Our project helps women of all ages to challenge gender equality and break the bias in rural Kenya. Supporting girls to stay in school and graduate, offering an alternative to FGM, delivering a sexual and reproductive health programme with trained Ambassadors, providing access to sanitary pads, clean water, hand washing facilities, health centres equipped with trained staff & maternal health services, trainings on life skills and creating a sustainable income, ensuring all voices are heard.
Girls and women are vulnerable and in danger due to rising poverty, school closures, no access to sexual and reproductive health information or maternal health services. COVID-19 led to a massive increase in teenage pregnancy from early marriages for a 'bride price', gender based violence, lack of knowledge about sex, exchanging sex for food, sanitary pads or money. The fear is without knowledge and an education, opportunities are limited and the poverty cycle continues to the next generation.
We have worked in Kenya for 20 years delivering programmes and tools to challenge gender equality. Our way of working engages the whole community, empowering people to know their rights and encouraging empathy. Trainings on sexual and reproductive health include men and boys and provide information, knowledge and essential materials for good menstrual health. We deliver an Alternative Rite of Passage programme to eliminate FGM and support health systems and workers to deliver health care.
Our programmes enable girls to complete formal education and become more likely to enter the workforce, encouraging independent financial resources and economic empowerment. They create an enabling environment contributing toward the elimination of violence against women, increased understanding of their human rights, and provide alternatives to early childhood marriage. Women take control of their own health and well-being, become economically viable and break the bias for the next generation.
