Where: Nairobi, Kenya
Area of Work: Ending violence against women, Gender equality and women's empowerment in the context of COVID-19, Leadership and political participation
Global Communities is implementing USAID-funded Cooperatives Leadership, Engagement, Advocacy and Research (CLEAR) program which involves supporting counties to formulate policies and legislation that speak to the needs of their cooperatives; improving business performance for cooperatives through provision of technical assistance; and enhancing systems and networks to improve education and learning among co-operators. Some of the challenges faced by the program is the inequality in cooperatives membership and governance and escalation of Gender Based Violence (GBV) during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
To overcome the challenges, the program has adapted a training guide on gender equity and good governance to make it appropriate for Kenya which will be utilized by cooperatives and county officers in the promotion of gender equity and women’s empowerment. Gender champions will be trained to use diverse strategies to reach out to cooperative members and leadership in an effort to address the stereotypical societal norms that promote inequality and GBV.
In addition, the program continues to train cooperative leaders and county officers on gender equity and good governance using the adapted training guide. This has been impactful in increasing their knowledge and addressing their attitudes to make them more responsive to equitable cooperative leadership and good governance. Some positive results include their commitment to promote gender equity and prevent GBV in their cooperatives.
In response to the escalation of GBV during the COVID-19 lockdowns, the program used an innovative approach of developing training modules to reach out to the cooperatives’ boards of management to build their capacity on prevention and response to GBV. The modules emphasize the 4 Rs namely Recognize, React, Report and Refer. Through the tell-tale signs, the cooperative leaders are able to identify GBV and take the immediate steps in support of their members before helping them to report or refer for services as appropriate.
Photo provided by Global Communities
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