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FORUM FOR AFRICAN WOMENEDUCATIONALISTS- KENYA

CHAPTER

2021

"Young"Young"Youngwomen whowomen whowomen who

want anwant anwant aneducationeducationeducationwill not bewill not bewill not bestopped"stopped"stopped"

The spotlight on news and updates from FAWE Kenya

The STEMawards

Giving them a voice- Tuseme Dada

Launch of the Breakfree Program

Status of girls and young women at risk ofdropping out of school due to TP, CM andFGM in Kenya

Starting young; the fight against corruption

We are beyond elated to share with you thisedition of unbridled, our in-house magazine.Ours is gratitude, for this continuousopportunity to achieve spontaneity, growth,reinvention and learning, each waking day.With your support 2021 has been a significantyear, that has accorded us the opportunity togrow our capacity and confidence in our abilityto steer and own our solutions towardsachieving our mission.We are repurposed to do all we do with thewomen and the girls and not for them. Thewomen and girls have continuously played aprominent role in curating our program andinterventions supporting education byeradicating teenage pregnancy, child marriageand FGM.

EDITORIAL NOTENewsletter Highlights

The Editorial note

Covid 19: A catalyst to gender disparity andinequality in Education

Data- driven advocacy for girls Education

Safeguarding and Duty of Care Guidelines

The successes include the establishment andstrengthening of STEM clubs in the 40participating schools to enhance theparticipation of girls. Through these clubs, over15000 students were able to get resources suchas mentors, online reading materials andexchange visits which aimed at building theircapacity. It also involved peer to peer educationin other areas where students would seekguidance.We have similarly engaged the Ministry ofEducation which initiated a dialogue on theSTEM/ICT policy review in addition to developingactive partnerships with like-minded partnerswithin the region: The MoE, KICD, NACONEK,KNATCOM, KEMI, TSC and other entities.

P H O T O B Y M A R T I N R . S M I T H

202 1

The key to helping girls have more confidence intheir STEM abilities is to ensure they have rolemodels, mentors and communities to teach andencourage them. Role models always have adramatic impact on girls’ interest in these fieldsand, to some extent, their persistence in stickingwith them and advancing. At FAWE Kenya, since2016 with financial support from Microsoft, wehave had a STEM program to help girls identifyand form relationships with female role models,mentors and sponsors who can encourage theirinterests in STEM and eventually pave the way toa STEM career.

Science TechnologyEngineering andMathematics for girls

QUANTIFIABLE PROJECT GOALS

529 TOTs (Teachers) trained on digital skills. 14,954 students trained on digital skills and Artificial

Intelligence both directly and indirectly.270 youth trained on Digital Skills and Artificial

Intelligence.

"It is shameful that there are so few women in science...There is a misconception that women scientists areall dowdy spinsters. This is the fault of men." Chien-Shiung Wu, experimental physicist.

Educate girls andempower the nation

Science is not only a boy's game,it's a girl's game too!

THE STEM AWARDST h e e v e n t t o o k p l a c e o n 2 n d J u l y 2 0 2 1

Thirty-one projects from different schools were showcased in front of thejudges, teachers, FAWE Kenya staff and mentors present. After everypresentation, questions and critiques were made on every project toascertain the inspiration that brought up the choice and the problem in thesociety that the project seeks to address. Most of the projects were games seeking to break boredom at home duringthe pandemic where people were expected to stay at home. The winningproject was designed using scratch, a model that can be used fordemonstration during the teaching of the human breathing system in school.The project was outstanding as it brought a simple explanation of gaseousexchange in human lungs. The second and third projects were entertaining,innovative and explorative.

"When I was inhigh school, I wascertain that beingan astronaut wasmy goal. It was avery important

time." -- Karen Nyberg,

NASA astronaut

"I love technology, and I don't think it's something that shoulddivide along gender lines." -Marissa Mayer

Congratulations!

Winners

Best StudentsWinner

Joy Monica Wairimu –Uthiru Girls Runners up

Athenya Jasmin - Statehouse Girls2nd Runners up

Valarie Ingaji - St.Teresias Girls

Best YouthJohn Muriithi Kibuutu

Best Teachers

Julius Mwangi - Statehouse Girls High SchoolVincent Kaudo – Ruaraka Secondary School.

P r o j e c t

TUSEME DADA

Piscca training

The French Embassy conducted atraining for the piscca fund awardees on

how to retain control of project andpromote project success, skills to

designing & delivering project results inthe context of constraints: scope,schedule, budget, risk and quality.

Meeting with stakeholdersCourtesy call - the firstlady Kajiado county

On 25th August 2021, the CEO and theprogram manager paid a courtesy call to

the first lady Kajiado county. Theydeliberated on the need to work with the

county government and otherstakeholders in the dissemination and

implementation of the Anti-FGM, Re-entryand Mentorship Policies.

Through the first lady , Kajiado County willensure that they prioritize girls education

and increase budgetary allocationtowards the same.

TUSEME club is a school-based model started by FAWE with the aim of creating, promoting and sustaining an interactive platform for both girls and boys toidentify, understand and overcome challenges that affect their psychosocial and academic development.

FUNDED BY THE FRENCH EMBASSYFUNDED BY THE FRENCH EMBASSYFUNDED BY THE FRENCH EMBASSY

FAWE Kenya cascaded the Tuseme clubs in 9schools in Kajiado and also strengthened theclub at the FAWE’s Centre of Excellence (AICKajiado Girls). The clubs continue to give girlsand boys opportunities to express the diversechallenges in their day-to-day school activities.With this, they are able to take up appropriateinitiatives to solve them and progressacademically.

GIVING THEM A VOICE AIC KAJIADO GIRLSPRIMARYSENIOR CHIEF RISA O.SECONDARYGREENLAND GIRLSSAJILONI GIRLS SECBARAKA OONTOYIEGIRLSEITI PRIMARYMOIPEI PRIMARYGREENLANDSECONDARY OLOOSUYIAN PRIMARYESOKOTA PRIMARY

1.

2.

3.4.5.

6.7.8.

9.10.

TUSEME SCHOOLSIN KAJIADO

FAWE Kenya held a consultative meetingwith key ,county officers and CSOs working

in education. health and gender sector.Partners made presentations and sharedexperiences to ascertain the situation ofteenage pregnancies, child marriage andFGM in Kajiado County as a result of thelockdown and isolation measures of the

COVID-19 pandemic. These findingsgenerated accurate and reliable data and

also identified policy gaps to inform projectinterventions.

THE LAUNCH OF TUSEME CLUBS

G I V I N G G I R L S A N D B O Y S A V O I C E

F A W E K E N Y A L A U N C H I N G C L U B S I N 9 N E W S C H O O L S I N K A J I A D O C O U N T Y

TUSEME CLUB MEMBERSAT BARAKA ENTOYIEGIRLS

For girls, every day counts. We ought to protect their right toeducation during this unprecedented disruption and beyond.COVID-19 has pushed inequalities in education to the breakingpoint, disproportionately affecting adolescent girls. This crisis isunderlining existing challenges, particularly the gender digitaldivide and could roll back decades of progress on gender equalityand girls' education.In Kenya, legal and political advances to ensure gender equality ineducation find strong obstacles to their implementation in schools,online learning platforms, for example, disadvantaged childrenfrom marginalized communities. Government investments towardseducation have been affected as they had education budgets cutand re-allocated the resources to health since the onset of theCOVID-19 pandemic. This adversely affected girls’ enrolment.Existing gender disparities are exacerbated by the pandemic andare likely to affect women and girls ability to continue with theireducation. The worsening COVID-19 pandemic is causing prolongedsocial and economic disruptions that are yielding unintendedconsequences including economic and food insecurity, andchallenges in accessing healthcare and education.

COVID - 19: A catalyst to genderdisparity and inequality in education

Girls’ early school leaving is due to many obstacles

that stand in the way of women and girls fully

exercising their right to participate in, complete and

benefit from education. These factors include

poverty, geographical isolation, minority status,

disability, child marriage, adolescent pregnancy,

discriminatory gender norms in society, child labour,

gender-based violence, traditional attitudes about

the status and role of women and the lack of easy

and safe access to schools near where they live.

FAWE Kenya is at the forefront advocating for

second chances for teenage mothers to re-join

education systems and get accelerated learning

opportunities so that they can catch up on their time

lost.

FAWE Kenya’s key advocacy work at the regional and national level include participation in the development of the SchoolMentorship Policy 2018; Gender in Education and Training Policy; School Health Policy 2019; Re-entry Policy 2020; and ASRH Policy2015. Apart from providing technical support to the Ministry of Education in developing the Parental Engagement andEmpowerment guideline with a focus on enhancing parental support in eradicating FGM/C, the organization has also played a keyrole in integrating gender into the education system through the use of Gender Equality Strategy for CESA2016-25. In addition,FAWE Kenya is an active member of the Technical Working Group for SDG4 and CESA, and a nominated member of the EducationMonitoring Committee where its main mandate is to monitor progress made by the ministry of education in integrating gender inthe education system. In the same way, FAWE Kenya also led CSOs engagement with the Kenya Institute of CurriculumDevelopment (KICD) in integrating human sexuality into the Reform School Curriculum.

THE LAUNCH OF THE BREAK FREE PROJECT

The launch brought together all stakeholders that are involved inthe implementation of the program.

To promote effective coordination in the review, popularization,enforcement and implementation of education-related laws andpolicies against CM/TP for improved access to girl’s education.To advocate for change of retrogressive cultural and social normstowards adolescents especially those perpetuating CM/TP.To improve efficiency in the implementation of laws, policies, andnational plans of action related to CM/TP evidenced by sufficientbudgeting and adequate resource allocation at the county andnational level. To enhance CSO’s participation and Duty bearer’s accountabilitymechanism on the implementation of laws and policies, related toCM/TP at the national and county levels.

OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECT

FAWE Kenya in the implementation of the Break FreeProgramme is aiming at building synergies, strategic

partnerships and also work together with the government,various organizations and programs addressing teenagepregnancies and child marriage at the national level. Thisprogram seeks to build on and leverage upon the lessons

learnt from the previous and current projects beingimplemented by FAWE Kenya and work within the existing

structures and networks established.

Status of girls and young women at risk of dropping out of school dueto Teenage Pregnancy (TP) and Child Marriage (CM) and FemaleGenital Mutilation (FGM) in Kenya.

Nationally, in 2019, at least 707,000 children ofpre-primary age (4- and 5-year-olds), over 1.1million primary school-age children (6 to 13 yearsold) and at least 650,000 secondary school-ageadolescents and youth (14 to 17 years old) wereestimated to have dropped out-of-school in Kenya.The majority of the out of school children wereidentified to include girls and boys from differentparts of the country including the disabled,marginalized, those working and living in thestreets and those hosted in Kenya as refugees andasylum seekers

In Kenya, child marriage and teenage pregnancy havecommon root causes and social drivers. The root causes andsocial drivers behind the practice of child marriage andteenage pregnancy are a result of a myriad of socio-economic and systemic challenges experienced byhouseholds and communities. The socio-economic challengesinclude poverty, low education, poor healthcare, negativecultural practices, gender bias and discrimination thatdisregards the value of girls and treats them as economicassets. These pressures are further compounded by the lackof knowledge and skills among children, young people, theirfamilies and communities on child rights, sexual andreproductive health and rights (SRHR), and lack of a generalunderstanding of how to detect, prevent and respond to allforms of violence/abuse against children and young people.

FAWE Kenya supported theMinistry of Education in theformation of the NationalGender Technical Working

Group (TWG) and also co-chairthe TWG with the MOE. The TWGhas the role of coming up with a

road map for theimplementation of the Re-entry

Policy, Mentorship Policy,Guidance and Counselling Policy,

and lead in the review of theEducation and Training Sector

Gender Policy in 2015.

FORMATION OF THE NATIONAL GENDER TECHNICAL WORKING GROUP

About the contestWith a goal of empowering the younger generation in the fight againstcorruption in Kenya by inculcating ethical values and raisingawareness among Kenyan children, FAWE Kenya and KonradAdenauer Stiftung designed a national contest on essays and artworkswhere we called upon the children/ youth of Kenya to participate bysharing their feelings and knowledge on corruption and its harm in thesociety, citing out possible mitigation measures.The contest empowered the younger generation to effectivelyparticipate in governance issues and shun malpractices leading as anexample. Children were also given a platform to promote humanrights, democracy and rule of law in regard to the management andutilization of public resources. In response to this, over 2000 submissions of essays and artworkswere made. This was followed by three stages of marking thatinvolved teachers , stakeholders and judges respectively.

The book Launch andawards ceremony

The event will couple up as the award ceremony andthe book launch. The book content will include thebest submissions of artwork and essays.

This event will mark international corruption Day Wewill have prominent individuals who have beeninvolved in the fight against corruption.

“Integrity, transparency and thefight against corruption have tobe part of the culture. They have

to be taught as fundamentalvalues.” — Angel Gurría, OECD

secretary general.

Essay and art contestThe fight against corruption

On 2nd -4th June, FAWE Kenya involved 20 teachers to mark the essays and artworks submittedto come up with the 100 best per category.

On 21st July stakeholders were involved in marking stage two whereby 20 best essays and 20 bestartworks were selected to compete in level three of marking.

High-ranking judges including the Ministry of Education, media, and UNESCO who are key and have an interestin the fight against corruption involved in the marking stage three. This exercise led to the selection of the 10best in each category to be awarded and published at the end of the project.

THE BOOK LAUNCH ANDAWARDS CEREMONY

9 T H D E C E M B E R 2 0 2 1 ,

To mark the International Anti-Corruption Day that is annually celebrated on 9th December, FAWE Kenya and KonradAdenauer Stiftung held an award ceremony for the students who emerged the best in the Essay and Arts contest oncorruption, the event that doubled as the launch of the publication brought together high ranking judges includingofficers from the Ministry of Education, like-minded CSO’s such as African Youth Transformation, Journalists for humanrights, Transparency International and UNESCO who are key and have interest in the fight against corruption in Kenya.Students too were accompanied by their parents/guardians or teachers.

• Working partnership between MOE, EACC, FAWE Kenya and KonradAdenauer Stiftung, will go a long way in the fight against corruptionand even future engagements.• Established a strong and critical mass of fighters against corruptionin Kenya.• Nationwide participation of children in the contest with 1984 entriesmade, this includes marginalized areas and those living withdisabilities. •Essays and Arts contest best entries were published anddisseminated to raise the voices of the children and contributeimmensely to the awakening of national conscience on Corruption.

Results of the project

DATA – DRIVEN ADVOCACY FOR GIRLSEDUCATION IN EMERGENCIES

Using data to improve education for women and girls in fragile and conflict-affected areas of Kenya

Through the project, we have capacity-built 100 WomenRights Organizations with data-driven skills to effectivelyuse data to advocate for girls’ right to education andmake their voices heard in decision-making processes. Wehave improved the collection and use of data andevidence by the Ministry of Education, State Departmentfor Gender, Children's department, UN agencies and NGOsto drive for equitable and coordinated provision ofeducation for girls and women.

In partnership with Equal Measures 2030 weare implementing the Global Affairs Canada-

funded project

The project aims to improve learning outcomesfor women and girls affected by crises, as well aslead to the collection of better sex and agedisaggregated data on education in emergencies.

Barriers to girls’ education includingharmful cultural norms and practices(FGM and beading), child marriage,teenage pregnancies, violence, distanceto school, and extreme poverty continueto hinder girls from accessing a safe andquality education. In Turkana, forinstance, a negative attitude towardsgirls’ education was recorded by 39.3% ofthe respondents. Girls' education isoptional and they prefer to take boys to aschool than girls. Male parents see novalue in educating girls since they seethem as a source of wealth.

From our research

To educate girlsis to reduce

poverty.

Educate a girl and youeducate a community

rfe

rfe’’’’

The reach

To address these barriers, there is a need fordisaggregated data on girls and women in emergencycontexts, for example, data on teenage pregnancies andchild marriage. Communities and parents need to beeducated about the importance of girls’ education andpolicymakers need to focus more on data disaggregationfor policies targeting girls to ensure that policies arecontext-specific and target disadvantaged groups. Mostof the available data on girls EiE is outdated, whichpotentially hinders targeted interventions for girls. Dataon girls’ EiE is constantly changing and as such needs tobe collected on a regular basis.

72000 people engaged through our social media platforms toadvocate for the effective use of data to influence systemicpolicy change.100 Women Rights Organizations have been equipped withdata-driven advocacy knowledge and skills.Influenced 150 decision-makers to effectively utilize data toinform policymaking for girls’ education in emergencies.Convened 8 virtual cross-stakeholders meetings to advocatefor the elimination of the barriers to girls EducationThe Nairobi and Turkana Working groups convened 50 CSOs,education advocates and government officials to advocate forthe eradication of school-based gender-based violence.FAWE Kenya has a wide media coverage to amplify ouradvocacy efforts. We have been featured by Citizen TV, KTNNews, TV47, Radio mater, MBCI radio, Pamoja FM, Classic FMand the Star newspaperWe have held webinars reaching over 9000 people. The focusis to create awareness on the barriers that keep girls out ofschool and how to overcome themInter-organizational twitter chat with over 6000 impressionsand engagement. It brought together 20 organizations in thediscussion around provision of safe and quality education forgirls living in emergencies settings in KenyaWe have encouraged communities to ensure that refugee girlsfrom Eastleigh, Nairobi and host community girls of Turkanaaccess safe and quality education.

Need for disaggregated data

"USHANGA"Beading young girls is a cultural practice amongTurkana host community symbolizing that a girlhas been booked for marriage. This has contributedto the rife of child marriages in the community asgirls booked for marriage are less likely to attendschool. Such retrogressive cultures should beshunned

THE MAKE WAYPROGRAM

I n s i d e t h e I s s u e

Safeguarding and Duty of Care Guidelines YOUTH CONSULTATIVE FORUM

FAWE Kenya is part of theconsortium of sixorganizations (AkinaMama Wa Afrika, Circle ofConcerned African WomenTheologians, LilianeFonds/CSDK, VSO andWemos) in implementingthe Make Way Programmesought to include the voiceof young people duringthe drafting of aSafeguarding and Duty ofCare guidelines

The guidelines will ensure commitment by the Consortium Partners, theirCollaborating Partners and youth representatives to uphold strongsafeguarding and duty of care principles while also promoting a positive,conducive and participatory environment when interacting or engagingwith other young people, people with disability and people withcompounded vulnerabilities during organized forums. They will act asprocedural standards of operation that consortium partner organizationsagree to follow in terms of logistics, safety, and security arrangementsagreed in the Kenya Country Coordination Group, when on joint travel ormissions arranged by one or more of the Consortium Partners.

The Make Way Programme should have Safeguardingand Duty of Care policies/guidelines aligned to thecountry’s legal framework. Promote regular review of the guidelines on itseffectiveness.Empower all staff through orientation to understand theexisting guidelines.Provide clear reporting channels. Have clear timelines for addressinginfringement/violations. Ensure there’s awareness on reporting channels,especially amongst program beneficiaries. (Duringmeetings, the youth should be given a package thatcontains a detailed booklet on sexual harassment and aone-page document that highlights a few concepts in thebooklet. The convener should go through it at the onsetof every meeting to ensure the participants are at parwith the guidelines. Provide feedback mechanism.Prohibit organizational culture that normalizes violationand stigmatization.Protect the victim’s privacy exclusively.Consider the 5 Safeguarding case scenarios exhibited inthe design.

Safeguarding & Duty of Care guideline MUST HAVEs…

Protect the community members.Facilitate a process for the beneficiary to access justice.There should be immediacy/timeliness in responding to the report.Proper investigation.Abusers should cede privileges that enable the abuse.Accountability- everyone is accountable for their own actions.Facilitate a process where the victim gets justice.

In case it happens?

FAWE Kenya and Access to Medicines Platform(AtMP) signed an MoU to cement on partnership

From left Ineke Aquarius (Dutch Embassy), Robert Athewa-From left Ineke Aquarius (Dutch Embassy), Robert Athewa-From left Ineke Aquarius (Dutch Embassy), Robert Athewa-Program manager, H.E. Joris van Bommel-Dutch DeputyProgram manager, H.E. Joris van Bommel-Dutch DeputyProgram manager, H.E. Joris van Bommel-Dutch DeputyAmbassador to Kenya and Dr Johnstone Kuya-SeniorAmbassador to Kenya and Dr Johnstone Kuya-SeniorAmbassador to Kenya and Dr Johnstone Kuya-SeniorPolicy Officer for Strategic Partnerships holdingPolicy Officer for Strategic Partnerships holdingPolicy Officer for Strategic Partnerships holdingconsultations at The Embassy of the Kingdom of theconsultations at The Embassy of the Kingdom of theconsultations at The Embassy of the Kingdom of theNetherlands.Netherlands.Netherlands.

The strategic partnership is key inthe development of the organization

Follow Us On Social Media @fawekenya

FAWE Kenya sealed a partnership with the Centre forStudy of Adolescence.From Left: Robert Athewa, Teresa Otieno and AlbertObuyyi : Executive Director CSA

2021

MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS CANADA

We have been spreading wings in order to reach moregirls and women at grass-root levels. We have launcheda branch in Siaya that is now operating as a CBO andwith support from the National office. We are planningto launch branches in Bungoma, Vihiga, Kisumu, andKakamega before the year ends.

To renew your membership with ease, hereis our Mpesa paybill no.651591