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IWD in Kenya

* This article was submitted by Dorcas Koskey, Jumuiya Women's Group (Kenya)

Following the disputed Presidential tallying and subsequent swearing in of President Kibaki as President of KENYA in December 2007, unprecedented post election violence engulfed the country. North Rift valley in particular is heavily affected.

Until June 2008, there were over 450,000 displaced persons in Kenya. Over 150,000 of them sought refuge in churches, social institutions, police stations and the Agricultural Society of Kenya (ASK) Showground in Eldoret town. The latter had over 25,000 IDPs alone. The Internally Displaced People (IDPs) were subjected to a lot of problems.

Among the lot of them are women and children who became so vulnerable. It is unfortunate that in these circumstances, it is the women who bear the brunt of the skirmishes. They lined up in long queues to get food rations, struggle to feed their children, cloth them, take them for medication, struggle to take their children to school and more importantly beg to get sanitary pads among other problems.

The horrible situation of mayhem and Violence was saved by the international community, led by H.E. Kofi Annan, who brought the two warring parties together to agree to a cessation of hostilities. But the dame had been done. Presently there is deep hatred and animosity obtaining between different ethnic communities. There are efforts to reconcile these communities but the great task lies ahead. The elections of 2012 may also spark off some tension that may lead to a repeat of the post elections skirmishes that we have witnessed.

In the midst of what is happening, JUMUIYA WOMEN GROUP is taking leadership in North Rift Valley of KENYA and particularly so Eldoret town to scale up and sustain the on going peace process. As part of this process, JWG has decided to organise a series of events this year in this region that raise awareness of the role of women in peace building and reconciliation.

Some of the activities include:
1. Organise a regional workshop to educate the women from the grassroots about the UN RESOLUTION 1325
2. Organise the International Women's day to be celebrated on 8th March.

Our target is to reach over 5,000 women who will be mobilised from both the remaining IDP and satellite camps.

The entire exercise will cost USD 10,000. We thus request your esteemed organisation to assist us with this support. Over ten civil society organisations will be involved in the entire exercise.

JUSTIFICATION
Taking into consideration that women form more than 52% of the Kenyan population, their involvement is paramount towards promoting a sustainable culture of peace. There is therefore a need for their voices to be heard and their involvement sought in using their experiences, talents and potentials right from the grassroots to the national level of the Kenyan society.

During the International Women's Day and the UN resolution 1325 workshops, the women will be given an opportunity to come together and participate actively in national healing, peace building planning processes. Why? Because they are seen as pacifiers. The women's various roles of being mothers unite them across ethnic and cultural divides. It is often stated that women who bear children also suffer the brunt of their loss during violent conflict.

Women, more often than not are not direct perpetrators of violent conflict. They are proactive and not reactive and signify values of trust, acceptance, goodwill, respect, compassion and at times, forgiveness. Women are therefore instrumental in promoting interconnectedness and conciliations.

To this end, JUMUIYA WOMEN GROUP recognises two crucial roles that Kenyan women can play particularly at this time immediately after the break out of electoral violence. These include:

A) NETWORKING “by bringing women together during the women's day, where they will be able to share their experiences and come up with the way forward for both short term and long term healing, conciliation and reconciliation processes. The forum will also give them an opportunity to explore their own capacities and potentials in contributing to Peace building in Kenya and the North Rift in particular. ... more

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