The Woman Foundation

THE WOMAN FOUNDATION Empowerment of young people and women: the key to development P.O Box 00800 Nairobi Kenya. www.thewomanfoundationorg BACKGROUND HISTORY. United Nations Women has recognized women as key agents for development. The role of women in developing countries, as explored throughout this module, has been recognised as the single most important factor when it comes to bringing about and sustaining long term social change. Women are farmers and food providers (contributing to agricultural output, general environmental maintenance and food security); they are business people and traders (40% of the world’s labour force are women, not including informal work in the home, on the land, in the market place etc); they are heads of households (most of whom are likely to also have a full time job, as well as caring for children, elderly or sick relatives); they are mothers, carers and support workers (more often than not, in developing countries, this is voluntary); and they are community leaders, activists and role models (stemming from their roles in society as mothers, carers and support workers). Development affects men and women differently, often with a more negative impact on women. This can undermine women’s role, status and position within society and therefore perpetuates their inequality. To realise their potential, women needs to be empowered in all aspects of life; political, social and economical. Gender equality is a human right. Women are entitled to live with dignity and with freedom from want and from fear. Gender equality is also a precondition for advancing development and reducing poverty: Empowered women contribute to the health and productivity of whole families and communities, and they improve prospects for the next generation. Still, despite solid evidence demonstrating the centrality of women’s empowerment to reducing poverty, promoting development and addressing the world’s most urgent challenges, gender equality remains an unfulfilled promise. Youth : The United Nations has long recognized that young people are major human resource for development and key agents for social change, economic growth and technological innovation.Youth play effective roles in building the community because they best express civilization and culture and that the scale of an active society is of how much attention is paid to youth. Since young people are the force most prominent influencing the society in various fields, whether cultural, economic, educational, social, entrepreneurial intellectual, economical psychological and legal amogst others. All these contributes to the building and the development of a conscious democratic society. Exclusion from leadership and governance in Kenya has over the years, subjected youth to manipulations and socio-economic and political hardship leading to desperation and vulnerability. Kenya records high number of female discrimination cases which result to a barrier in Kenya’s development. Socio-economic status of young women in Kenya has made minimal strides in their quest to bridge the inequality gap. However, this state of affairs is not blamed solely on young women, but on the prevailing political and governance systems. From here the idea of establishing of The Woman Foundation emerged, to empower and help women and young people be independent and enable them to develop and exploit their potential and ensure their participation in the positive impact on society. FORMATION In Kenya women, girls and youth have been treated as second class citizens. Despite Kenya bringing in a new progressive, rights-based constitution in 2010, which provides the legal framework for the government to fulfill basic rights, and for marginalized and vulnerable groups, especially women and children, to claim their rights. Women still face challenges including the ability to participate effectively in decision making and leadership and that the majority of the female members of the national parliament and the county assemblies are new to the legislature. The situation is compounded by the absence of a credible and vibrant women’s movement to advocate for the constitutional gender equality gains. The founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Fatuma Khalif who is also a Kenyan youth, businesswoman, human rights and gender equality advocate has been empowering youth, women and marginalized groups in the society. In her passion and determination to youth and women affairs, humanity, free just society she founded The Woman Foundation in her goal to reach more people and impact to the community. As a champion of United Nations Sustainable Development Goals vision 2030, Fatuma is committed to unlocking the unlimited potential that Kenyan women, girls and youth holds. Mission: The Woman Foundation will create new pathways, synergies and platforms to address the critical issues impacting the development of women, youth and girls. The Foundation will foster opportunities and remove obstacles for youth, women and girls who currently face inequity. It will establish a new model for philanthropy by identifying and supporting successful initiatives that can be replicated broadly. It will reach out for partners, including men and boys, to join its urgent call to action and Stand Together. Vision: An inclusive society that values, strengthens the value of women, youth and girls to be able to drive changes in their communities. In empowering these groups, the Foundation Will be instrumental in promoting massive change with great benefits for all. Core Values: ? Honest and integrity ? Hard work ? Team work ? Non Discrimination ? Respect for humanity ? Confidentiality The Foundation's Structure The foundation's structure comprises: Name Position Contact details Why We Exist/About Us Women and youth have not been given full support to exploit their potential in respect to one's ability. The Woman Foundation exists to empower young women and young men as partners in achieving gender equality by supporting them. The Woman Foundation believes that women and young people have the energy, creativity and will to do things differently in their lifetime. They are an asset to the development of their countries and communities and with the right guidance and support can become influential leaders of positive change. Objectives: Implemention of UN Women plan on gender equality. Building on UN Women’s Strategic Plan, the Youth and Gender Equality Strategy and its ‘LEAPs’ Framework includes three thematic pillars —Leadership of young women in all spheres; Economic empowerment and skills development of young women; and Action on ending violence against young women and girls—and three crosscutting approaches—strengthening Participation, voice and partnerships with young women and young women-led organizations and networks, with young men as partners of gender equality, and with inter-generational. Freedom to work. The Kenyan economy remains vulnerable to external shocks and unemployment continues to be a challenge and there are additional challenges for women. For instance, while over 80% of Kenyan women are engaged in small holder farming, only 1% own land in their own right, access less than 10% of available credit, and less than 1% of agriculture credit.Women’s ability to access the justice system is limited by legal costs, traditional justice systems, illiteracy and ignorance of rights. Women are also disproportionately affected by HIV/Aids with 6.9% of women aged 15 to 64 affected, compared to 4.4% for men of the same age group. In almost 80% of kenyan communities, women are denied their rights in owning land and inheriting properties. Civic Participation: Women and young people and the broader are significant contributors to development processes, resulting in public policy and practice that both supports and is accountable to young men and women. Social-Economic-empowerment. This could be achieved through Enhancing Opportunities for Women Enterprises (EOWE) which will solve many challengestry to reduce women’s workload; develop mentors for women entrepreneurs; invest in group enterprises to bring credit within reach of women; improve access to markets for women; encourage male engagement in women empowerment; and utilize technology and innovative methods to improve women’s access to information on pricing and markets. Funding Leadership Opportunities for Women (FLOW) framework. This aims to establish: the socio-economic, cultural, religious and legal factors that underlie differential gender position on economic development; the consequences of the differential gender position on women’s access to economic opportunities, knowledge and markets; and the opportunities and constraints that affect women’s effective participation in businesses, producer organizations or cooperatives, markets, leadership. Freedom to participate in political life's without discriminations.Kenya’s Constitution demands that women occupy at least one third of all seats in parliament and one third of all appointed political positions. This is far from the current reality.All of this indicates that gender inequality in Kenya’s political system is pervasive and lagging behind therefore necessary strategies have to be put into place empowering young women in active participation and involvement in the politics without discriminations. End gender based violance (GBV),FGM and early marriages. These are practises that have interfered much with the education of Kenyan girls. FGM prevalence is 24% in Kenya. Female Genital Mutilation and Cutting (FGM/C): In certain communities, such as the Kuria, Maasai, Rendille and Turkana, FGM/C is seen as a sign of readiness for marriage, and generally occurs between the ages of 9 and 17. Almost one in four girls in Kenya are married before they reach the legal age of 18, says the United Nations. Many are also being subjected to female genital mutilation (FGM), which is seen as a "rite of passage" before they are wed. Promotion of young entrepreneurs: engaging and supporting young people ( women and youth) that will lead to registered agribusinesses such as SME and companies. Access to education and healthcare. Some parents reportedly withdraw girls from school and marry them off as soon as they menstruate. Marriage is seen to offer the ultimate protection from male sexual attention. These girls are denied there rights to education. Therefore with creating awareness and community policing we will eradicate this. Promotion of education: Calling for educational seminars and forums on the importance of education of the young people for a better tomorrow. Supporting those from needy families to attain basic education. For partnership, affiliation, collaborations contact: Fatuma Khalif Founder and CEO Tel No: +254724786265 Email: [email protected]