 | |
| Formation | 1988 |
|---|---|
| Type | INGO |
| Purpose | Promoting women's development |
| Location |
|
Official language | English, French |
Chairperson | Emma Kaliya |
Executive Director | Memory Kachambwa [1] |
| Website | www |
FEMNET, also called the African Women's Development and Communication Network, is an organization established in 1984 to promote women's development in Africa. FEMNET helps non-government organizations share information and approaches on women's development, equality and other human rights.
FEMNET was established by Eddah Gachukia, Njoki Wainaina, and Norah Olembo in 1984 to co-ordinate African preparations for the Third World Conference on Women held in Nairobi, Kenya, in 1985. As part of their role to organize African women to attend the conference, the three women registered FEMNET and drafted its constitution. [2] : 10, 46 The inaugural chair was Gachukia, who worked with Olembo, Wainaina, Sara Hlupekile Longwe, Pamela Kola, Mama Koite Doumbia to recruit women to plan the NGO Forum for the conference. [2] : 46, 48–49 The organization is based in Nairobi. FEMNET has worked with the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, the World Conference against Racism and the African Union (AU). Areas of focus with the AU have included the protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, the Economic, Social and Cultural Council and the New Partnership for African Development. [3]
FEMNET ran its first gender-training workshop in 1990 in Kenya, working with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). The workshop helped to train trainers, and FEMNET refined the approach and developed material based on results. FEMNET ran training sessions in the 1993–1999 period in Swaziland, Zambia, the United States and Malawi. They were supported by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), UNICEF and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). FEMNET ran Train the Trainers sessions in 2000 for partner organizations in South Africa, Uganda and Ghana. Gender-based trainers have worked in many other countries in Africa. [4]
FEMNET has found that it is critical to involve men in the fight for gender equality. Male gender trainers have had great influence in introducing gender awareness in sectors such as developmental research where gender concerns had previously been neglected. It was assumed that raising awareness of gender issues would be extremely difficult in Swaziland, with its strongly patriarchal traditions. In fact, as a result of FEMNET assistance through UNFPA, high-level policymakers became sensitized to gender issues and measures to address gender concerns were included in key national plans. Malawi, where FEMNET has worked with UNFPA and UNICEF, has been another country where great progress has been made in training and sensitizing political leader, agencies, and other organizations. [4]
In July 2008, FEMNET coordinated the official launch in Nairobi of the United Nations' Gender Equality Architecture Reform (GEAR) Campaign in Africa. As of 2010, FEMNET was active through membership and local organizations in more than 37 African countries. [5]
Gender equality, also known as sexual equality or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic participation and decision-making, and the state of valuing different behaviors, aspirations, and needs equally, also regardless of gender. To avoid complication, other genders will not be treated in this Gender equality article.
Lucy Muthoni Kibaki was the wife of former Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki and was the third First Lady of Kenya from 2002 to 2013.
Mama Koite Doumbia is a Malian and a member of the Economic, Social and Cultural Council of the African Union, representing West Africa.
Kenyatta University (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Nairobi, Kenya. It acquired the status of university in 1985, being the third university after University of Nairobi (1970) and Moi University (1984). As of October 2014, it was one of 23 public universities in the country.
Equality Now is a non-governmental organization founded in 1992 to advocate for the protection and promotion of the human rights of women and girls. Equality Now works through public policy channels to create a just world for women and girls. Through a combination of regional partnerships, community mobilization and legal advocacy the organization works to encourage governments to adopt, improve and enforce laws that protect and promote women and girls' rights around the world.
Dorcas Muthoni is a Kenyan entrepreneur, computer scientist and founder of OPENWORLD LTD, a software consulting company she started at the age of 24. Through her work as an entrepreneur and computer scientist, Muthoni seeks to see technology positively transforming the lives of the African society, governments and enterprises.
Fahamu is a not-for-profit organization supporting organizations and social movements championing progressive social change and human rights. With branches in the United Kingdom, South Africa, Senegal, and Kenya, Fahamu primarily engages with civil and human rights organizations through Pambazuka News, an online platform focusing on social justice. Additionally, they offer online courses on human rights and social justice and employ new technologies, including SMS, for information dissemination, lobbying, and interactions.
Sara Hlupekile Longwe is a consultant on gender and development based in Lusaka, Zambia. She was the chairperson of FEMNET between 1997 and 2003. She is the author of the Longwe Framework for Gender Analysis. Longwe describes herself as a radical feminist activist.
Njoki Wainaina is a gender and development consultant from Kenya. She was the first executive director of the African Women's Development and Communication Network (FEMNET), formed in 1988.
Lynne Muthoni Wanyeki is a Kenyan political scientist, human rights activist, journalist, and the current Regional Director of Open Society Foundation's Africa Regional Office. Wanyeki is the former Regional Director of Amnesty International's Regional Office for East Africa, the Horn, and the Great Lakes. She is also the former Executive Director of the Kenya Human Rights Commission and the African Women's Development and Communication Network (FEMNET).
The Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) is a non-government organisation founded in 1992 and registered in 1994. The Commission campaigns to create a culture in Kenya where human rights and democratic culture are entrenched. It does this through monitoring, documenting and publicising rights violations.
Sunjeev 'Sonia' Kaur Birdi is a nominated member of the Kenyan Parliament. She was the first Kenyan Asian woman to serve in the national legislature.
Eddah Wacheke Gachukia is a Kenyan educationist and entrepreneur. She is a co-founder of the Riara Group of Schools that includes Riara University.
Joyce Ann Wainaina, is the Managing Partner of Chui Ventures a Pan-African Seed fund with a gender-inclusive focus, backing local founders building mass-market solutions. She was previously a managing director of Citibank where she was Head of Citi's Global Network Banking across Sub Sahara Africa. She is a Kenyan corporate executive, who previously served as the chief executive officer, of Citibank Kenya and East Africa, from 2014 - 2019
Dinah Musindarwezo is a Rwandan feminist and pan-African women's rights activist. She is director of policy and communications at Womankind Worldwide, and the former Executive Director of the African Women's Development and Communication Network (FEMNET).
Koyamada International Foundation, commonly referred to as KIF or KIF Global, is an international non-governmental organization promoting global peace and sustainable development. It has affiliated national chapter members in nine countries.
Lizzie Kiama is a Kenyan disability rights activist. She is the founder and managing trustee of This Ability Trust, a Kenyan disability rights organization.
Christine Butegwa is a feminist, writer, entrepreneur, and gender and development activist based in Uganda. She is the author of the book titled, "The Mighty Angwech and More: Female Legends from Ugandan folklore". Christine is an interior designer and was the director of Rukundo Design Décor. In 2002, she co-produced a video, "A Tale of Ten Years: The Experience of Women and Gender Studies, Makerere University with Murerwa Rian". She is currently the founder and CEO of Jabali Consulting Ltd, a pan African gender and development consulting firm based in Kampala, Uganda.
Professor Norah Khadzini Olembo was a Kenyan biochemist and policy developer, who helped establish standards for use of biotechnology in Kenya. She was the first African to become a professor and chair of the biochemistry department at the University of Nairobi. Raised in Western Kenya during British rule, Olembo studied biology at Butere Girls High School before completing her A-level studies at The Mount School in York, England. She earned a bachelor's, master's, and PhD in botany, chemistry, and zoology at the University of Nairobi before taking post-graduate courses in biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of London. While teaching at the University of Nairobi, she founded the Biotechnology Trust Africa in 1992. The organisation funded research into development of disease-free crops and vaccines for animal diseases.
Feminism in Kenya concerns the organized efforts to improve the rights of the girls and women of Kenya. The modern feminist movement, which took off in the early 1960s and also in the 1970s, gained impetus through the establishment of various organisations such as Maendeleo Ya Wanawake and Kenya Women’s Political Caucus.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)