Initiative for Women in Kenya

Background

Kenya has the best developed economy of the East African countries, nevertheless almost half of the people live below the poverty line. Especially women suffer from discrimination and male domination in the society: Early pregnancies, arranged marriages and school dropouts are the most common reasons that led the women into the poverty circle from which they are unable to escape on their own.

 

The “Empowering Young Women and Girls” Project

The “Empowering Young Women and Girls” project aims to provide about 200 young women and girls from remote villages in Kilifi County in Kenya with education and starting capital to help them improve their lives.

 

 

 

 

Integrated Empowerment of the Young Women and the Community

On the one hand, the women are provided with trainings that empower them for their daily life and their future, such as family planning and personal hygiene. Also the surrounding of the women (partner, family, community) are integreated in the trainings. This is essential to root the knowledge effectively in the cultural environment.

 

On the other hand, the women are provided with economic education. Depending on their talents, experiences and professional goals they are clustered into groups for individual training on, e.g. agriculture, saloon work or tailoring. They are assisted to develop their own project ideas and raise their own startups. To get started they get the needed starting material, e.g. tailoring machines and cloth. Through this they should be able to secure a basic income that makes them financially independed in the long term.

In the trainings as well as in the group collaborations, the women benefit from sharing experiences with each other. They are motivated to strive for their goals together. This strengthens their self-confitence and the team spirit.

Implementation and funding

All activities are initiated and implemented by our partner organisation Uwezo Develpment Initiative in Kenya, that consists of a team of 13 members (among others nurses and social workers). They are in direct contact with the targeted women and give them professional training. Depending on the initiative they include experts on other fields, e.g. technicians, farmers and engineers, who conduct the projects.

We implement the projects together with our partner organisation. This ensures that they projects work well in the cultural environment on-site. We are looking for funds to realize the initial investments, e.g. to buy materials for economic projects. In the long-term the project should pay for itself and should continue without any external help.

Where is Kilifi County?

Kilifi County is located at the east coast of Kenya, about 70 km north of Mombasa. The women come from remote villages within Kilifi County.