contracted to assist the CIC to draw bill into law will begin implementing their mandate.

“We appreciate the enormity of the task ahead of us but we are confident that it is a task we can achieve,” commented Mr Charles Nyachae, Chair of CIC, upon receiving the 54 pieces of legislation.

It is clear that the process will not be free from political interference as various parties are jostling for space. This is in spite of the fact that Kenyans are waiting for clear signals to indicate that the country has truly ushered in a new dawn.

Women have been marginalized and left out of the decision making process. For years, women have been fighting for space within leadership positions. Many of them felt that with promulgation of the new Constitution, the situation would change.

But if the politicised vetting process of who should make it to the significant committee is anything to go by, the dawn may still remain an illusion for women who have relentlessly worked hard to be involved in mainstream politics.

The significance of CIC cannot be over emphasised, it will be responsible in steering the implementation process in the right direction.

It is important that the Committee reflects a sense of gender representation in its undertakings. This is due to the fact that there are provisions in the new Constitution that seek to ensure that both men and women are empowered to rise to their full potential.

It is only fair that this empowerment is reflected in the body that will ensure that these provisions become a reality for every Kenyan.

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Issue Number 13 • January 2011

Looking forward to sunset with break of a new dawn

…By Mercy Mumo

“M

en often become what they believe themselves to be. If I believe I can not do something, it makes me incapable of doing it. But when I believe I can, then I acquire the ability to do it even if I didn’t have it in the beginning.” Mahatma Gandhi This quote rightfully points to the fact that with education, encouragement and the right political environment, women can easily entrench what they believe in without having to worry what others will think of it.

Equal opportunities Women’s lives have for the longest time been divided along gender lines.

They have been denied equal opportunity at home, the work place and in positions of leadership.

Since Kenya gained independence in 1964, women were not being accorded a level playing ground from which they could catapult to positions of leadership. However, in 1969 it became evident that women were ready as well as capable and equally deserved a place in the leadership and decision making table.

It has been a long and tedious journey for Kenyan women who have been part of the struggle as they fight to claim what is rightfully theirs.

While patriarchy has not made it easy, it cannot be ignored that the absence of women in decision making processes has slowed down the process of development.

Being the pillar of society, it is expected that a woman should deliver in all aspects to ensure that the family is satisfied. But how can this be achieved if they are not given the chance to prove their leadership worth?

Veteran Speaking during the launch of the documentary and publication titled The Break of a New Dawn, veteran politician Mama Jael Mbogo reminded women that they must not relax now that the new law is in place.

Mbogo reminded women that they need to be more vigilant now to ensure that women’s gains as entrenched in the Constitution are not lost. She said in the struggle for equality women are in constant battle. “Sometimes we win, sometimes we lose therefore it’s a war that we must continue to win.”

“Women have come a long way and must continue to soldier on.

They have decided to move forward and are not making excuses for it,” explained Mbogo.

Mbogo who started in politics as a women’s leader within the giant Maendeleo ya Wanawake Organisation called upon women to read, understand and own the new Constitution as it had so much that they could

benefit from. She said that compared to the Lancaster document, the new law is more woman friendly and the fact that it was easily available was all the more reason why women needed to engage with it.

Accessibility “The Lancaster Constitution which had about 494 pages was held in the highest secrecy and it was a crime to be found with since it was not a public document,” said Mbogo.

She added: “We would put it within our Bible and carry it across the Namanga border into Tanzania to be able to read it.”

Reiterating that they could never have been a perfect document for women, Mbogo asked women to make sure that they were fully engaged with the new law as the Constitution implementation process took place.

“The constitutional dispensation offers us a wonderful opportunity to grow and nurture ourselves in leadership. Through joint effort and unity of purpose, women will be able to determine the direction and future of this nation,” said Mbogo.

Mbogo said Kenyan women still needed to soldier on in their fight for gender equality and ensure that one day they held the key to the gates of State House. She reiterated that this was a desire that women could fulfil but only if they did not give up but worked together regardless of their ethnic background.

Tribalism Giving her wise counsel that has come with age and being in the political field long enough, Mbogo reiterated: “Leaders need not be identified through tribal lines but from what they can deliver to the people in their different capacities. Tribalism is a disease that stops us from moving forward.”

The veteran politician reminded women that their tribe should stand out as woman and that should also be the foundation for their political affiliation. She said women must support one another without looking at tribe or political party.

“We have a responsibility to push our own into the vacancy. Kenya is ripe for a woman president. Time is against us, we have networks, let us use them. We have nothing to lose by trying,” she advised.

The Break of a New Dawn captures the walk women have taken through the Constitution making process. The documents have been produced by Women in Law and Development in Africa (WiLDAF).

According to WiLDAF Executive Director Ms Tabitha Njoroge, the organisation has been documenting the long journey that the women of Kenya have taken in fighting for the new Constitution. Appreciating the role women played in the long,

treacherous and often bloody journey, WiLDAF put together a publication and a documentary sharing experiences of various women leaders and citizens across the country who took part in the Constitution making process in different capacities.

Njoroge said that even as we reminisce the walk women have taken on the way to ensuring the country has a new Constitution, Mama Jael Mbogo the next step in moving ahead is to embraces Tabitha Njoroge, translate women’s gains into liveliexecutive director, WiLDAF. hood realities through the impleIntergenerational dialogue mentation process. within the women’s movement “The challenge we have is will enable Kenyan women to building the capacity of women to fully enjoy the gains enshrined realise their full potential in buildin the new Constitution. ing themselves and the society,” Pictures: Correspondent said Njoroge.

Women actively participated and came out in large numbers to participate in the Constitution tween leadership and young making process. Though this was not women. Igniting the passion an end in itself, tolerance is required for the young women to take to see the desired results during the up leadership is very essential,” next call for leadership. said Njoroge.

“As for the younger women as“It is a hard earned privipiring for leadership, the challenge lege to sit with men and womhas been thrown to us to stand up, en at the top of decision makbe counted and prove that we are ing organs therefore we must as capable as the men in taking up keep together regardless of our leadership roles if not better,” reiter- ages,” she added. ated Njoroge. She added: “Educating Other speakers at the event women on leadership could be the reiterated the need to celebrate womstart to greater heights.” en’s achievements from all fronts. Ms She said women ought to be cel- Carole Ageng’o from the Open Sociebrated after the referendum process. ety Initiative for East Africa, which is She also called for partnership be- also the organisation that funded the tween the young and older women. project, noted the need to celebrate “There is a clear disconnect be- women leaders in education, government, hospitality and other sectors where they exercise their leadership capacity because they truly are the backbone of society.

Participation

“The constitutional dispensation offers us a wonderful opportunity to grow and nurture ourselves in leadership.

Through joint effort and unity of purpose, women will be able to determine the direction and future of this nation.”

— Jael Mbogo, pioneer in the women’s movement.

Ageng’o also reiterated that with the devolved system of government women will have a chance to get into political and decision making positions that were previously not available from the old Constitution.

Women need to be aware of what the devolved system of government means for them and actively engage with the process.

Ag’eng’o said: “We have to position ourselves and use the devolved structure of government creatively in order to better the society.”

Chairperson WiLDAF Kenya, Ms Margaret Shava, who is also a Commissioner with the Truth Justice and Reconciliation Commission said engagement with women through leadership is crucial in moving forward including building the relationship between the State and its citizens.

Accountability is key at this point and the local judicial mechanism must ensure that women’s rights are fought for without any form of interference.

“The journey has just began, women must remain vigilant, alert

and aware of the challenges ahead,” noted Shava.

The rationale behind the publication of the book and documentary was that women’s voices were missing completely in what was coming out of the mainstream media.

Njoroge says the media treated the Constitution making journey as purely a male affair and gave the impression that women were not part of it yet they were there all along.

“The role the women had played had to be brought to the fore and hence the documentation,” explained Njoroge. She added: “We also just had to document the process because if we did not people would end up saying it never happened and hence it was important that it be put on record.”

Third, there was also a need to bring the younger women on board so they could understand why there was so much noise being made about the women’s gains.

Women’s gains “There was a disconnect with the younger generation on women’s gains. They did not understand where the women’s movement was coming from and hence the need to put them on the same page,” explained Njoroge. While charting the path to the Constitution where affirmative action becomes part of a society, The Break of a New Dawn also tells the story of women’s journey through the rough political battlefields which they must cherish and make sure form the foundation for other generations to come.

6

Issue Number 13 • January 2011

G-10 calls for fair justice

…By Jane Godia

I

t was with courage that the Kenya women’s movement coalition The G-10 rose up to its responsibility in responding to reactions over the naming of the six post election violence suspects.

This came about with the ghost of the post election violence returning to haunt the country with the naming of the six suspects by Luis Moreno Ocampo. The ghost is giving sleepless nights not only to the perpetrators and victims of the post election violence but to the nation as a whole.

However, while not awakening reality in the political class, the ghost has instead gone to scratch the cause of the violence and that was the devil known as tribe.

Sexual violence For the women the atrocities committed went against the individual ethnic communities. For in rape and sexual violence committed then it was nothing about political affiliations. It was abuse that was committed in terms that can never be measured.

Led by the Ms Wangeci Wachira, Executive Director Centre for Rights Education and Awareness (CREAW), the G-10 reacted sharply to the Hague process and current indictments.

The G-10 women’s movement welcomed the road to justice that had been set by the international Criminal Court (ICC). On December 15, 2010, The ICC chief Prosecutor, Mr Luis Moreno Ocampo named the six suspects and also filed applications for summons to have them appear before the ICC. Ocampo accused the six of having committed crimes against humanity under the Rome Statute of which Kenya is a signatory. The crimes include rape and murder as well as deportation or forcible transfer of populations as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against a civilian population.

Among the G-10 members present at the Press Conference were CREAW, Coalition on Violence Against Women (COVAW), Tomorrow’s Child Initiative (TCI), Caucus for Women’s Leadership (CWL), and African Woman and Child (AWC) as well as African Community Development Media (ACDM).

Justice The women could only look for one defence and that is justice. For if it does not work now then impunity and atrocities will remain the order of the day.

The women’s movement hailed Ocampo for giving importance to rape. In a Press Statement the G-10 said: “We particularly commend the ICC Prosecutor for giving due importance to rape and sexual violence as crimes against humanity. At least three of the accused have been charged with rape and other forms of sexual violence contrary to Article 7(1)(g) and 25(3) (a) or D of the Rome Statute.”

Survivors of the post election violence have spoken time and again of the harrowing rape and defilement that was committed in the presence of family members and in some cases by members of security forces.

The Coalition demanded a fair and expeditious process that respects the rights of all including the accused and victims.

The ICC Chamber will carefully review Ocampo’s evidence and issue warrants of arrests or summons if it is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the crimes were committed.

The women’s movement regretted that the naming of the six suspects had been politicised with a section of the political leadership going into shock and denial tactics while refusing to accept the harsh reality of the victims of the post election violence.

Members of the G-10 coalition joined by British MP Baroness Vivienne Stern. They are calling for a local tribunal for post election violence survivors. Inset: A woman whose husband was killed weeps at the Naivasha District hospital after viewing his remains. With the naming of the six main suspects of the post election violence, women are hopeful that justice will be seen to be done.

Pictures: Correspondent

Mr Isaac Ruto, MP for Chepalungu filed a motion in Parliament that sought to have Kenya withdraw from the Rome Statute with claims that Ocampo had politicised the prosecutions.

As the year came to an end and Parliament got ready to close for the festive season, it was with a dark cloud hovering over the august House that Hon Martha Karua was the only (wo)man standing when the 10th Parliament passed that Kenya withdraws from the Rome Statute.

The women’s movement views what Parliament did as being about the next elections in 2012 and political careers that must be protected above everything else.

In a statement the G-10 castigated the political class for being selfish and egoistic: “It would seem to that to them governing this country is all that matters even if all the citizens were dead.

For them political ambition comes above all else in this game of I, me and myself.”

For the women this falls nothing short of impunity. “It is impunity to believe that leadership is devoid of responsibility. It is impunity to put self above all else. It is impunity to imagine that the Rome statute was ratified for the benefit of the political class. It is also impunity for the Parliamentarians to initiate discussions over withdrawal of Kenya from the Rome Statute without seeking the citizens’ views and participation in this critical structure of accountability.”

For Kenya to pull out of the ICC process, the citizens would have to go into a referendum as the country is bound to international treaties by the new Constitution. If Kenyans vote to withdraw from the Rome Statute, the President would then be forced to write to the United Nations Secretary General requesting for the leave.

If the UN agrees it would take a full year before the request gets into effect.

However, withdrawal from the Rome Statute is not as simple as the political class would like it to sound. The Rome Statute states: “A state shall not be discharged by reason of its withdrawal, from obligations arising from the Statute while it was a party to the Statute.”

This means that cases that were filed against Kenya at the time it was a member of the Rome Statute still stand and will go on as scheduled.

Therefore, whether Kenya withdraws from the international treaty or not, the cases against the six suspects remain.

The G-10 women’s movement, which is a coalition of women’s organisations in the country is asking the nation to recall the true cost of the politicised contest in the aftermath of the 2007 General Elections.

Post-election violence The women’s movement reminds the political class that the saddest days for Kenya was when over 1,000 people died, thousands were raped or defiled and over 350,000 displaced from their homes and property worth millions destroyed.

The women remind Kenyans that what triggered the crisis is still alive and rife among the political class and if not tamed, can and will recur at the 2012 elections and indeed the future.

The G-10 demands that the political class: Cease to cast the ICC process in doubt while introducing divisive politics into the same; That they join the quest to seek justice for victims of post-election violence; Cease to issue inflammatory statements on the ICC indictments — statements that are couched in the language of ethnic divisions.

That the two principals forthwith relieve from duty all those public officials mentioned in this process until their names are cleared after the completion of this process and all other

“It is impunity to believe that leadership is devoid of responsibility. It is impunity to put self above all else. It is impunity to imagine that the Rome statute was ratified for the benefit of the political class.”

processes that they may set up locally.

That Kofi Annan releases the whole list of names given to him by Waki as they were the outcome achieved through use of Kenyan Tax payers money.

Meet their responsibilities as state officials through Article 73 of the Constitution by acting in public interest to secure justice for victims of post-election violence, adequate compensation and the means to rebuild lives.

Join Kenyans in holding all state officials to account for their actions during, after and around the post election conflict and crisis.

The women’s movement, while welcoming the ICC intervention appreciated the fact that this was the beginning and not the end of the process.

Appeal The Coalition therefore called on the State — the Executive and Legislature — to work to put in place a mechanism to punish lower ranking perpetrators of post election violence, whether through a special tribunal or use of ordinary criminal justice system.

That the state, particularly the principals, take up immediate action to resettle all Kenyans in the IDP camps. The Constitution guarantees the right to dignity for all among other rights that include housing, food and health care. It must be remembered that the IDPs, who are victims of the post election violence, a process that the ICC is trying to correct and punish, are living in deplorable conditions.

The ICC process is part of Agenda Four signed under the National Peace Accord. The process is to ensure that acts of impunity in the levels seen in the post election violence of 2007 do not occur in this country again.

7

Issue Number 13 • January 2011

Dr Elham Ibrahim

Transforming Africa through infrastructure development

S

…By Rosemary Okello

eated pensively as the only woman speaker from Africa at the United Nations Global Alliance for ICTs and Development (UNGAIDs) recently, one would have mistaken Dr Elham Ibrahim as any other ordinary scholar.

Neither did her demeanour give away much about her. However, Ibrahim is one of the women who hold international positions of decision making in regional organisations.

Currently she is the head of the Infrastructure and Energy Commission at the African Union. Her mandate is to harmonise policies, regulations and plans for Africa in line with infrastructure and energy. Before joining the AU, Ibrahim also served as the Under Secretary of State of Egypt.

Issues But when she stood up to address the conference, the pertinent issues she brought up indicated that clearly she was a force to reckon with in infrastructural development.

Those attending the UNGAID conference in Abu Dhabi, left convinced that Ibrahim is an iron lady whose responsibility at the Africa Union may be daunting but she has what it takes to meet the challenge.

Alive to the reality that Africa’s infrastructure is wanting in all aspects including ICTs, Ibrahim said, “even though Africa still lags behind when it comes to ICT infrastructure, the problem can be overcome if member states work with the private sector to create an enabling environment where the latter can build the infrastructure in the region and be shared by all the regulators.”

Speaking on the theme of ICTs as an enabler in achieving the Millennium Development Goals in Africa, Ibrahim reiterated the fact that ICTs can help accelerate achievements of MDGs particularly the targets in education, health, gender equality and maternal health.

She emphasised, “however, there is need to put emphasis among the providers to start looking at ICTs as an enabler to development in general and develop the much needed applications for ordinary user’s majority of who are women.”

MDG review Speaking after the Millennium Development Goals review conference in New York in October last year, Ibrahim could not help reiterating the importance of infrastructure to women.

Asked after the meeting why infrastructure is important for women, she raised a number of pertinent points.

“How will women get rid of diseases and get healthy without water that is suitable for drinking, how will they keep their children clean; how can they educate their children and raise the standard of education without electricity?” she asked.

“Without energy sources, they are using wood for cooking; this means so much pollution which affects their health. All these infrastructure components are really very essential for achieving the MDGs.” As Ibrahim noted, lack of infrastructure has been hampering progress towards many of the broader development objectives outlined by the MDGs. Notably, only five African countries have met the target for access to safe water, with only 12 other countries likely to do so, based on current trends.

But even as she spoke to the galaxy of high level leaders in Abu Dhabi, Ibrahim, 60, was very

clear that infrastructure and energy holds the key to Africa’s development.

“If implemented well, it can help Africa to reclaim the 21st Century as the African Century,” said Ibrahim who holds a doctorate in Electrical Engineering.

Her resolve is to see Africa shed the reference the ‘dark continent’. This is why together with her team they have been instrumental in an initiative for development of infrastructure in Africa which was officially launched in Kampala, Uganda on the fringes of the 15th African Union (AU) Heads of State and Government Summit.

So passionate is Ibrahim on seeing Africa advance her technological development.

Addressing a team of experts during the signing of contracts for projects related to infrastructure in December 2010 in Addis Ababa, Ibrahim reiterated the commitment of African Union to the implementation of concrete and tangible projects for the benefits of African Citizens.

Her rallying call has been for electricity infrastructure to improve so that access can be widened.

“In Africa, only a third of the population has access to electricity,” she said at another forum. Her goal is to reach the target of 50 percent by 2020 which means giving access to electricity to about 250 million people.

Integration The Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA) as it known identifies energy, water, ICT and transport as key to implementation of economic and social development policies.

Due to their low level of development in Africa, PIDA aims to facilitate increased regional integration in Africa through improved regional and continental infrastructures.

The PIDA Sector studies will assist in developing a vision on Africa’s infrastructure based on strategic objectives and sector polices; prioritized regional and continental infrastructure investment programs.

The programme which is currently in the feasibility study stage will lay a strategic plan which will be used by all member states to organise development in the area of infrastructure and energy until 2040.

“Areas which the PIDA will be focusing on are transport, energy, ICT and trans-boundary water,” Ibrahim explained.

The Programme is a joint venture between African Union Commission, African Development Bank (ADB) and the NEPAD Secretariat.

PIDA not only offers member states the opportunity to plan together in a holistic manner in the areas it is focusing on a long-term basis, but will also be easy for governments and development partners to know priority areas in the continent which need to be developed as well as funding in the area of infrastructure and energy.

Negotiation Ibrahim says this will be a departure from what the African governments have been used to. “Lack of harmonisation in Africa in terms of national policies, laws and the integration process has affected Africa’s economic growth and this can be history if governments work together,” Ibrahim reiterated.

She added: “This is what PIDA is bringing on the table, where Africa will be able to set its own agenda in development for once.”

If the objectives of PIDA succeed, African governments will be in a position to negotiate with development partners using the

“Lack of harmonisation in Africa in terms of national policies, laws and the integration process has affected Africa’s economic growth and this can be history if governments work together.”

— Dr Elham Ibrahim strategic plan in the area of infrastructure as one body as opposed to the current situation where every country seeks its own development without clear policy which are stipulated by the AU. The programme’s overall objective is to promote socio-economic development and reduce poverty in Africa through improved access to integrated regional and continental infrastructure networks and services.

Key development issues addressed by PIDA: The significant deficit in Africa’s infrastructure is resulting in increased production and transaction costs, reduced competitiveness of businesses, and negative impact on foreign direct investment flows to the continent; therefore affecting the rate of economic and social development on the continent.

Economic blocks “Currently the way development is being approached in Africa is through regional economic blocks where national governments still have their own priorities, while at the same time we in the AU also have our own priorities. But this will be a thing of the past when the AU Summit in 2011 adopts the PIDA strategy,” she explains.

The team working with Ibrahim on PIDA are planning to present the findings of the feasibility study during the Summit meeting early in 2011 for approval to allow implementation process to begin.

Ibrahim, who has worked at the AU Commission for two and a half years, is excited that she will have a chance to implement part

of PIDA strategy before her term comes to an end.

She is very hopeful that she will be able to spearhead the implementation process of PIDA. “I look forward to starting some of the PIDA projects, a strategy that holds the key in revolutionising Africa through infrastructure. And when my mandate ends in one and a half years, I will be able to look back with pride and say, I made a difference to our continent,” she says.

Development With years of experience in private, academic and public sphere where she worked as the Deputy Minister for Electricity and Energy in Egypt, Ibrahim says that PIDA is the best thing that happened to Africa.

“If the Heads of State commit themselves to PIDA strategy, Africa will never be the same, and for once Africa will be able to harness the rich resources within the continent.”

According to Africa Development Bank, the overall goal of PIDA is to promote socioeconomic development and poverty reduction in Africa through improved access to integrated regional and continental infrastructure networks and services.

PIDA was designed to address these constraints by establishing a common vision and global partnership to put in place an adequate, cost effective and sustainable regional infrastructure base to promote Africa’s Socio economic development and integration into the global economy.

8

Issue Number 13 • January 2011

Women must be empowered to make decisions on the agriculture table …By Duncan Mboyah

F

or centuries, women have ensured nourishment for Africa’s rural communities by choosing nourishing crops, breeding their seeds and farming them. They have also played a crucial role in agriculture across the country, both as a source of workforce and as guardians of traditional knowledge.

…By Duncan Mboyah

A

Tirelessly Although agriculture is recognised as an engine for economic development in Africa, what is less well recognised is that it is women who run this engine, from before dawn to after dusk; women keep all its parts moving.

According to Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) women in Africa provide 60-80 percent of the labour to produce food for household consumption and sale. They also provide 100 percent of labour as processors for basic foodstuff; 90 percent of household water and fuel wood; 80 percent of food storage and transport from farms; 90 percent of the hoeing and weeding work and 60 percent of the harvesting and marketing activities.

Women are, therefore, involved at all levels of the value chain from production to processing and marketing making them the backbone of Africa’s agriculture.

No facilities However, despite being heavily involved in agriculture, women own two percent of land; receive only five percent of agricultural extension and 10 percent of rural credit. They also form two thirds of the world’s illiterate population and their presence in agricultural research and development remains considerably low. This means that they hardly have any power to influence policy and market trends.

Yet agriculture remains the cornerstone of the Kenya’s economy as it employs over 80 percent of the population. More than 50 percent of export earnings are attributed to agricultural products with cash crops of coffee, tea, tobacco, cotton, sisal, pyrethrum and cashew nuts being in the lead.

Several studies have revealed that Africa’s human capital is the most important constraint to transforming its agriculture.

Women scientists in Kenya need to establish a mentorship programme that will build science and research skills as well as develop leadership capacity.

Education However, there is need to increase enrolment of female students in tertiary institutions for agriculture related courses. “Agricultural education programmes and training curricula need to become more relevant as well as gender-responsive and be adapted from the local environment,” says Prof Waceke Wanjohi, a Plant Nematologist at Kenyatta University.

Tackling hunger and food security requires moving from talk to action in ensuring that women farmers have

Appeal for more information on climate change

A woman tends to sorghum on the farm. Women form the backbone of the agriculture industry but they lack opportunity to making decisions regarding farming. Picture: Ken Ndambu. equal access to agricultural resources and an equal voice in decision making at all levels.

Gender equality and women’s empowerment has not been at the top of the development agenda. “What this means is that women’s voices are seldom heard when it comes to setting priorities for agricultural research and development,” says Waceke.

She observes that women still face low enrolment rates at tertiary level institutions (12-15 percent). They also lack networking opportunities, representation in research committees as well as mentors.

Creativity Waceke calls for the development of innovative ways of enhancing the capacities of women to participate effectively and productively in agricultural research and development to help fight hunger, poverty and environmental degradation in the country.

“When development is not engendered, it is endangered. We need to strengthen women so as to influence the agenda of agriculture including the kind of technologies that will be developed and for whom,” she explains.

Waceke notes that without more women scientists and leaders, Kenya is in danger of missing a significant opportunity to leverage the diverse perspectives necessary to address the challenges of poverty and hunger.

A report of 1994 by the Association of African Universities (AUU) asserts that “gender is the single most important basis of inequality” in education.

Although UN member states in their Millennium Declaration of September 2000 made a commitment to eliminate gender disparity at all levels and aspects of education including agriculture not later than 2015, significant inequalities still remain particularly in Africa.

Women are also underrepresented in scientific and technical research institutions which may result in technical innovations that do not take ac-

count of women’s distinct perspective and farming needs.

In 2004, UNESCO Institute for Statistics showed that women make up less than 30 percent of researchers in 34 out of the 89 countries surveyed.

Another report from the Agricultural Science and Technology Indicators (ASTI) revealed that the percentage of African women in Agricultural research is even lower at (22 percent) only a fifth with very few holding leadership positions.

Efforts made by the Gender and Diversity Programme of the Consultative Group of International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) through the African Women in Agricultural Research and Development (AWARD) project is indeed commendable.

This five-year project aimed at fast tracking the careers of African women in agricultural research and development has had a great impact.

The two-year fellowship programme seeks to strengthen the research and leadership skills of African women in agricultural science, research and development, empowering them to contribute more effectively to poverty alleviation and food security in sub-Saharan Africa.

“As long as women are seen as submissive and restricted to the role of recipient and beneficiary, agriculture will continue to have a large gap,” says Dr Margaret Karembu, Africa Director for the International Service for the Acquisition of Agro Biotech Association (ISAAA).

Karembu notes that when women sit at the table to make decisions, the process takes a different shape.

She said that familiarizing the farmers with the technology has a role to play in overcoming chronic hunger, malnutrition and poverty and in ensuring that Africa achieves food security and prosperity.

The UN food agencies hope that the economic empowerment of rural women will feature prominently to review progress towards achieving the MDGs, including MDG 1 that

seeks to end poverty and hunger and MDG 3 to promote gender equality and empower women.

The recent impressive growth was attributed to the recovery of the agricultural sector that was adversely affected by the post-election violence and strong performances by the manufacturing, construction and the financial sectors.

“Recovery of the agricultural sector continued into the second quarter of this year, with the sector expanding by 5.8 per cent, compared to a contraction of 4.4 per cent in the corresponding quarter of last year,” says a review compiled by the Economic Affairs Department at the Ministry of Finance.

On average, the agricultural sector makes up about 30 percent of Africa’s GDP and 30 percent of exports.

It supports 75 percent of the people by providing livelihood, trade and subsistence.

skills Waceke calls for the equipping of graduates with skills to be entrepreneurs and innovators in the industry they are entering as opposed to counting the number of graduates as indicators of success.

She says that Kenyatta University’s School of Agriculture and Enterprise has taken important steps in tapping the young brains and has established a Centre for Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Development (CEED) to facilitate in the incubation of business ideas emanating from the students.

The Government should intensify its efforts to improve women’s access to educational and training programmes in order to provide them with skills and knowledge which can enhance their participation in formal and informal labour markets.

In order to do this, the Government with its development partners in the public and private sectors need to mobilise additional resources and increase funding levels for women’s education at all levels.

frica contributes very little to effects of climate change yet it is one the most vulnerable regions. The threat climate change poses to human existence in the continent is huge.

The situation is made worse by the difficult social and economic situation of most Africans, especially women and children. The United Nations Population report has revealed that women are the most affected by the effects of climate change.

The 2009 State of the World report says even though women bear the disproportionate burden of climate change, their plight has largely been overlooked especially in developing countries.

Poverty Poor women in poor countries are among the hardest hit by climate change, even though they contributed the least to it.

The poor are especially vulnerable to the effects of climate change and the majority of the 1.5 billion people living on $1 a day or less are women.

The poor are more likely to depend on agriculture for a living and, therefore, risk going hungry or losing their livelihoods when drought strikes, rains become unpredictable and hurricanes move with unprecedented force.

In Kenya, majority of the over 70 per cent people who are engaged in agriculture are women who practice it at subsistence level. Lack of common understanding on climate change and a common African strategy could be catastrophic over the next three years if left unchecked.

However, a programme is being put in place with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) among other key stakeholders to make public awareness on effects of climate change a priority. Women are always missing on the information highway and this programme will ensure that they get the right information at the right time to make informed decisions.

Awareness The Africa Adaptation Programme Manager Mr Ian Rector said $92 million has been earmarked under the programme for improving public awareness on climate change issues in 20 countries in the continent that include Kenya and Tanzania.

“The project aims at enhancing the adaption capacities of vulnerable countries to climate change and disaster risks,” noted Rector.

Inconsistent information and use of technical jargon that is associated with project design are misleading and must be made simple for the benefit of people who live in rural areas, most of whom are women.

Continued on page 11

9

Issue Number 13 • January 2011

Maternal Health Bill to demystify Maputo Protocol …By Faith Muiruri

T

he percentage of births attended by skilled health personnel has been diminishing by the day. About 56 percent of women in the country are giving birth at home without skilled care that could save their lives as majority cannot afford the maternity fee charged in hospitals.

The scenario worsens in marginalised areas where less than 20 percent of women are giving birth in a health facility.

Statistics According to the Kenya Demographic Survey (2008/2009), an estimated 7,700 women die each year in Kenya from pregnancy related complications. This translates to 21 women dying each day or one woman every hour from preventable causes. The situation makes the need to address safe motherhood as a human right imperative.

Despite the Millennium Development Goal seeking to reduce maternal deaths by 15 percent, mortality among mothers has remained unacceptably high at an average of 448 deaths per 100,000 live births up from 414 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2003. Newborn deaths are similarly high with an estimated 140 newborn deaths per day.

Statistics notwithstanding, investments in maternal health care are painstakingly low.

Only 6.4 percent of Kenya’s national budget is allocated to health and around a quarter of this goes to HIV/Aids. The figure spent on maternal health is not known but is clearly negligible and way below the 15 percent allocation that African governments committed to in the Maputo Declaration of 2003.

High cost The cost of healthcare continues to be a significant barrier to service access and use. A recent study by the World Health Organisation reveals that the introduction of a cost sharing programme in Kenya by health sector reforms in the 1990s led to a significant 50 percent drop in the use of maternal health services.

It is against this backdrop that a Maternal Health Bill is being developed. A Senior Assistant Director of Medical Services, Dr Margaret Meme says that the Bill which is in its formative stage will be key to the integral process to reduce maternal mortality.

Says Meme: “The bill if enacted will guide in the proper implementation of maternal health policy to prevent avoidable maternal deaths and injuries.”

The proposed legislation seeks to abolish maternity fees and transfer the cost to the government in a bid to address the plight of pregnant women and improve their health as well as general well being.

“The Bill seeks to offload the burden of childbearing from an individual mother to the State. Once enacted mothers will deliver at public facilities free of charge,” Meme explained. She was speaking during an interview with the KenyanWoman at a public forum dubbed “Breathing Life into the AU Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa” in Nairobi.

Other highlights of the Bill include the push for the establishment of health facilities where needed, ensuring that they are fully functional. It guarantees that no person be denied free health services and creation of a surveillance mechanism to identify and review causes of maternal deaths.

“The continuous loss of thousands women annually in pregnancy related complications which are preventable is unacceptable. Our leaders know what they have to do. They have already pledged to do it and they have to do it now,” reiterates Meme.

A traditional birth attendant examines an expectant woman at her home. Many women are forced to deliver at home to avoid incurring hospital expenses. If enacted, the Maternal Health Bill will guide the implementation of maternal health policy to prevent avoidable maternal deaths. Picture: Correspondent She says it is unfair for other sectors of the economy to continue receiving huge chunks of money when the basic sector of production is starved of funding.

“Why do we still have women being charged for producing for the nation while the same government is channelling substantive resources to the military when the country is not at war?” questions Meme. She suggests that such funds could go into funding areas such as maternal health which are in dire need.

Meme says there is limited linkage between reproductive rights and the broader human rights with the civic and political rights being accorded all the attention at the expense of reproductive rights.

She says time has come for the Government to abolish maternity fee and commit itself to providing quality health care in line with the Maputo Protocol that guarantees reproductive rights to women.

Allocation The government of Kenya ratified the Maputo Protocol in October 13, 2010 just before the launch of the African Women’s Decade 2010-2020 in Nairobi.

According to Alexandriah Muhanji, a lawyer with FIDA the government is yet to realign its budgetary allocation to reflect provisions in the Protocol which require that countries allocate at least 15 percent of the national budget to the health sector.

Muhanji says that the government still continues to give huge allocations to the military which according to the Protocol should not receive more funding than the health sector.

Current funding levels in the country’s health sector are inadequate for meeting Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). To realise the MDGs, it is estimated that the proportion of Government spending on health would need to increase nearly six fold and that more than 12 percent of Gross Domestic Product

(GDP) would have to be spent on health.

A review conducted in 2006 by the African Union revealed that only one third of countries had allocated at least 10 percent of their national budget to health while one country had attained the target of 15 percent.

In recent years only Malawi, Rwanda, Lesotho, Burkina Faso and Liberia have been ranked among countries allocating at least 15 percent of their national budgets to health.

However, the Protocol is fairly holistic in its

approach to women’s rights. It will act as a catalyst for fast tracking change as it gives women an avenue to make claims. Its African focus offers an opportunity to take an indigenous perspective on gender. Since it has a reporting requirement, this will improve accountability.

As a recommendation for the rights enshrined in the Protocol to be realised, national action plans supported by budgetary allocation and human resource capacity are necessary for effective implementation.

About the Protocol The Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, better known as the Maputo Protocol, guarantees comprehensive rights to women including the right to take part in the political process, to social and political equality with men, to control of their reproductive health, and an end to female genital mutilation.

As the name suggests, it was adopted by the African Union in the form of a protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. The Protocol was adopted by the African Union on July 11, 2003 at its second summit in Maputo, Mozambique. On November 25, 2005, having been ratified by the required 15 member nations of the African Union, the protocol entered into force.

Kenya signed the Protocol in 2006, but ratified and became a member in October 2010.

Other AU Member States party to the Protocol include: Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Comoros, Djibouti, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gambia, Ghana, GuineaBissau, Libya, Lesotho, Liberia, Mali, Malawi, Mozambique, Mauritania, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Senegal, Seychelles, Tanzania, Togo, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

By the time the African Women’s Decade was being launched in Nairobi, in October 2010, only 28 African countries had ratified the Maputo Protocol. Uganda became the 28th country to ratify the Protocol and the third in the East African Community after Rwanda and Tanzania.

Kenya became the 29th country to ratify the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the Rights of Women as an indication of its commitment to gender equality during the launch of the African Women’s Decade.

The Maputo Protocol explicitly sets forth the reproductive rights of women. It also calls for the legal prohibition of female genital mutilation and an end to all forms of violence against women including unwanted or forced sex, whether it takes place in private or in public; and outlaws the exploitation and abuse of women in advertising and pornography.

It goes further to outline measures to ensure the protection of the rights of widows, girls, women living with HIV/AIDS, elderly women, women with disabilities, refugee women, displaced women as well as marginalised and poor women, women in detention and pregnant or nursing women.

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Issue Number 13 • January 2011

Sex workers lack rights as clients refuse to use condoms …By Arthur Okwemba

S

exual and reproductive health rights are important for women in that they have an opportunity to make free and informed decisions.

These rights include the ability to decide when to have children and if to use contraceptives including condoms.

However, not many women are empowered to make decisions on their sexual and reproductive rights. They suffer the risk of unwanted and unplanned for pregnancies as well as sexually transmitted infections including HIV.

Empowerment When women are able to make a choice on their sexual rights they are empowered and are also able to make informed decisions on many other points of their lives.

But there is a certain sector of women who suffer lack of decision making power over their sexual rights.

Concern over the failure by female sex workers to access HIV/AIDS and reproductive health information and commodities is sending jitters within the government and civil society organisations working in the health sector.

With HIV prevalence among sex workers standing at 14.1 per cent, higher than the national prevalence of 7.1 percent, the Ministry of Health officials are worried that failure to reach them will not augur well for the prevention efforts.

Other studies done recently show that a higher number of female sex workers and their male clients are not using condoms when having sex, exposing themselves to HIV and other sexually transmitted infections.

One of the studies conducted recently among sex workers in Kibera slums and which is expected to be published soon, had two startling findings: the failure by male clients to use condoms and the sexual violence female workers are subjected to.

Findings According to the study conducted by Prof Elizabeth Ngugi, a lecturer at the University of Nairobi, of the 2,978 sexual acts the 161 female sex workers who participated in the study had with male clients in one month; condoms were not used in the 900 acts.

This was disturbing because the female sex workers who were HIV positive confessed that in the 177 sexual acts, they did not use a condom.

On average, a female sex worker has between two to three sexual male partners in a day, sometimes engaging in several sexual acts with the same client. Many of these male clients are either married, or have other female partners.

The study further found that of the 143 female sex workers who were tested for HIV, 27 per cent returned positive results.

When the women were asked why they were not using condoms, they said sometimes their male clients threaten them with death if they insisted on safe sex.

For others, the male clients offered to pay a higher fee for them to have unprotected sex.

The sex workers said the risk of unprotected sex is high hence the need to charge a higher fee.

Others said they are raped or subjected to other forms of sexual violation like burning of their private parts with cigarettes if they

Sex workers demonstrate to demand their rights. While the Constitution protects the rights of every Kenyan, commercial sex workers are often suffer inhuman treatment from fellow citizens.

Picture: Correspondent

refuse to have unprotected sex.

Equally disturbing was the finding of an increasing number of young girls aged between 10 and 18 years who are entering sex trade.

These are the sex slaves who are most vulnerable to HIV infection because they lack among other things, negotiation skills when dealing with older men.

Another study conducted this year, and which involved mapping of sex workers in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania revealed the serious human rights violations facing them.

Supported by Open Society Foundation and HIVOs of Netherlands, the mapping found how female sex workers are struggling to stave-off the violations they are subjected on daily basis.

While the Constitution reiterates human rights for each and every individual, sex workers continue to suffer inhuman treatment from fellow citizens.

Networks To survive, they have formed networks through which they notify each other of violent male clients, police raids, bail out each other when arrested as well as pay medical and burial expenses for colleagues who die as result of these violations.

In the mapping, the 109 sex workers interviewed in Kenya, 89 in Uganda, and 109 in Tanzania, point out police, clients and the law as the main source and cause of the brutality they are experiencing.

In the study, the sex workers accused the police on insisting on having sex with them as form of bribe after arrest instead of money or both.

Many of the violated sex workers suffer in silence since they fear reporting a matter which is viewed by many as illegal and morally wrong.

It is this brutality and the discrimination by the society that is making it difficult for sex workers to come out and share their tribula-

tions.

Many of them are also unable to access reproductive health information on family planning, condoms, maternal health service, and prevention of a range of sexually transmitted infections.

According to Ms Wanjiru Ngugi, Programmes Coordinator at Life Bloom Service International, an organization that rehabilitates and provides life skills to female sex workers, the reasons for this state of affairs is the intense stigmatisation and abuses female sex workers are subjected to by the society and the failure by the law to legalize the trade. It is this stigma that makes their male clients violate and abandon them.

Stigma “The stigma makes it difficult for them to come out and seek reproductive health information and condoms even when they desperately need them,” says Ngugi.

The society also labels sex workers as people of base character who are blamed for every social ill that afflicts humanity from high HIV prevalence to making men penniless.

Police harass them under the pretext that they are engaging a criminal and illegal act.

Such tagging has made commercial sex workers to operate incognito, thus emerging as one of the most difficult groups to identify and provide reproductive health services as well as protect their human rights.

Dr Ibrahim Mohammed, the Director of National Aids STD and Control Council says “because of the way they are labelled, female sex workers and their clients sometimes live reckless lives without focusing on safer sex practices”.

“While much has been done in helping them access HIV prevention, management and other reproductive health services, they remain one of the groups facing challenges in terms of safer sex,” explains Mohammed.

Mary Achieng, 34, who has been in sex business for eight years now, confirms this.

Equally disturbing was the finding of an increasing number of young girls aged between 10 and 18 years who are entering sex trade. These are the sex slaves who are most vulnerable to HIV infection because they lack among other things, negotiation skills when dealing with older men.

“Many of us feel the society does not love us, and hence do not care whether we infect people or harm them,” she says.

“If you love and appreciate our human rights, then we are likely to have self-esteem and listen to what the society is saying,” explains Achieng who is a mother of two.

Health analysts argue that because of the stigma by the society and brutality by police and male clients, female sex workers are one of the groups that is both vulnerable to infections and one of the key drivers of the disease.

Desperate to access them, some organisations have developed innovative programmes designed to trace and provide reproductive health and human rights education to sex workers.

An example of such programmes is the one run by Family Health Options Kenya in Nairobi, Nakuru and Kisumu.

Known as Pambazuko (the dawn), the project promotes safer sex among sex workers and their clients, provision of HIV/Aids and other reproductive health information and human rights awareness.

Health services According to Ms Esther Muketo, the organisation’s Programme Manager, Service Delivery, they have recruited more than 3,900 female sex workers.

They are benefiting from reproductive health services, including health education, treatment of sexually transmitted infections, condoms and condom use education, family planning services, HIV counselling and testing, HIV/Aids care and treatment, post rape care, antenatal care services, and counselling of women who have experienced sexual violence.

The project implementation in Kisumu began with a mapping exercise to establish where female sex workers operate from, where they recruit clients, their needs and the best approaches to use in providing services to them.

Bar owners and bar maids came in handy in identifying sex workers.

Beaches, bars, hotels, discotheques, brothels, and truck drivers stopover points, are some of the hotspots where sex workers do their business.

Those identified were then trained as peer educators and given identification badges to protect them from police harassment. Their task is to recruit more sex workers and advice them where they can get their reproductive health services.

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Issue Number 13 • January 2011

UN asked to improve communication …By KenyanWoman Writer

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he World Association for Christian Communication (WACC) is calling upon to the United Nations Women agency to make communication for women a priority as it begins its first year of work.

In a letter addressed to the UN Women Executive Director, Ms. Michelle Bachelet, WACC said it supports the agency’s vision to work for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls. It argues that integrating efforts to foster women’s communication rights into the agency’s goals “increases the possibility of achieving deeper, structural and long-term change.”

“We urge UN Women to intentionally advance efforts to secure women’s communication rights that empower women to express their needs, make themselves heard, and take charge of their own progress”, says the letter addressed to the Executive Director, Ms Michelle Bachelet.

Vision The letter, signed by the WACC General Secretary, The Rev. Karin Achtelstetter, further states that UN Women’s vision of providing women and girls with “a powerful voice” resonates with WACC’s pursuit of the right to communicate, particularly for the historically marginalised, the majority of whom are women.

Over the years, WACC has continued to express concern about equal and affordable access to communication and knowledge, media and gender justice, and the relationship between communication and power.

Through its Global Media Monitoring Project (GMMP) launched in 1995, WACC has successfully carried research studies mapping progress in gender portrayal and representation in the world’s news media.

Involvement This is in line with the Beijing Platform for Action which calls on governments commitment in addressing the issues of gender mainstreaming that include mobilization of the media, Governments and other actors to promote an active and visible policy of mainstreaming a gender perspective in policies and programmes.

The Beijing Platform for Action says women should be empowered by enhancing their skills, knowledge and access to information technology. This will strengthen their ability to combat negative portrayal of women internationally and to challenge instances of abuse of the power of an increasingly important industry.

Self-regulatory mechanisms for the media need to be created and strengthened and approaches developed to eliminate gender-biased programming. Most women, especially in developing countries, are not able to access effectively the expanding electronic information highways and therefore cannot establish networks that will provide them with alternative sources of information. Women therefore need to be involved in decision-making regarding the development of the new technologies in order to participate fully in their growth and impact.

Women can use communication tools to share important messages. Many organizations identify with UN Women’s mission of providing women and girls with a powerful voice. Picture: Courtesy of Joy Obuya Towards the end of last year, a global research carried out by WACC indicated that women are still significantly underrepresented and misrepresented in news media coverage. This was according to Global Media Monitoring Project (GMMP) research in 108 countries coordinated by the WACC despite significant change since the project began 15 years ago.

About 76 percent of the people heard or read about in the world’s news are male. The world seen in news media remains largely a male one. The GMMP monitored 1,365 newspapers, television and radio stations and Internet news sites, 17,795 news stories and 38,253 persons in the news in 108 countries with 82 percent of the world’s people.

News makers The report Who Makes the News?

The Global Media Monitoring Project 2010 was released September in Arabic, English, French and Spanish, along with numerous regional and national reports.

About 24 percent of people in the news are female, compared to 17 percent in 1995. About 44 percent of persons providing popular opinion in news stories are female compared to 34 percent in 2005.

News media show significant gender bias with 46 percent of news stories reinforcing gender stereotypes.

Just about 13 percent of news stories focus centrally on women. Expert commentary is overwhelmingly male with only one female in every five experts.

The age of women in the news is mentioned twice as often and family

status almost four times as often as for men.

Today female reporters are responsible for 37 percent of stories compared to 28 percent 15 years ago, and their stories challenge gender stereotypes twice as often as stories by male reporters.

Gender bias in Internet news is

similar and in some respects even more intense than that found in the traditional news media.

The 2010 report contains a plan of action for media professionals and others committed to gender-ethical news media.

The GMMP is the largest and longest running research and advocacy

initiative on fair and balanced gender representation in the news media. It is coordinated by WACC, a global network of communicators promoting communication for social change, in collaboration with data analyst Media Monitoring Africa, and with support from the United Nations Development Fund for Women.

More information on climate change

Continued from page 8

“The fight against climate change is more likely to be successful if policies, programmes and treaties take into account the needs, rights and potential of women since they are more likely than men to die in natural disasters,” said Rector. He added: “The gap gets more pronounced where incomes are low and status differences between men and women are high.”

The UNDP Resident Representative Mr Aeneas Chuma said the programme targets the role that African media can play effectively and accurately through investigations and interpretations while reporting on climate change to influence public opinion on challenges of climate change.

“We intend to work with print and broadcast journalists and their editors to disseminate information on climate change through experiences applied in south – south cooperation from Africa and other regions,” explained Chuma.

They were speaking at a workshop for journalists held in Nairobi to see

how best the Fourth Estate can create public awareness of climate change issues in Africa.

Addressing the meeting, Mr Peter Kenneth Assistant Minister for Planning and Vision 2030 appealed to African governments to look for new and innovative ways through southsouth cooperation and mobilise public concern.

“Governments must look for a long term commitments to help citizens to facing challenges of climate change,” said Kenneth.

He blamed experts on climate and governments for failing to train journalists on climate change with the view to raising awareness on the subject.

“It advisable that the climate change debate be expanded to much larger constituencies of interest through African media channels as a way of addressing climate change effects,” reiterated Kenneth.

He challenged climate change experts to clarify and articulate the broad policy and programmatic responses that must be put in place so that the wider public could under-

stand what is expected of them.

According to Dr George Glaassen, a lecturer of journalism at Stellenbosch University in South Africa, journalists must distinguish between science and pseudoscience in confirming evidence regarding climate change.

He urged editors to establish science desks and allow scientifically literate journalists to report on science and the environment.

“Build bridges with scientists by resisting pressures from ignorant censors who want to repress the stories scientists tell for favour of politics, business and sports,” he warned.

Glaassen told scientists to communicate science better through the media by following a rigorous process of adhering to the scientific method of peer review.

The workshop brought together representatives from the governments and the media to share experiences in how best journalistic practices in the media can support African Governments’ effort to more effectively mitigate the impacts of climate change.

12

Issue Number 13 • January 2011

Woman fighting sex slavery named CNN Hero of the Year

…Los Angeles, California

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woman whose group has rescued more than 12,000 women and girls from sex slavery has been named the 2010 CNN Hero of the Year.

Anuradha Koirala was chosen by the public in an online poll that ran for eight weeks on CNN. com.

CNN’s Anderson Cooper revealed the result at the conclusion of the fourth annual CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute.

“Human trafficking is a crime, a heinous crime, a shame to humanity,” Koirala said earlier in the evening after being introduced as one of the top 10 CNN Heroes of 2010. “I ask everyone to join me to create a society free of trafficking. We need to do this for all our daughters.”

Koirala was introduced by actress Demi Moore, who along with her husband, Ashton Kutcher, created DNA, The Demi and Ashton Foundation, which aims to eliminate child sex slavery worldwide.

Daily struggle “Every day this woman confronts the worst of what humanity has to offer,” Moore said of Koirala. “She says, ‘Stop. Stop selling our girls’.

By raiding brothels and patrolling the India-Nepal border, she saves girls from being sold into the sex trade, where they are being repeatedly raped for profit, tortured and enslaved.

“Since 1993, she has helped rescue more than 12,000 women and girls. Through her organisation Maiti Nepal, she has provided more than a shelter for these girls and young women, she has created a home. It is a place for them to heal, go to school, learn a skill, and for some who are infected with HIV/Aids, it is the place where they can spend their days surrounded by love.”

Koirala will receive $100,000 to continue her work with Maiti Nepal, in addition to the $25,000 awarded to each of the top 10 Heroes honoured.

“This is another responsibility to me to work with all your support,” Koirala told the audience after being named Hero of the Year. “We have to end this heinous crime. Please join hands with me to end this crime. ... Please try to respect the youth. They are the ones who are going to build the next generation. Thank you so much.”

Koirala’s speech capped the gala event, which was taped November 20, 2010 before an audience of nearly 5,000 and premiered Thanksgiving night on the global networks of CNN. The show opened with a salute to the 33 Chilean miners and five of the people who rescued them in October, 2010 after the miners spent 69 days underground.

“For 69 days we were amazed by these 33 brave miners,” Cooper said in welcoming the miners onto the Shrine stage. “Their ordeal was unthinkable; their rescue, unbelievable. No one has ever been trapped underground so deep for so long and survived.

“They endured a nightmare, experienced a miracle, and in the end became each others’

Anuradha Koirala was named CNN Hero of the year for her contribution in fighting sex slavery. Since 1993, she has helped rescue more than 12,000 women and girls.

brothers and heroes. On behalf of CNN Heroes, we salute all 33 Chilean miners.”

After the miners sang the Chilean national anthem, two of them — speaking through a translator and holding the Chilean flag — expressed their appreciation.

“We want to thank the world, and we want to thank God for your prayers,” Luis Urzua told the audience in Spanish.

Suffering “Our families suffered. Our children suffered, too. But thanks to the prayers of the whole world, we could come out of this difficulty,” Mario Sepulveda added.

“Some of our rescuers are here with us tonight,” Urzua said. “Thank you for bringing us home. You are our heroes.”

CNN brought the miners and their rescuers to the United States to attend the tribute show.

The five rescuers were selected to represent the many thousands whose talent and effort led to the dramatic rescue.

Recognition The top 10 CNN Heroes, chosen by a blueribbon panel from an initial pool of more than 10,000 nominations from more than 100 countries, were each honoured with a documentary tribute and introduced by a celebrity presenter.

The programme also featured performances by Grammy Award-winners Bon Jovi, John Legend and Sugarland.

Rock legends Bon Jovi performed What Do You Got?, a new song from their greatest hits album, which came out earlier this month. Legend performed Wake Up Everybody along with hip-hop artist Common and R&B singer Melanie Fiona. Sugarland performed Stand Up, a new song from their album The Incredible Machine, which made its debut in October.

All three performances echoed the spirit of the CNN Heroes campaign, which salutes everyday people whose extraordinary ac-

complishments are making a difference in their communities and beyond.

Celebrity presenters included Halle Berry, Demi Moore, Jessica Alba, Kid Rock, LL Cool J, Renee Zellweger, Gerard Butler, Kiefer Sutherland, Marisa Tomei, Aaron Eckhart and Holly Robinson Peete.

“CNN Heroes has illustrated the best of humanity through the telling of stories of selfless acts of kindness, courage and perseverance,” said Jim Walton, president of CNN Worldwide.

“We are honoured to bring these Heroes the recognition they so deserve. It is a programme the entire CNN family is proud of and excited to share with our viewers on Thanksgiving night.”

The 2010 top 10 CNN Heroes: Guadalupe Arizpe De La Vega founded a hospital in Juarez, Mexico, that cares for about 900 people daily — regardless of their ability to pay. Despite the escalating violence in the city, the 74-year-old travels there several times a week to make sure residents get the care they need.

Susan Burton was once caught in a cycle of addiction and incarceration. Today, her non profit A New Way of Life Re-entry Project provides sober housing and other support services to formerly incarcerated women in California.

Through her organisation Maiti Nepal, she has provided more than a shelter for these girls and young women, she has created a home. It is a place for them to heal, go to school, learn a skill, and for some who are infected with HIV/Aids, it is the place where they can spend their days surrounded by love.”

With her weight-loss challenge, Shape Up Vicksburg, Linda Fondren is helping her Mississippi hometown battle the bulge. Through free fitness activities and nutrition classes, residents have lost nearly 15,000 pounds to date.

Anuradha Koirala is fighting to prevent the trafficking and sexual exploitation of Nepal’s women and girls. Since 1993, she and her group, Maiti Nepal, have helped rescue and rehabilitate more than 12,000 victims.

Narayanan Krishnan brings hot meals and dignity to India’s homeless and destitute — 365 days per year —through his non profit Akshaya Trust. Since 2002, he has served more than 1.2 million meals.

Since 1992, Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow has dedicated his life to helping people in need.

Today, his program, Mary’s Meals — run from a tin shed in the Scottish highlands — provides free daily meals to more than 400,000 children around the world.

Harmon Parker is using his masonry skills to save lives. Since 1997 he has helped build 45 footbridges over perilous rivers in Kenya, protecting people from flash floods and predatory animals. The bridges also connect isolated villagers to valuable resources.

Aki Ra is helping to make his native Cambodia safer by clearing land mines — many of which he planted years ago as a child soldier.

Since 1993, he and his Cambodian Self Help Demining organization have cleared about 50,000 mines and unexploded weapons.

Evans Wadongo, 23, invented a way for rural families in Kenya to replace smoky kerosene and firelight with solar power.

Through his Use Solar, Save Lives program, he’s distributed an estimated 10,000 free solar lanterns.

Since 2005, Texas home builder Dan Wallrath has given injured Iraq and Afghanistan veterans homes of their own — mortgage-free. He and his Operation Finally Home team have five new custom homes under construction.

Adapted from CNN Website

13

Issue Number 13 • January 2011

Don battles for women’s liberation T …By Olick Felix

aking a walk down memory lane, Professor Father Kariuki Kahiga, a philosophy don at Moi University remembers with melancholy the suffering of his mother as a squatter in Chorlim Farm in Saboti many years back.

In his book, Kahiga gives a clear picture of his mother as she toiled in a mzungu (white man’s) farm to put food on the table.

He was only a toddler then and could do nothing much to change his mother’s status. However, today Kahiga has chosen to fight for women using the power of the pen. To him, the pen is mightier than the sword and as the Spanish literary icon Miguel De Cervantes would put it, the written word is the tongue of every writer’s mind.

Slavery “My personal experience as I followed the story of my mum set me thinking. Why did she suffer so desperately? I sympathised too with the many African women enslaved by culture and tradition,” he says as during an interview in his office.

The book, titled Women Liberation; A Paradigm Shift for Development was launched in September 2010 by Moi University Chancellor, Professor Bethwel Ogot. The 350 page publication would no doubt leave patriarchs and male chauvinists with their mouths agape. That even in a male dominated society,

there are those touched by the plight of women.

Kahiga seems to be nodding to the United Nations development index indicating countries with more women representation leading from the front in terms of development.

In the book, the professor delves into the retrogressive African cultures and practices that have imprisoned women for centuries.

“My major concern is to enlighten the women. I would like women to know that they have with them the moral authority to set themselves free from their oppressors,” he says.

The Don talks of women inheritance, female genital mutilation, polygamy and early marriages as practices that have hindered women from actualising their potentials. What is baffling is the fact that women themselves have no say in the said practices.

He points to the Samburu and the Pokot culture where teenagers almost in their final months of pregnancy have to be initiated to usher them into adulthood. The idea being that a child cannot give birth to another child.

“They lose a lot of blood during the cut. During delivery, they again lose more blood and many die in the process,” he explains with sadness clearly registered on his eyes.

Kahiga says that not many scholars have addressed the issue of patriarchy in the country. He admits that repugnant cultural practices are still

“My major concern is to enlighten the women. I would like women to know that they have with them the moral authority to set themselves free from their oppressors,”

The gender sensitive don Fr. Kariuki Kahiga displays his book on women’s liberation. The don cites harmful cultural practices such as wife inheritance and female genital mutilation as hindraces to the advancement of women. Picture: Olick Felix with us and it is sad that scholars have not come out strongly to condemn them.

Paradigm shift “Even in educated families, gender bias towards male children is evidenced. There must be a paradigm shift in our thinking to change this unfortunate scenario,” he urges. He adds: “Men have taken advantage of the patriarchal society, are surviving by it and no one dares to raise a finger against the evils perpetrated against women.”

Kahiga gives the example of the academia where the top ranks are still male dominated. Nevertheless, he believes that with the new Constitution in place, it is a new dawn for the womenfolk.

“The new document attempts to address the gender imbalance. If implemented to the letter, the docu-

ment will bring women into perspective to use their energies to develop the country,” Kahiga explains.

However, he is quick to add that even with the new document in place, women must remain vigilant and relentlessly demand for their rightful position in the society. He partly blames the womenfolk for their continued suppression because they have so easily succumbed to the dogmas.

“Women themselves have never tried to transcend these dogmatic practices. They have instead opted to keep slumbering in them,” explains the Don. Kahiga says women are in for a big shock should the new Constitution come to full force. He says that with the gender landscape headed for a massive re-engineering of its core values, women will not believe how patriarchs have oppressed them out

of ignorance. And this is what his text aims to unearth.

In the text, Kahiga brings to the fore acclaimed women who despite the challenges posed by the society achieved in education and contributed positively to the society. He talks of Mother Teresa, Rosa Parks, Mary Wollstonecraft, Winnie Mandela and our very own Wangari Maathai.

Gender equity With the clock ticking fast to 2015, Kahiga is a worried man. The realisation of the Millennium Development Goal of promoting gender equity and empowering women seems very elusive.

But with the crème de la crème joining the battle for female liberation, it might only be a matter of time before the battle is finally won.

The writer is a student at Moi University.

Culture should not be an impediment to empowerment …By Karani Kelvin

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glance at past societies reveals one striking but unfortunate similarity: a picture of women who have been systematically removed from the important spheres of life and relegated to defined areas, dished out to them by the men.

To think, however, that the above is a mark of past societies only and as such a historical subject is to completely miss the point. Should we zoom in from the global historical picture and focus on our society, we will notice how our cultures still fight against women’s empowerment. Of course the tactics have mutated and become subtle.

Given that our societies are patriarchal in nature, it is no news that in those unfortunate instances among several communities, women are still ignored. Where they are recognised, they are seen as beasts of burden and a means to an end.

Male psychology demands that man remains at the centre of the universe and women be seen only in relation to him. Therefore, women cannot be independent of men and are only meaningful units in relation to man. Here, we see how women are seen as wives, girlfriends, concubines or daughters.

Such an assertion coming in the background of the new Constitution may appeal to some as a symptom of a historical hangover of a gender equality fanatic. The point, however, is that the Constitution may guarantee certain rights to marginalised groups but that is not enough.

Education One may point out that education has blunted the cutting edge of retrogressive culture. That may be so. Worthy of note, however, is the fact that a blunt object used with precision can cause equally grievous harm like a sharp one, if not more. And that is the challenge facing us.

Let us focus on an ideal family from any urban area to illustrate our point. The man and woman are both educated, own property and are in well paying professions. When these two go back home in the evening, we can smell the dead rat of patriarchy. The man would probably sit, read a paper and watch TV. The woman would probably busy herself and go to bed a tired person. When there are decisions to be made, more often than not, it is the man’s argument that sails through.

If we were to look at the young people,

we will notice the same things that have been fought against over the years, adapted to fit the modern contexts. When looking for spouses, the young men look for an ‘ideal’ wife, educated, determined and all other things but most importantly subservient.

And what are the women looking for? Rich and strong men; men with influence; men who have a promise of a better tomorrow. It is no wonder then that there is so much impersonating that leads to unfulfilling relationships.

In both instances, we note how patriarchy is a major influence in the modern society.

What we want to call a thing of the past has been adapted into the very core our existence that we miss it because of that which we are looking for. It is interesting then how we have borrowed from the past what we now use to shape our lives. Even the gender conscious individual somehow finds themselves upholding a thing that they are against.

The modern woman can be seen to be like the eponymous character Aminata in Francis Imbuga’s novel Aminata. She is the symbol of the liberated woman, one who is free from a culture that seeks to perpetually have her under the feet of men, in silence. She says that “over the years, men have thrived in our si-

lence. Over the years men have buried us with our potential”. For her, the safest path out of this quagmire is through discarding such practices that silence women.

Retrogression The retrogressive practices “are the dried leaves of a rootless tree”. Interestingly, during the handover ceremony in which she was to receive a piece of land as willed by her deceased father, she says that she will not own anything there (in Membe) for she is a married woman with her own home.

We are not saying that our cultures are bad.

The point is that there are those things which they promote that are problematic. These include wife inheritance, female genital mutilation and wife battering among other.

We should note with Imbuga that “tradition is only good when it bears fruit. But it is a barren tradition that imprisons the very soul that gave birth to it”.

Carrie Chapman Catt holds that “to the wrongs that need resistance/to the right that needs assistance/to the future in the distance/give yourselves”. It is up to us to give ourselves to the life and society we so desire.

The writer is a student at Moi University.

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Issue Number 13 • January 2011

Referendum offers better prospects for women in South Sudan …By Odhiambo Orlale

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n writing his comments about the referendum in South Sudan, US President Barrack Obama said: Not every generation is given a chance to turn the page on the past and write a new chapter in history. Yet today — after 50 years of civil wars that killed millions of people and turned millions more into refugees — this is the opportunity being given to the people of South Sudan.

While Obama’s statement was directed to the people of South Sudan in general, he may as well have been addressing the women specifically. Women in South Sudan have come along way, thanks to the Comprehensive Peace Accord signed five years ago which enabled them to be part of the electoral process.

Voting The women have undergone capacity building and civic education carried out by local and international partners which has left them empowered and more aware of their rights. This enabled them to participate effectively in last year’s historic General Elections and the just concluded referendum.

The women were voting for the first time as previous Sudan elections, which were last held in the early 1980s never allowed them to cast the ballot. The impact of the civic education was evident during the referendum as women in their multitude flocked polling booths to exercise their constitutional right which would decide the destiny of their country and the region as a whole.

Leadership South Sudan women have also had the opportunity to “taste and wield power” after their long liberation struggle against the authoritative and repressive Khartoum Government.

They were appointed or elected to positions of leadership and decision making as ministers, state governors, speakers of the Assemblies in the federal and in the state parliaments.

According to an official of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement Ms Anne Itto it is important that everyone with a voting card cast their ballot. “Voting is an honour to those who sacrificed their lives so we have this choice,” Itto said as she recalled the civil war that ran for over two decades 1983-2005.

Among the major women’s gains in the CPA are the reserved seats for women deliberately put in place to ensure they are part of the political process.

Before the CPA, the last elections held in South Sudan were in 1983. During that time women were not allowed to vie for seats nor were they allowed to cast their votes. It was shortly after the 1983 elections that war broke out in the Sudan and ended up being one of the longest civil wars in Africa. It forced millions of South Sudanese to flee to neighbouring countries of Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia and Democratic Republic of Congo. Many of them would later relocating abroad to the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Australia for fear of their safety.

However, despite there being gender discrimination in the wider Sudan, the South Sudan allowed a majority of their women to join in the fight against a repressive government. The women were soldiers and many rose through the ranks to top levels such as major and generals.

One of them is Brigadier Victoria Arop, who in the last Parliament was the oldest female Member of Parliament. In 2009, during capacity building conference for South Sudan women’s leaders, Arop was the first South Sudanese woman to qualify as a military nurse in charge of over 19,000 children in a refugee camp in Ethiopia.

Recognition Two of the most visible women ministers in the first Cabinet formed by the Government of Southern Sudan, were Mrs Rebecca Garang (Roads) and Mrs Mary Kiden (Gender and Social Development). However, both have since relinquished the positions. Garang would later be appointed as special advisor on Gender to the President of South Sudan Salva Kiir.

Kiden was the first woman Minister for Gender, Social Welfare and Religious Affairs.

The Government of South Sudan recognised the need to have women in decision making positions right from the start. This could have been influenced by the fact that many human rights organisations did not want this new ‘nation’ to suffer from a disease of gender discrimination that afflicted most of her neighbours.

Women professionals and community leaders were also recognized and given positions of responsibility in the new political dispensation, they included Dr Pauline Riak, who was the chief executive of the Anti-Corruption Commission; Ms Jersa Barsaba, who was appointed a member of the powerful South Sudan Elections Commission, Ms Sabina Dario Lokolong, who served as the Speaker of the Equatoria State Assembly and Adelina Tito, who was the paramount chief in Equatorial State.

In the referendum, the women walked confidently into the voting booths fully aware of where they want to go as a marginalised group and region after suffering the scars and pain of feeling the full brunt of the 21-year-old civil war, which left millions of their husbands, sons and daughters either killed, maimed, raped and/or displaced.

Reprieve Among the women leaders who have been at the forefront in the struggle during the civil war and after the signing of the CPA is Rebecca Garang, widow of the SPLA leader, who had doubled as one of the two Sudanese Vice Presidents the late Dr John Garang de Mabior.

But barely one year after celebrating the longawaited CPA, tragedy struck when Garang died in a mysterious helicopter crash after leaving Kampala, Uganda. So it was natural for Rebecca who served in the SPLA high command to shed

The time has now come for South Sudanese women to start a new beginning in the new political dispensation and ensure that all the gains they had made through the liberation struggle, CPA elections and the referendum are not in vain.

A South Sudanese woman casts her vote as others wait in the qeue.

Not even having a small child could have kept the women away.

Pictures: Correspondent

tears of joy on January 10, when she joined millions of compatriots and comrades-in-arms to cast her vote in the historic referendum that they had all yearned for so much for the past quarter century.

Though not so much in the public eye today, Rebecca has been an influential opinion leader and formidable force in and out of the Government of Southern Sudan where she is held in high regard. While casting her vote, Rebecca remembered with pride how hard her husband had worked with passion and dedicated his entire life for the love of his people’s right to freedom and self-determination.

Vow And as they flocked polling centres with many arriving on foot, others on bicycles and or in motor vehicles, the people of South Sudan remembered with passion the historic day their leader, the late John Garang de Mabior signed the CPA, together with the Sudanese Vice-President Mr Ali Osman Taha in Kenya where the message was that never again would the Southern Sudanese allow their Northern brothers and sisters to treat them as secondclass citizens.

Like Garang had vowed, the time has now come for South Sudanese women to start a new

beginning in the new political dispensation and ensure that all the gains they had made through the liberation struggle, CPA elections and the referendum are not in vain.

After only five days of voting, in an exercise that was to take seven days over 60 per cent of registered voters had cast their votes. According to an official of the Referendum Commission this means that the result of the vote will be valid.

The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement cited its own estimates for the achievement which has to be officially confirmed by South Sudan Referendum Commission that is organising the week long exercise.

However, the Referendum Commission spokeswoman Ms Suad Ibrahim said SPLM’s boast was plausible. “It is possible. It could even be higher,” she told news agencies in Juba.

Despite being tainted by spots of violence, it is hoped the outcome will be a positive one that will offer the women of South Sudan better opportunities and prospects that will push them to greater levels.

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Issue Number 13 • January 2011

Bridging the gap between policy and reality

Report from HIV care and support: A roadmap to universal access …By Shannon Hayes

I

n 2001 and again in 2006, United Nations member states met in a General Assembly Special Session on HIV and Aids (UNGASS), where they agreed to a set of commitments.

The pillars of these UNGASS commitments were achieving universal access to HIV treatment, prevention, care and support. Since 2006, there has been by some accounts a 13-fold increase in access to HIV treatment, thanks to high profile global civil society activism and massive commitments by global donors and governments.

Increased access to anti-retroviral therapy (ART) has extended lives around the world, changing HIV from a death sentence to a chronic, manageable illness for many people.

As these advancements have been made, the roles and realities in poor communities where the burden of HIV has been particularly severe have largely remained invisible. And the roll out of ARV has not in any way meant a reduction of work for home-based caregivers, who continue to counsel people to get tested, accompany them to clinics and hospitals, monitor treatment adherence, ensure people on treatment have enough food, and organise a variety of social support services in their communities.

Neglect As a consequence of the continued invisibility of caregivers’ work — perhaps because it is considered “just women’s work” — access to care and support have been nearly ignored and the role and important contributions of homebased caregivers and organisations that provide the all important care and support — the “glue” that holds the Aids response together at the community level — has not received the attention or funding that it merits.

On November 9-10, 2010, the UK Consortium on Aids and International Development took a major step to reverse this global inattention on care and support by convening an international conference, titled “HIV Care and Support: A roadmap to universal access by 2015”. The Conference brought together policy makers and funders from the major institutions in the global Aids response including UNAIDS, WHO, DfID, USAID, the Global Fund, UNICEF and World Bank, national government representatives, international, national and local NGOs, global activists, representatives of the women’s movement, and grassroots homebased caregivers.

The Huairou Commission was represented at the meeting by three grassroots caregivers, two national-level NGO partner staff and the global Aids campaign coordinator.

Three other grassroots caregivers had planned to attend but were denied their visas at the last moment. We joined with a larger team of community practitioners and allies through the Caregivers Action Network to ensure that voices from the ground took a central role at the Conference.

Some of the objectives of the Conference were to increase understanding of the current situation of care and support in policy and practice in Africa and why it is important in achieving

Grandmothers who are caregivers and guardians to Aids orphans. Most of them also went through the process of care giving to their children who died from Aids related illness. Most caregivers in Africa do not have support from the government for the services they offer.

Picture: Wesley Gitahi

universal access to HIV treatment and prevention to work towards a consensus on a common definition of care and support.

The outcome of the conference was a roadmap with key recommendations for all stakeholders in the areas of policy, research, funding and programmatic responses to achieve universal access to care and support by 2015, with a particular focus on Africa.

At the conference, policymakers and donors described their previous and new commitments to care and support and getting care and support higher on the global agenda. On-the-ground practitioners shared the reality of care and support in their communities — who was providing it (mostly poor women), if and how it was being funded (inadequately), and caregivers’ role in policy and decision-making (nearly nonexistent).

Caregivers also shared the work they are doing to improve this situation, claiming to be recognised as leaders, experts and collaborators at the same level as the professional policy makers represented at the conference.

Panels at the conference focused on definitions, collaborations, setting the scene of care and support in the community, policy, funding, research and programmatic approaches.

Throughout the conference, the dialogue balanced between global, top-down policies and programmes with an emphasis on indica-

However, there is still a lot of work to do to ensure that the women and men who are leading care and support efforts on the ground are fully and meaningfully included in policy making and funding, and committed to taking action.

tors, results, impact and cost effectiveness as well as the realities of caregivers working on the ground, who those policies and programmes have largely failed to include or benefit.

Considering the billions of dollars still being invested in HIV and Aids, and the continued high prevalence rates in so many areas, the conference seemed to agree that it was vital to bridge these gaps and find real solutions to ensure universal access to care and support in a way that both recognises the work caregivers have been doing, but without further burdening them as they take on roles that most people agree belong to the state.

Participation Despite this commitment, it was not entirely evident how this would be done, and if the partners of influence in the room were really committed to finding a new way of working and partnering with grassroots caregivers and communities, to tangibly recognise them as experts and leaders, seek their central involvement in policy making as well as mandate them to be monitors and evaluators of Aids funding and programming, for the benefit of everyone living with and affected by HIV. In addition, caregivers in their diversity were represented, with a grandmother from Zambia, Kufekisa Laugery, a man providing care and support for men who have sex with men, David Kato from Sexual Minorities of Uganda, and a caregiver for injecting drug users and sex workers in Mauritius, Daniel Phillippe of PILS, all presented on a panel alongside high level policy makers and donors.

The caregivers’ central participation in the conference was appreciated by many participants, and the Huairou Commission team felt proud that caregivers were positioned and recognised as equal experts at the conference.

At the end of the conference, nearly all of the participants expressed how much they valued the voices of the caregivers who attended, and the way they were able to ground the discussions

in their lived realities. However, there is still a lot of work to do to ensure that the women and men who are leading care and support efforts on the ground are fully and meaningfully included in policy making and funding, and committed to taking action.

Some of the follow up plans are to continue to strengthen a movement of caregivers who can represent themselves in policy making and advocate globally, through the Home-Based Care Alliance; to develop a common definition from the grassroots level of who caregivers are and what they do; and to evaluate various means of financially supporting caregivers to develop a common message on what caregivers want and need. We will undertake all of these with a continual focus on demonstrating impact and cost effectiveness.

With the Caregivers Action Network, we will also continue to advance the implementation of the roadmap when it is finalized, and to advocate specifically with key institutions to dialogue with caregivers and forge real solutions to redress the burden of care. We are already looking towards UNGASS and ICASA in 2011 and the International AIDS Conference in 2012 as key venues to make impact and continue to raise the profile of care and support.

Consultation Prior to the conference, the Huairou Commission helped organize two activities to ensure that grassroots caregivers were involved in the Conference even if they could not physically attend.

First, we organized an 8-country grassroots consultation with grassroots organizations and home-based caregivers in Cameroon, Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Zambia and South Africa to guarantee that home-based caregivers’ voices, perspectives and priorities are at the forefront of creating effective and participatory policies.

Adapted from Huairou Commission website

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:

Mary Nyamongo, Paul Kimanzi, Faith Muiruri, Joyce Chimbi, Jane Godia, Duncan Mboyah, Olick Felix, Odhiambo Orlale, Karani Kelvin and Shannon Hayes.

Design & layout:

Noel Lumbama (Noel Creative Media Ltd)

This paper is produced with support from The United Nations Democracy Fund (UNDEF)