Help Women in Kenya Confront Climate Change

MADRE and Indigenous Information Network (IIN)--our partner in Kenya and a recognized leader of the African Indigenous women’s movement--are building intergenerational leadership and growing the movement for Indigenous girls’ rights across East Africa. 

With MADRE’s support, IIN recently expanded its programming to include Indigenous girl-centered workshops in Kenya, as well as with the Pastoralist Information Development Organization (PIDO) in Tanzania. To date, IIN and PIDO have organized more than 15 socially-distanced workshops that created a safe space for over 700 Indigenous girls to openly discuss issues impacting their daily lives, such as the connections between the impacts of climate breakdown and increased instances of gender-based discrimination or violence.

These workshops were integral to building girls’ knowledge of their rights and self-confidence, further contributing to their personal growth, path to autonomy and leadership, and ability to speak out about the injustices they face. Collectively, these workshops represent a significant movement-building space for girls where they learn how climate change is an issue of gender justice and are given the tools to drive action towards climate justice in their communities.

Thanks to your generous donation through GlobalGiving, young women and girls in Tanzania and Kenya are becoming the next generation of Indigenous leaders advocating for gender equality and climate justice.

Thanks to your generous gift through GlobalGiving, MADRE continues to support our Kenyan partner, the Indigenous Information Network (IIN), to train Indigenous women in the production of high-quality seeds and help organize community seed banks that conserve local crop varieties. Thanks to your support, Indigenous women have been able to multiply seeds of local varieties—which are rare or becoming less obtainable—and make them available every season. Your generosity also supports IIN’s efforts to not only protect biodiversity but provide women and families with nutritious food. 

Over the past year, IIN produced 70,000 seedlings for planting, helping to significantly combat fertile land from becoming unsuitable for agriculture and promote reforestation. IIN and their network of Indigenous women leaders have worked with local youth to plant trees at schools and around their communities to encourage children to play an active role in environmental conservation, preserving cultures and traditions for future generations to come!

In Kenya, the women farmers of the Indigenous Information Network (IIN) have worked to improve community resilience in the face of the climate crisis, which has worsened droughts and limited water access for Pastoralist communities even before this pandemic, which has made access to water for handwashing all the more important.

Despite these challenges, IIN’s ongoing efforts to promote the harvesting of rainwater are helping to offset COVID-19’s impact on Indigenous communities. Thanks to the meaningful support of advocates like you, Indigenous women now have access to water tanks and storage containers, which they use to collect and store water for handwashing and sanitation -- vital practices for life-saving hygiene efforts. Because of your generosity, IIN is now expanding their reach to other rural Indigenous communities through a network of women’s centers. Thank you for standing with us, especially in times of uncertainty!

Our partners at the Indigenous Information Network (IIN) in Kenya fight to protect their communities who already suffer the effects of climate breakdown, including drought. Add to that the immense difficulties the pandemic brings -- such as needing water to wash hands -- and you’re faced with a serious problem. But these Indigenous women leaders are up to the challenge.

IIN is providing hand washing stations at women’s centers throughout remote Indigenous communities. And Indigenous women’s groups have learned to collect rainwater in order to cook, drink and wash their hands. These Indigenous women leaders are ensuring their communities have what’s needed to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Thank you for making this life-saving work possible!

With barely enough water to drink, it’s all the more difficult to stay safe during a pandemic. In communities facing worsening droughts, handwashing seems unimaginable. But thanks to your generosity, our partners at the Indigenous Information Network (IIN) are able to support six drought-affected communities in Kenya. They are distributing masks and setting up handwashing stations with soap by using water tanks previously provided by MADRE to collect rainwater. Now, in addition to dispensing drinking water, the tanks make handwashing -- a critical way to prevent the spread of the virus -- possible.

Not only does your generosity help meet the immediate needs of these communities, it has also enabled IIN’s network of Indigenous women leaders across Africa to share vital information and urge the government to respond to the pandemic. IIN’s multi-pronged approach demonstrates their ability to leverage their strength and leadership to save lives. Thank you for making this vital work possible!