This specific project is designed for the promotion of economic empowerment for the vulnerable out-of-school young women and adolescent girls for productive employment and decent work, reduced inequalities, and economic growth. Through this project, we anticipate the young women to become engaged in decent work after the completion of the training and they will be able to contribute to the growth and development of their communities and provide a healthier lifestyle for their families. Those who had lost hope after dropping out of school will all acquire basic literacy skills through this project and they will be gainfully be employed in their respective trades through a comprehensive and community-driven vocational training program. The project will also work on the reduction in early marriages, improved childcare and reduced rates of HIV/AIDS prevalence, and reduced risky behavior among girls and young women and men in the community.
The ABCD Organisation seeks to implement an economic empowerment project for vulnerable young women and girls that will work towards a predictable, equitable and well-coordinated response to the sexually-based violence that is endemic in the County of Kisumu and the country generally. It is expected that the project will have cross- sectorial benefits that fall within several of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) including:
SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS
Kisumu County is located on the shores of Lake Victoria and serves as the main commercial and transport hub for the Western part of Kenya and the East African region. (See map). There are seven sub-counties that comprise greater Kisumu County: Kisumu West, Kisumu Central, Kisumu East, Seme, Muhoroni, Nyando and Nyakach. The population of the county according to the 2019 Kenya National Population and Housing Census was 1,155,574 persons. There are 560,942 males (48.5 percent) and 594,609 females (51.51 percent). These figures represent a significant increase (16.1 percent) from the census taken in 2009. In 2019, Muhoroni sub- county recorded a population of 154,116 with 76,770 male and 77,345 female. The poverty rate remains high and is estimated to be 47.8 percent according to the Integrated Household Budget survey. A national household survey conducted in 2005 found that approximately 21 percent of youths aged 15-29 were unemployed; and, a further 25 percent were neither in school nor working. From the KDHS (2014) slightly more women (25 percent) than men (23 percent) ended their schooling by completing primary school and thereafter slightly fewer women than men went on to obtain some secondary education, or completed their secondary education, or, advanced beyond secondary education. The smallest proportions of both women (16 percent) and men (14 percent) are in the lowest wealth quintile.
PROBLEM STATEMENT
Women in Muhoroni sub-county bear the brunt of the hardships that are occasioned by poverty, conflict, crime and a deeply clan-based culture that promotes strict male hierarchy and authority. A critical element of these hardships emanates from women’s increasing roles as providers of basic needs and amenities for the immediate members of their households, to include the extended family. The familial and economic pressures faced by women are exacerbated by cultural limitations on the roles and status of women in the clans and tribes throughout Kenya. Consequently, deeply-rooted gender inequality is prevalent: women are either excluded from decision-making and asset ownership or must function through a patriarchal filter that dictates their behaviour. They are subject to degrading treatment including sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) and often are denied quick access to the formal justice system. SGBV remains a significant concern in communities as reported by many organizations and government departments; and, most recently has been intensified by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Despite the social and cultural obstacles faced by women, they are, in fact, taking a more prominent role in domestic decision- making and working in whatever way they can to provide an income for their families— even when the family unit is intact and men are present in the household. Early marriages and teenage pregnancies have become all too common in the sub-counties. According to a multi-sectoral working group to reduce teenage pregnancies that was formed in Kisumu, 3,482 schoolgirls conceived between January and June 2020. Reports from the County Public Health and Sanitation Department indicate that most of the girls are aged between 10 and 19 years. In the period January – June 2020 the Kisumu sub-counties recorded the following number of pre-teen and teenage pregnancies:
Comments from local leaders and county department of children, youth & education point to the fact that there is a dire need for intervention to support vulnerable girls, including those who have become mothers to overcome SGBV and enable them to earn an adequate income to support themselves and their families. For most of the girls targeted for intervention in this proposed concept paper, re-entering the formal school system is not a desired option—they simply want a skill that will give them a liveable wage. ABCD FOUNDATION seeks to address these inequities by implementing a skills training program for 70 girls that who will be identified by ABCD FOUNDATION. Additionally, the project will include training in basic health education and offer psycho- social support.
PROJECT GOAL
Promotion of economic empowerment for the vulnerable out of school young women and adolescent girls for productive employment and decent work, reduced inequalities and economic growth
PROJECT OBJECTIVES
There are four specific objectives that will guide the project’s activities:
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- To support 70 vulnerable out of school adolescent girls and young women to acquire vocational skills for self-sufficiency and improved livelihood;
- To equip all targeted beneficiaries with life skills for better living and better decision- making;
- To a) enhance social & emotional development and healthy behaviour of the 70 participants; b) reduce the impact of violence, conflict and discrimination in their lives; and c) increase their jobs skill level and employability: and
- To apply lessons learned to replicate the project in another sub-county or have it continued in a second phase in Muhoroni.
PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION
XXXX CBO will select the beneficiaries from the five wards of Muhoroni sub-county, which are: Miwani, Ombeyi, Masogo/Nyang’oma, Chemelil and Muhoroni/Koru. The girls will be interviewed and selected using the ABCD FOUNDATION’s established criteria for this project. The girls will be ranked based on need with the most highly vulnerable girls will be given priority.
After the selectees are assessed, they will be required to enter in career counselling sessions and then subsequently will select a course or trade of their choosing from the list provided by the three training institutions that work closely with the ABCD FOUNDATION. The courses offered are:
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- Hairdressing & Beauty Therapy;
- Pastry;
- Food & Beverage;
- Information Communication & Technology; and,
- Tailoring & Garment making.
All training will be for a period of 12 months after which the girls will officially graduate in a joint ceremony attended by community, county and sub-county leaders.
KEY ACTIVITIES
The key activities that have been identified include the following;
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- refine for internal monitoring and evaluation the log frame matrix (see attached),
- commit to work plan and budget with donor at inception meeting and incorporate into project agreement.;
- initiate preliminary planning and sensitization with all project stakeholders;
- interview potential beneficiaries and select those that best match project objectives;
- purchase materials for use by instructors and beneficiaries for those trades and crafts to be taught;
- develop lesson plans for health and life skills classes to complement vocational training;
- file monthly, quarterly and end-of-project reports;
- conduct a mid-project review to determine project progress; and
- analyse reports for lesson learned and possible application to a second phase of project.
The project duration will be for a period of 12 months with a public graduation to include all stakeholders from the sub-county and county departments of Education and Vocational training, Youth and Children Affairs, Ministry of Interior, et al.
EXPECTED RESULTS
We anticipate the young women to become engaged in decent work after the completion of the training and they will be able to contribute to the growth and development of their communities (SDG 8) and provide a healthier lifestyle for their families (SDG 3). Those who had lost hope after dropping out of school will all acquire basic literacy skills through this project (SDG 4) and they will be gainfully be employed in their respective trades through a comprehensive and community-driven vocational training programme – thus further contributing to SDG 8.
ABCD FOUNDATION expects to see
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- a reduction in early marriages in the sub-county among girls and young women
- improved childcare for the young mothers in terms of nutrition, ante-natal and post-natal care (SDG 3),
- reduced rates of HIV/AIDS prevalence and reduced risky behavior among girls and young women and men in the community.
The graduates on satisfactory completion of their vocational training will be able to engage in micro and small business development thereby creating job opportunities for themselves and other community members as well. This in turn will lead to an improved standard of living for all beneficiaries and their families and the greater community
Generally, there should be a reduced dependence on ‘men’ or other male family members by the girls, which should, accordingly, reduce the incidences of sexual and gender-based violence. The young women will learn critical survival skills to reduce this dependence, which often exacerbates domestic violence.
We anticipate as a whole that those who are not married would get married at a rightful age thus reducing incidences of early marriages. Young women and girls will be able to participate in decision making and community leadership. Lessons learned and best practices on empowerment of young women and girls at risk will be documented and shared for possible replication and or continuity of the project.
PROJECT SUSTAINABILITY
ABCD FOUNDATION promotes community participation in all the services it provides or projects that it implements. ABCD FOUNDATION, therefore, expects and will require that the community own up to this initiative and give, within its means, to support sustainability. This could be in-kind, cash or as volunteers as needed. The girls and young women selected as beneficiaries will be requested to make a small financial contribution as a demonstration of their commitment to complete the program. These voluntary fees will be used to offset indirect project costs.
ABCD FOUNDATION will explore the possibility of utilizing or selling some of the products made during the training as one means of fundraising for similar projects. ABCD FOUNDATION will routinely invite the Ministry of Education officials to the CBO office to share with them the successes and challenges and ask for their support to aide in sustaining the results in terms of materials for the girls, books and any possible financial support for the beneficiaries of this project.
The beneficiaries themselves will be instrumental to achieving sustainability, perhaps not of the project itself, but its results by being pioneers or agents-of-change in their communities for reducing early marriages and SGBV. They will also be role models for women’s small business entrepreneurship.
