By Betty Luke
A global Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) has rolled out a two-year project aimed at ensuring the national and county governments prioritize on women empowerment through evidence-based policies and programs.
The project, dubbed Women Economic Empowerment (WEE), seeks to have women’s voices and aspirations documented to assist in evidence generation being undertaken by researchers at Kenyatta University and University of Nairobi.
Funded by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and implemented by Action Aid, the pilot project targets women living in abject poverty and exclusion in Isiolo, Nairobi, Mombasa, Taita Taveta and Homabay Counties to sensitize them on the need to stand up for their rights and seize available opportunities in leadership and entrepreneurship.
Project Co-ordinator Jack Odiwa said the NGO will collect views and opinions from women and Civil Societies on how best the group can be empowered economically and later share information with the researchers who will use it to generate reliable evidence.
The research findings will then be shared with the duty bearers for policy making that will ensure the recommendations are implemented.
“By ensuring county and national governments prioritize on women empowerment, the society will be empowered. Our work is to facilitate the process of coming up with evidence,” Mr Odiwa told The Press Point.
Mr Odiwa spoke during a meeting that brought together different government stakeholders from Isiolo to introduce the project to them while also gathering views on issues affecting women from the region.
The NGO also seeks to mobilize Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) to form a hub that will assist in advocacy so that the generated evidence is considered in policy making.
“We also want to empower and facilitate CSOs to come up with ways through which they can push the duty bearers to implement policies seeking to economically, socially and politically empower women,” said Mr Odiwa.
The organisation will also offer capacity building for county government officials on the best ways to involve women in decision making and increase their access to leadership positions.
Action Aid will facilitate the counties operationalise existing policies and regulations empowering women and in coming up with new ones based on the findings from the ongoing research.
The official opined that lack of data and evidence on women empowerment on what matters to them and lack of strong research institutions impeded efforts to ensure the needs for the group are considered.
He said the existing resources and evidences focused so much on the problem instead of solution noting that the project will address the shortcomings.
Isiolo County Secretary Dr Ahmed Galgalo said the county government was committed to economically empowering women for self-reliance alongside youth and persons living with disabilities.
“We have had several initiatives for supporting women and we have already set funds in the current budget for women, youth and PWDs and we will increase the funds in the subsequent year,” Dr Galgalo said while terming the NGO’s project as transformative.
