The League of pastoralists women

The League of Pastoralist Women of Kenya (LPWK) is a nonprofit/non-governmental organization established on March 9, 2007. The League seeks to improve governance in Kenya by building pastoralist women's leadership capacity and fostering participation in a broad sense, with a focus on economic and social empowerment as well as political engagement. The focus of the League has been to provide an avenue for pastoralist women to articulate issues relevant to their communities, provide training for capacity building purposes, offer support and solidarity for women political leaders from pastoralist communities, and act as a lobbying platform from which pastoralist women leaders can engage com... read more The League of Pastoralist Women of Kenya (LPWK) is a nonprofit/non-governmental organization established on March 9, 2007. The League seeks to improve governance in Kenya by building pastoralist women's leadership capacity and fostering participation in a broad sense, with a focus on economic and social empowerment as well as political engagement. The focus of the League has been to provide an avenue for pastoralist women to articulate issues relevant to their communities, provide training for capacity building purposes, offer support and solidarity for women political leaders from pastoralist communities, and act as a lobbying platform from which pastoralist women leaders can engage communities, the government, and other women leaders, donors and stakeholders. We seek to achieve support, recognition and mainstreaming of issues faced by pastoralist women in local, national and international forums. Our Vision LPWK believes in empowering pastoralist women to advocate for their rights and become change-makers in their communities and nationally. Only with the active involvement of women and girls as leaders can our communities and country reach its full potential. Our Mission Our mission is to build pastoralist women's leadership capacity and foster participation in a broad sense, with a focus on economic and social empowerment as well as political engagement so women are able to advocate effectively for themselves, and create linkages with national and international movements in support of women's rights. Funding LPWK is a nonprofit organization that receives 99% percent of its revenue from public support-corporations, foundations, government grants, and individuals. More than three-quarters of the organizations functional expenses go directly to support program services for pastoralist women and girls. Advocacy LPWK informs policymakers about women's needs locally and nationally. The organization educates the media about critical issues facing women and girls from pastoralist communities. In addition, the organization trains women on how to advocate for themselves and their communities, using their voices to promote positive change. Partners LPWK works with different partners locally, nationally and internationally towards meeting its mission and vision. Projects Mentorship Program LPWK runs a mentorship program in the four pastoralist regions: Upper eastern, North Eastern, North Rift and South Rift. The mentorship program targets female secondary school teachers who are currently in charge of the girls leadership clubs started by LPWK in their respective schools. The goal of the program is to expose the younger girls and women who are already demonstrating strong potential to positive pastoralist women role models, as well as resources about potential careers and education opportunities. This in turn will allow them to see themselves as agents of change and begin providing them with the tools and inspiration to act on that vision. LPWK believes the success of a young person is measured by the level of support around them. This is why LPWK strives to foster an environment where teenage girls are mentored to create their own opportunities for life success to become role models to their peers while contributing to the betterment of their community. Being a leader of self at an early age is key to the success of any community. Women's Leadership and Capacity Building One of the major reasons why pastoralist women have continued to lag behind in their involvement in development processes has been lack of information and awareness about local resources and advocacy tools available to them. This project targets 16 pastoralist women from the pastoralist communities every year to undergo training to equip them with basic action research skills to collect the information on the availability and use of resources within the community (both by government and private institutions). The project also works towards securing women representation in various levels of decision making by equipping them with relevant leadership skills as well as lobbying. Emergency Response Campaign Over the years, investment in pastoralist areas has continued to be inadequate. Coupled with the hash climatic conditions, this has led to increased food insecurity and height ed poverty levels. As a result, most pastoralist areas have continued to relay on relief food supplies from government and humanitarian agencies for survival. Needless to say women and children from the pastoralist communities are the most affected by the consistent draught resulting to lack of food and water. LPWK under the "Mothers against hunger campaign" burner have continued to raise resources for the affected members of pastoralist communities as well as highlight the plight of pastoralist mothers as they try to mitigate the challenges of the famine crisis.