Sisterhood up and running…

Finally my “Sisterhood” project kick off last week on the 22^nd day of January 2011 at Ruchu Girls High School located in Murang’a.Accompanied by the very able facilitator Miss Lilian Nyaga,we were well within time arriving the school at 8.10am on the bright Saturday morning. Having visited the school a couple of times to get the ground work in order we were ready to get things started…

It has been my general observation that the most impressionable teenagers in High School are in form two. (Usually aged between 14-16 years)Probably because of the newly acquired status in the school structure and the corresponding freedom that comes along with it. It is for this sole reason that we targeted this group to commence the project with. “Sisterhood” aims at empowering young girls to make informed decisions in all spheres of life. To do this we believe that constantly dialogue is key.

I believe that I do not have all the answers to all the queries this young girls may have for us during the next couple of months that we will be with them, but I know for sure that the mere fact that they know we are there for them without being judgmental will make a great difference one day. Joyce Meyer in her book “Teenagers Are People Too” correctly states that teenagers have the same needs as everyone else. For this reason, we choose not to ignore our young teenage sisters and instead prefer to encourage and guide them better.

Children learn what they live-if a child lives with criticism s/he learns to condem, the same is also true if a child lives with encouragement they learn to be more confident and if they live with praise they’ll definitely learn how to appreciate things. The beautiful young form two ladies certainly have big dreams for themselves as well, this is a great opportunity to mentor them and hearten them to pursue their dreams and goals.

“Sisterhood” aims to fill the gaps left by society. Our 8-4-4 system of education for instance is very book oriented but rarely life based. We deem it important to give these young girls life skills especially at this crucial stage of their development. Some teachers, parents and the church shy away from addressing the needs of teenagers. Peers and media who may fill this loophole often give misleading information.

All in all, I’m looking forward to making great friends with this amazing young girls am sure that very soon we’ll be seeing them in our court rooms, our medical labs and hospitals, in our lecture rooms among others….



Carol one of the Form 2's who wants to be a judge!

THE UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS (UDHR 1948)

Everyone……

1.           Is born free and should be treated in the same way.

2.           Is equal despite differences in language sex, colour etc.

3.           Has a right to life and to live in freedom and safety.

4.           Has the right not to be hurt or tortured.

5.           Has the right to be recognized before the law.

6.           Has the right to be treated as a person and not a thing.

7.           Has the right to be treated equally before the law.

8.           Has the right to ask for legal help when their rights are not respected.

9.           Has the right not to be imprisoned unjustly.

10.                    Has the right to a fair trial.

11.                    Has the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty.

12.                    Has the right to privacy.

13.                    Has the right to travel within and from their own country.

14.                    Has the right to asylum.

15.                    Has the right to a nationality.

16.                    Has the right to marry and found a family.

17.                    Has the right to own property.

18.                    Has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion.

19.                    Has the right to freedom of opinion and expression.

20.                    Has the right to meet with others.

21.                    Has the right to take part in government and to vote.

22.                    Has the right to social security.

23.                    Has the right to work and join a trade union.

24.                    Has the right to rest and leisure.

25.                    Has the right to an adequate standard of living and health care.

26.                    Has the right to go to school.

27.                    Has the right to take part in their community’s cultural life.

28.                    Is entitled to a social and international order that is necessary for these rights.

29.                    Must respect the rights of others.

30.                    No one can take away the right in this Declaration.

THE BILL OF RIGHTS.

The Constitution of Kenya.

Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.

Know your Rights….as provided for in the Constitution of Kenya.

The Bill of Rights provides for rights and fundamental freedoms as follows….

1.           Right to life.

2.           Equality and freedom from discrimination.

3.           Human dignity.

4.           Freedom and security of the person.

5.           Slavery, servitude and forced labour.

6.           Privacy.

7.           Freedom of conscience, religion, belief and opinion.

8.           Freedom of expression.

9.           Freedom of media.

10.                     Access to information.

11.                     Freedom of association.

12.                     Assembly, demonstration, picketing and petition.

13.                     Political rights.

14.                     Freedom of movement.

15.                     Protection of rights to property.

16.                     Labour relations.

17.                     Environment.

18.                     Economic and social rights.

19.                     Language and culture.

20.                     Family.

21.                     Consumer rights.

22.                     Fair administrative action.

23.                     Access to justice.

24.                     Rights of arrested persons.

25.                     Fair hearing.

26.                     Rights of persons detained, held in custody or imprisoned.

 

Jomo Kenyatta Foundation 2011 Form One Scholarships Opportunities

Kindly circulate widely:

The Board of Directors of The Jomo Kenyatta Foundation hereby invites applications from suitably qualified and eligible Form One students for the year 2011 scholarships.

Applicants for the limited number of scholarships MUST meet wholly or substantially the following criteria;

Criteria

To be eligible for consideration, the applicant student must:

1. Be a Kenyan citizen
2. Have sat K.C.P.E in the year 2010 and obtained at least 350 marks. Note that preference will be given to pupils from public primary schools.
3. Be of good discipline and character as attested to by a letter from the Head teacher of the last primary school attended
4. Be an orphan or a member of a family suffering extreme poverty.
5. Have been admitted to Form I in a public secondary school.

Where Tenable

• The Scholarships are tenable in any duly registered Public Secondary School in Kenya.

Duration
The scholarship will initially benefit the successful applicant for a period of one academic year effective from the date of award. On the basis of the student’s academic performance, financial circumstances and discipline record, the Foundation’s Board will determine continued sponsorship for remaining academic period.

In aggregate, the sponsorship will last for a period of four years from the year of award or until the beneficiary ceases to be a student in a Public Secondary School whichever comes first.

Application Procedure
Interested students can apply by;

Fill and submit ‘The JKF Form one Scholarship application for the year 2011’ available on The Jomo Kenyatta Foundation website (http://www.jkf.co.ke/) and in all District Education Offices countrywide.

The following supporting documents MUST be attached to the application form/letter;

1. A certified copy of KCPE result slip
2. A letter of recommendation from the head teacher of the Primary School last attended
3. A copy of Form one-admission letter/joining instructions.
4. Evidence of being an orphan where applicable.

Application letters and supporting documents should be sent or hand delivered to:

The Managing Director,
The Jomo Kenyatta Foundation,
Enterprise Road , Industrial Area, Nairobi
P.O Box 30533 —00100,
Nairobi .

So as to reach the above address on or before 31st January 2011.

Applications from students who do not meet the eligibility criteria will not be considered.

Similarly, late or incomplete applications will be disqualified. After the preliminary selection exercise, The Foundation will contact short-listed applicants for further consideration and final award.

Canvassing or giving of false in formation by or on behalf of the applicant will lead to disqualification of the application concerned.

Successful applicants and their host schools will be notified on or before 28th February 2011.

Funds

Disbursement of funds for the successful applicants will be effected on or before 20 March 2011.

Note: Applicants who will not have received any communication from the Foundation by 28th February 2011 should consider themselves unsuccessful.

THE AFRICAN WOMEN’S DECADE (2010-2020)

Moving Africa from Commitments to Action.

The African Women’s Decade was launched in Nairobi-Kenya in October 2010.The decade is an opportunity to integrate and strengthen linkages in the work on women’s human rights, intergrating women’s social, political, economic and cultural rights in a single agenda. It is also an opportunity to show the multiplier effect that achieving all these rights has for women and society at large. To the greatest extent possible the goals of the decade should be linked to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which are the primary yardstick for progress in Africa. The ideology behind this is not that women are being left behind by development, but that development on the continent is slowed by the exclusion of women.

              

As the continent experiences a wave of increased fundamentalism, the decade can also be used as a critical space to dialogue on progressive views on culture, tradition and religion, as a catalyst for accelerated realization of women’s rights. The decade additionally provides an excellent platform for the women’s movement to work together and reach out to other constituencies, to tell our stories, celebrate victories and achievemnts, and project our own images of African women and girls to Africa and the world.

The Ten Themes for the African Women’s Decade (2010-2020)

1. Fighting Poverty and Promoting Economic Empowerment for Women and Entrepreneurship.

• Attain decent work for women and equal opportunity in employment, promotion, and movement towards parity at the work place.
• Create employment and services by supporting women entrepreneurs particularly in informal sectors, including small medium enterprise (SME), medium enterprise (ME) and grow them to big businesses.

2. Agriculture and Food Security.

• Achieving food security and fighting hunger.
• Increased women’s access to agricultural land, farm inputs,credit,technology,extension services, irrigation and access to water through water harvesting, boreholes etc.
• Link women to markets through value addition of their products including agro-based supply chain, creating new markets for their produce including organic food stuff.

3. Health, Maternal Mortality and HIV&AIDS.

• Improve women’s health.
• Reduce Maternal Mortality.
• Address HIV&AIDS-inappropriate burden on women and girls on infections spread and increase workload, as well as unequal access to ARV’s, good nutrition and formal medical services.

4.      Education, Science and Technology.

• Achieving parity in education at secondary and tertiary levels and achieve higher retention rates for girls.
• Increase literacy levels of women through adult education.
• Contribution of women scientists and information, communication and technology.

 



Nobel Peace Prize Winner 2004-Wangari Maathai


5. Environment and Climate Change.

• Identify women’s role in mitigating climate change, as custodians of the environment, making sure they benefit from the new global packages to fight climate change.

6. Peace and Security and Violence Against Women.

• Work with the African Union Peace and Security Department(PSD)The Peace and Security Council(PSC)and the Panel of the Wise in relation to United Nations Security Council Resolutions:1325,1820,1888 and 1889,with particular focus on Violence Against Women(VAW),peace building and reconstruction.

7. Governance and Legal Protection.

• Jointly with Political Affairs, Women, Gender and Development Directorate will support women’s participation in political and electoral processes in countries undergoing elections during the decade as well as in the implementation of gender issues in Africa Peer Review Mechanisms (APRM) and national action plans.

8. Finance and Gender Budgets.

• Increased women’s access to financial resources from Governments budgets through gender budgeting, financial markets targeting economic stimulus packages and specialized funds from development partners to support women projects aimed at empowering women econmomically, and mobilize resources through FAWO as well as mobilizing resources for the implementation of the decade activities in general and priority areas in particular to achieve decade targets.





Her Excellence Ellen Johnson Sirleaf


9. Women in Decision Making Positions.

• Implement AU parity principle in line with AU gender policy and ensure targets for equal opportunity of women in decision making positions, in the political (Legislative) Judiciary and Executive are achieved.

10. Young Women Movement.

• Energizing the African Women’s Movement, and mentoring young women leaders and professionals, both in Africa and the Diaspora to be champions on Gender Equality and women’s empowerment.