A Better World Volume 1

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] 49

Opening opportunities for all:

advancing women’s leadership and

economic empowerment in Kenya

Ambassador Gil Haskel, Head of MASHAV – Israel’s Agency for

International Development Cooperation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs

ender inequalities are still deep-rooted in many

societies. Structural barriers in the economic,

social, political and environmental spheres produce

and reinforce these inequalities, resulting in a lack of access

to the workforce, occupational segregation and gender

wage gaps. In many situations, women are denied access

to basic education and health care, are victims of violence

and discrimination, and are underrepresented in political

and economic decision-making processes.

Women have a critical role to play in all of the Sustainable

Development Goals, and the need to recognize gender

equality is especially represented in Goal 5. Known also as

‘the stand-alone gender goal’, it is dedicated to achieving

gender equality and empowerment of all women and girls,

detailing in a single goal a full range of issues and actions.

The 2011 United Nations General Assembly resolution on

women’s political participation noted that “women in every

part of the world continue to be largely marginalized from

the political sphere, often as a result of discriminatory laws,

practices, attitudes and gender stereotypes, low levels of

education, lack of access to health care and the dispropor-

tionate effect of poverty on women.” Thus it establishes the

link to one of the main targets of Goal 5: to provide women

Impact: empowering the women of Bungoma, Kenya

The impact of ACTIL’s training was already evident in its early stages

of establishment. In rural Bungoma County in western Kenya, about

400 kilometres from Nairobi, hundreds of women are becoming

economically empowered and their lives are being transformed through

a savings and credit cooperative society. This inspiring achievement is

the work of a graduate of ACTIL’s inaugural pilot training.

The Honourable Dr Reginalda Wanyonyi, Member of Parliament for

Bungoma County, was among the first participants in ACTIL’s course on

Transformational Leadership and Agribusiness for Women Leaders. The

empowering training inspired her to implement the knowledge acquired

during the course to design and develop a County Action Plan to benefit

and empower the women of her county.

Her plan led to the creation of a successful and much-needed

enterprise: the Bungoma County Women’s Savings and Credit Society

(SACCO). The goal of the project was to create alternative opportunities

at the grass-roots level for women entrepreneurs who otherwise did not

have the possibility of taking loans for a low interest rate and with little

or no collateral. The society encourages women to develop a culture of

saving and to create wealth through a table-banking concept to raise

a collateral and asset base. In its first eight months, SACCO grew to

include over 10,000 members and more than 400 women’s groups.

Loans disbursement goes hand-in-hand with entrepreneurship

and business training. Realizing the need for capacity-building in

entrepreneurship, and in accordance with ACTIL’s goal of promoting the

emergence of a regional network of leadership institutes, the society

founded its own Transformational Leadership Institute. The institute

develops necessary skills through professional capacity-building and

mentorship while promoting innovation and social transformation as

well as the expansion of businesses and agricultural activities.

Following her course in ACTIL, Dr Wanyonyi continued her professional

training at MCTC in Israel, where she participated in the prestigious

course on Economic Empowerment of Women, held by MASHAV-MCTC

in cooperation with UN Women.

Dr Wanyonyi’s drive and inspiring work has touched and transformed

the lives of thousands of women and men in her community. One

transformational leader, together with ACTIL’s empowering training, has

succeeded in impacting an entire community. Dr Wanyonyi is currently

serving as Member of Parliament Representation, Legislation and

Oversight, at the National Assembly of Kenya.

Creating alternative opportunities for women entrepreneurs in

Bungoma, Kenya

Image: MASHAV

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