Kenya Female Advisory Organisation

UITBANNEN VAN BESNIJDENIS

Besnijdenis van meisjes is in Kenia al bijna tien jaar bij wet verboden. Toch is deze praktijk nog allerminst verdwenen. Dat blijkt bijvoorbeeld in het Mount Elgon district, een van de armste gebieden van West Kenia. Onder de bevolking was besnijdenis van meisjes altijd een middel om hen te verzekeren van een goede huwelijkskandidaat. De gevolgen van besnijdenis lopen uiteen van het vroegtijdig verlaten van school tot problemen rond zwangerschap en soms zelfs sterfte.

Kenya Female Advisory Organisation (KEFEADO), Hivos partner sinds 2005, spant zich al jaren in om de bevolking ervan te overtuigen dat besnijdenis gelijk staat aan geweld tegen meisjes. KEFEADO gaat ervan uit dat ouders en meisjes zelf de eeuwenoude traditie zullen verlaten als zij voldoende op de hoogte zijn van de nadelen. We moeten jongeren van onbevooroordeelde informatie voorzien, zodat zij hun eigen keuzen kunnen maken , aldus directeur Dolphine Okech.

KEFEADO moedigt ook onderwijs van meisjes aan. Samen met rurale scholen en traditionele leiders organiseert zij publieke debatten over geweld tegen vrouwen en vrouwenbesnijdenis. Daar vertellen nietbesneden vrouwen over de positieve uitwerking van hun keuze op hun leven en dragen jongens en meisjes in het bijzijn van ouders gedichten voor over het afwijzen van meisjesbesnijdenis. Ook met poppentheater en toneel door en voor jongeren worden geweld tegen vrouwen, vroegtijdig trouwen en de nadelen van besnijdenis bespreekbaar gemaakt. KEFEADO heeft ook de lokale overheid weten te overtuigen om onderwijs van meisjes actiever te bevorderen.

Met vier lokale gemeenschappen sloot KEFEADO afgelopen jaar met veel ceremonieel een overeenkomst waarin de gemeenschap zich committeert aan het tegengaan van meisjesbesnijdenis. Meisjes die wel besneden zijn, gaan terug naar school in plaats van te trouwen. Die aanpak heeft succes: meer dan 60 procent van de leiders werkte mee. KEFEADO zal het project voortzetten in andere dorpen.
www.kefeado.co.ke

OVER DEZE PARTNER (ENGELSTALIG)

Kenya Female Advisory Organisation (KEFEADO) is a non-governmental organisation based in Kisumu, Nyanza Province. Since its inception in1994, KEFEADO campaigns for reduction of gender disparities in education and health in West Kenya. The cultural practice of Female Gender Mutilation (FGM) leads to girls severe sexual and reproductive health problems, dropping out of school and early marriages. KEFEADO aims to enhance girls and women's ability to create their own spaces in society and to gain more self-worthiness. The prioritised strategies are:
- Changing community members' attitudes and perception about girls and women rights.
- Working with families, learning institutions, community leaders and their social structure.
- Promotion of shared leadership between women and men of equal access to education.
- Perform community dialogues and human rights education
Over the past five years, KEFEADO has worked extensively with rural communities in West Kenya on the FGM issue and the promotion of education as an alternative approach to this practice. KEFEADO facilitated the set up of community courts. These courts serve as learning forums about gender and human rights and monitors human rights violations. FGM has been brought to the public domain and is no longer a traditional secret by the work of community theatre groups and community leaders' dialogues. School clubs have been set up to share information and debate human rights. KEFEADO is spearheading the regional Women Action Forum for Networking and collaborates with the Kenya Alliance for the Advancement of Children's Rights, the Gender Learning Network and Gender Thematic Groups, and National Stakeholders Network for Human Rights Educators. The networking enhances quality of social change interventions and facilitates exchange of methodologies.
Hivos supports KEFEADO because it contributes to gender awareness at community level, and to the empowerment of girls and women, in particular in the field of sexual reproductive health rights.

Type organisatie

Membership organisation

Werkveld

Gender, Women and Development

Land

Kenya

Opgericht

1994

Hivos partner sinds

2005

Website

www.kefeado.co.ke

Meer informatie

» | Over deze partner (Engelstalig)

» | Over door Hivos gesteunde projecten van deze partner (Engelstalig)

CONTACT

Kenya Female Advisory Organisation

LINKS

» | http://www.kefeado.co.ke

Rite of Being project
DAC-sectors	Reproductive and sexual health (BSS)
Location	Kenya
Beneficiary	indigenous peoples, ethnic/religious/cultural minorities
activity	HR knowlegde & capacity building
Direct outreach	1000 - Beneficiaries: poor and/or marginalised women and men
Indirect outreach	1000 - Beneficiaries: poor and/or marginalised women and men
activity	Forum theatre performance HR capacity building
Direct outreach	2000 - Intermediary level
Indirect outreach	2000 - Intermediary level
activity	Develop Lobby & Advocacy strategies
Direct outreach	3000 - Beneficiaries: poor and/or marginalised women and men
Indirect outreach	3000 - Policy level/ public opinion
activity	Develop media communication and information strategies
Direct outreach	- Beneficiaries: poor and/or marginalised women and men
Indirect outreach	- Policy level/ public opinion
Contract total	300.000
Contractperiod	01-01-2007 until 31-12-2009

Description

In order to reduce FGM Kefeado's strategy is to change people's beliefs, values and attitudes towards harmful cultural practices. It reaches community members in Mt Elgon district through forum theatre. Mt Elgon is one of the poorest districts mainly relying on agricultural activities. It has a HIV/Aids prevalence rate of 20% and early marriage is common practice. With reflective discussions by school girls and boys, teachers and religious leaders among others, Kefeado is demystifying the myths that support some of the harmful traditional practices as FGM and early girl child marriage to old men. The aim is to reduce the number of young girls undergoing FGM in Mt Elgon district. The following activities are implemented:
- Informing communities, in particular leaders, about the principles of human rights related to issues concerning reproductive health, education and marriage. This should lead to the reporting of persons who continue to take girls out of school for marriage or FGM and on other forms of violence against women.
- Enhance the capacity of the forum theatre teams and community level facilitators to improve the use of forum discussions in the promotion of changing attitudes and expectations of women and men towards empowerment of girls. This should increase the participation of women, men and religious leaders to join the promotion of alternative ways to advance the adulthood of girls.
- Use of community radio and campaigns to widen the discussions on harmful traditional practices and to reflect on alternative rites of passage. Through the use of mass communication more women and men are informed about their rights and will report rights abuses to the local authorities.
Hivos supports this project because it is empowering girls and women to attain a reasonable level of education essential for being able to take control over their own lives and destiny.

Sexual Identity and Human Rights Debates, West Kenya, 2009 - 2011
DAC-sectors	Adult/Youth education (BSS) Human rights
Location	West Kenya
Beneficiary	children, youth
activity	Awareness raising sessions for boarding school students, on issues of sexual relations and identity, 2 per school per year.
Direct outreach	6000 - Beneficiaries: poor and/or marginalised women and men
Indirect outreach	20000 - Beneficiaries: poor and/or marginalised women and men
activity	Educating guidance and counselling teachers in rights based approaches to sexual relations and identity at schools.
Direct outreach	150 - Intermediary level
Indirect outreach	600 - Intermediary level
activity	Organising regular radio debates in local languages, with listeners' interaction, on SIHR issues.
Direct outreach	60000 - Beneficiaries: poor and/or marginalised women and men
Indirect outreach	1000 - Policy level/ public opinion
activity	Lobbying with Ministry of Education officials on systematic attention for SIHR in schools, in Nyanza and beyond.
Direct outreach	20 - Policy level/ institutional
Indirect outreach	100 - Policy level/ institutional
Contract total	150.000
Contractperiod	01-01-2009 until 31-12-2011

Description

In its work on issues relating to culture, tradition and sexuality, at schools and in communities, KEFEADO also encounters instances of same-sex relationships. These are almost never faced as a reality, as an existing part of life and society. They are sometimes ignored, by looking away, not talking about it, pretending not to notice, and the like, or more often, met with condemnation, punishment (e.g. expulsion from schools), discrimination, etcetera. In a Hivos supported pilot study in boarding school, students, their parents, teachers and ministry officials, all were found to lack knowledge about same-sex relations and homosexuality and to wish to talk about it and find better ways of conduct.

This project is a direct follow-up to the pilot study. In 5 districts of Nyanza province KEFEADO will address the issue of sexual identity and human rights. Each year 2 new schools per district will be covered. Students will take part in an information and awareness raising programme on issues relating to same sex relations as part of sexual relations in general. This includes debates, but also a question box for depositing sensitive questions, anonymously if so desired. Teachers will be trained in guiding and counselling students. School managers will be assisted in discussing school regulations that are non-discriminatory. Through Parent - Teacher Associations a link to the communities is made. This is reinforced by regular radio broadcasts, in local languages, of debates on sexual identity and rights. Listeners can phone in and participate in the debate. District education officials are consulted, and invited to various of the above activities. KEFEADO will compile a report of good practices, lessons learnt and suggestions for replication to other provinces. This will go hand in hand with lobbying at the Ministry of Education to adopt a fair policy and to scale up this work across Kenya.

Hivos supports this project because it increases understanding for same-sex relations and rights and space for homosexuals in Kenyan society. Moreover, the focus on schools in rural areas is in line with the policy emphasis on rural areas.

Rite of Being Project, phase III
DAC-sectors	Reproductive and sexual health (BSS)
Location	Kenya
Beneficiary	not relevant/other
activity	Community leaders and local government officials support recdutin ov VAW and FGM promote girls education
Direct outreach	120 - Policy level/ institutional
Indirect outreach	300 - Policy level/ institutional
activity	Enhancing debates on sexulality issues as VAW and FGM
Direct outreach	1000 - Beneficiaries: poor and/or marginalised women and men
Indirect outreach	5000 - Beneficiaries: poor and/or marginalised women and men
Contract total	295.000
Contractperiod	01-01-2010 until 31-12-2012

Description

The project aims to change social and cultural acceptance of violence against women and sexual abuse, including Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) that is practiced in the Sabaot communities around MT Elgon. Girls refusing to go through FGM will remain in school and delay their age of marriage. KEFEADO will continue the communities' dialogues and expand their area of influence to other communities practicing FGM. Radio sessions and public gatherings will be held each year to intensify the debates. Circumcised and uncircumcised girls will give testimonies. KEFEADO will inform the public about laws. Parents, teachers and theatre groups are significant facilitators. The so called Kapsokwony (village) declaration, an alternative rite the passage communities sign to show commitment to promote girls education instead of FGM, will be adopted in schools and by local government administration. KEFEADO will broaden the debate from FGM to other sexuality issues. Various tools will be used such as radio sessions, school debates and public learning session to build people's knowledge and understanding about issues as HIV/Aids, women and men inequalities, sexual identity, and violence. These debates will contribute to unpacking how cultural myths and inequalities lead to violating women's rights. Research will be conducted to generate local knowledge on sexual and reproductive issues. These activities will break the silence around sexuality issues and in the long run enable women in men to discuss sexuality matters together.
Hivos supports this project because it leads towards reduction of violence against women and the recognition of sexual being of women.