In the busy settlement of Kibera, Makina Ward, Superb Community Based Organisation (CBO) finds its purpose. This feminist women-led organisation is on a mission to challenge the instruments of power that perpetuate violence against the rights of women and girls while amplifying their voices and fostering gender equality.
In the thick forested, hilly, serene and dark soiled landscape of Ololunga in Narok county, lies a beacon of hope. A center that has attracted international recognition, with its unique ways of tackling environmental conservation to address climate change. Paran Women Group is the hidden gem of Narok county, which functions as an umbrella organization for 24 indigenous women’s groups.
Noolorami Kimorgo, who is a widow and a mother of 7, is excited we visited the center. Adorned in the groups trademark yellow wrapper commonly known as leso, her smile tells it all about her excitement. Just like every other woman in this group, Noolarami is grateful she joined the team and has seen her life change for the better.
“I was widowed at a very young age. My husband’s brothers did not support the education of my children so I had to fend for myself. That is how I started illicit brew business, which often got me in trouble with the authorities,” Explains Noolorami as she reminisces of her struggling days.
The constant harassment by the police saw her leave her matrimonial home in Kotolia, Narok county and went back to her father’s home to start life all over again. It was during this time that her mother recommended she joins Paran Women Group.
“At the center, I was very resourceful in the construction of these traditional Manyattas. I also do some beadwork as well as engage in making of briquettes, which is an alternative energy source so as to reduce deforestation from firewood demand,” Says a delightful Noolorami.
Paran Women Group works on women’s socio-economic empowerment, indigenous women’s rights and environmental justice, to ensure the reduction of poverty, enhance access to clean water and build resilience to climate change.
According to Naiyan Kiplagat, the group’s founder, women were worst hit by the scarcity of rain caused by deforestation activities in the Mau forest, which forced them to walk several kilometers in search of water. Under the umbrella of Paran Women Groups, they have pledged to change the narrative.
King’asunye Naiguta, a community champion from Olorien, knows too well the plight of young girls, in this community that is predominantly from the Maasai tribe. The water scarcity challenge had a direct implication on girls dropping out of school in search of water, whereas some opted for early marriage.
“As a Maasai woman who lives in her father’s homestead, I also went through my own fair share of struggles. My brothers looked down upon me and would dissociate me from our family property. My brother once beat me up and chased me out of our home so that I don’t inherit land and property from my father,” Says the strong-willed King’asunye, who reported the case to the area chief, giving her rights to own land left to her by her father.
“We encounter daily the challenge of patriarchy that denies women the right to participate in decision-making. As indigenous women we also face double marginalization. Influencing policies, budgets and plans to ensure that they are gender responsive is a task that requires long-term awareness and advocacy,” Affirms Naiyan.
They are however working towards overcoming these challenges by creating awareness among indigenous women on their rights as enshrined in the Kenyan constitution, as well as creating partnerships with other like-minded organizations. The group’s main beneficiaries are women, who aim to empower women and girls in the communities.
“In our work on SDG 1 to end poverty we work to empower our female members who do unpaid care work. We help them to have a diversified income through developing income-generating initiatives and also by advocating for more equality and for the recognition of women’s unpaid work in Kenya,” Proudly states Naiyan, who started the group in the year 2005.
The group has over 30,000 tree seedlings, with exotic, hybrid and indigenous trees. Beading is identified as a major source of income to the women at the center as they sale the beautiful pieces of art to tourists. Equally, poultry farming has seen many bid poverty goodbye, as women from various groups keep poultry both in large and small scale.
“Through beadwork and poultry keeping, I have been able to educate my children and lead a descent life. I can afford all my basic needs. Paran is truly a beacon of hope for me,” Chuckles Noolorami, who is said to be instrumental in running operations at the center.
Paran Women Group is one of the 13 women rights organization groups supported by CREAW through the Women’s Voice and Leadership project that aims to strengthen institutional capacity and interventions of local/grassroots women rights organizations seeking to empower women and girls to realize their rights and achieve gender equality.
The group now works through training, capacity-building, networking and does exchange programs among indigenous women’s groups. More importantly, they work with the youth and children to facilitate intergenerational learning.
Despite the relevant role played by Indigenous women in protection of forest ecosystem, they are not yet recognized as agents of change and the space for their voice in decision making spaces including in forest related initiatives is minimal. Paran Women Group is changing the narrative one step at a time.
We are pleased to welcome our new partners under the Women’s Voice and Leadership programme. This is the second cohort to join the program, since its inception in 2019.
These second cohort of grassroots women’s rights organisations will continue to advance the rights of women and girls, LGBTQ+, persons with disability and sex workers from the 11 counties across Kenya, including, Kisumu, Kwale, Laikipia, Kericho, Embu, Bomet, Machakos, Uasin Gishu, Nakuru, Tharaka Nithi, Tana River, Isiolo, Kiambu, Mombasa and Kajiado.
In the next two years CREAW will work with the WROs to enhance their institutional capacity and continue to support their interventions around gender equality in communities.
| CREAW’s CALL #2 FOR CONCEPT NOTES
CALL REFERENCE: CREAW/WVL/CFC/2/2021 FUNDING TO WOMEN LED ORGANIZATIONS 2021-2023. WOMEN’S VOICE AND LEADERSHIP – KENYA (WVL) PROJECT CALL TITLE: STRENGTHENING THE GOVERNANCE, MANAGEMENT AND PROGRAMMING CAPACITIES OF WOMEN’S RIGHTS ORGANIZATIONS (WROs) IN KENYA |
Please read these guidelines carefully before you submit your Concept Note. CREAW reserves the right to reject Concept Notes that are not fully completed or do not meet the set eligibility criteria.
Grant Application Opening Date: 12th July, 2021
Grant Application Closing Date: 12th August, 2021
The Centre for Rights Education and Awareness (CREAW) is a feminist national nongovernmental organization whose vision is a just society where women and girls enjoy full rights and live in dignity. For more than 20 years CREAW has continued to champion, expand and actualize women’s and girl’s rights and social justice through advocating for shifts in legislation and policies that promote and protect women’s and girl’s rights, as well as building the capacity of women to demand for these rights.
The Kenyan civic space has been thought to be steadily shrinking over the years and a number of factors have contributed to this status quo. These factors include the enactment of policy and legal frameworks that limit the autonomy of non-governmental organizations to effectively operate, the categorization of Kenya as a middle-income country resulting in the reduction and or reprioritization of funding for interventions that protect, promote and champion the rights of women and girls.
The women rights organizations have been the worst affected with this emerging trend in funding. Many development partners who traditionally directly funded women’s rights institutions have opted for an approach that funds components of women rights work within larger programs and within organizations that are not women led and or women rights organizations
With funding from Global Affairs Canada, CARE International, Centre for Rights Education and Awareness (CREAW), Uraia Trust, Community Advocacy and Awareness (CRAWN) Trust, and Urgent Action Fund Africa (UAF Africa) are implementing the Women’s Voice and Leadership (WVL) Project whose goal is to strengthen the institutional capacities and activities of county, regional and national women’s rights organizations seeking to empower women and girls advance the protection of women’s and girls’ rights and achieve gender equality.
The WVL is a five-year project that aims to strengthen institutional capacity and interventions of local/ grassroots women rights organizations seeking to empower women and girls to realize their rights and achieve gender equality. The WVL project defines women’s rights organizations (WROs) as civil society organizations active at the grassroots, county, national, or regional level, with an overt women’s or girls’ rights, gender equality or feminist purpose, and play a central role in spearheading change in support of the empowerment of women and girls, increasing their agency to support vulnerable and marginalized women and girls contributing to gender equality.
2.1 Project outcomes:
The WVL Project aims to achieve the following Intermediate outcomes:
The Call has the following broad immediate outcomes:
In order to achieve the above immediate outcomes, CREAW Second granting call under the WVL programme will provide support through:
It is in this regard that CREAW issues this call for concepts and is inviting grassroots women rights organizations and groups in the target areas to apply for support.
The call will prioritize applications under any or all of the following:
3.1 Eligible Activities
The following are examples of activities that may be considered for funding under each category
I. Projects that support institutional capacity strengthening for example (non-exhaustive list):
II. Projects that support interventions around gender equality outcomes for example (non-exhaustive list):
3.2 Ineligible Activities:
The overall indicative amount made available under this Call is USD 15,000 per grant for an initial grant up to 2 years (with possibility to increase/extend later). Applicants can apply under one or both of the categories provided in the table below however the maximum grant per applicant will remain a total of 15,000 USD. The following is a breakdown of allocations for each Category:
| Result | Category |
Indicative Total Budget Available |
Number of Grants |
Indicative Allocation per Grant |
Time frame |
Project Duration (years) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Projects that support institutional capacity strengthening | 7,500 USD | August 2021 to July 2023 | 2 | |||
| Projects that support interventions around gender equality | 7,500 USD | August 2021 to July 2023 | 2 |
There are three sets of eligibility criteria, relating to:
5.1 Eligibility of Applicants: who may apply?
The following categories of applicants are eligible to apply for funding under this call:
Please note, even small emerging grassroots women and girl led and gender non- conforming women led WROs with currently little or no access to funding from larger donors are encouraged to apply. Women/girl-led organizations working on women’s rights issues that are made up of and/or working with socially excluded and disadvantaged women and girls who include but are not limited to; refugees, ethnic minorities, rural women, urban disadvantaged, women and girls living with disability, HIV and AIDS, sexual minorities, and sex workers are particularly encouraged to apply.
5.2. Eligible themes / topics
Eligible organizations may submit a Concept Note on any theme as long as it relates to the rights of women and girls and gender non- conforming groups. Funds may be used to implement activities, conduct advocacy, to build the strength of the organization itself, and / or improve the capacity of its staff / volunteers / members.
5.3 Duration
The planned duration of a project is a maximum of 24 months. The planned duration of the initial project grant is a maximum of 24 months.
5.4 Types of projects
5.5 Number of applications per applicant
An applicant must submit only one Concept Note under this Call.
5.6 GEOGRAPHICAL COVERAGE
5.7 Eligible Costs; Cost which may be taken into consideration for the grant
Only “eligible costs” can be taken into account for a grant. The categories of costs considered as eligible and non-eligible are indicated below.
5.7.1 Eligible Costs Eligible costs under the Call will include:
iii. Equipment.
5.7.2 Ineligible costs
The following costs are not eligible:
6.0 ASSESSMENT AND EVALUATION PROCEDURES
The concept notes will undergo the first level assessment determining whether they meet the eligibility criteria above. Those that do not meet the criteria above will be disqualified at this level.
The Concept notes that pass the first level assessment will be evaluated by a team of evaluators drawn from the partners participating in the WVL project: CARE, CREAW, CRAWN Trust, and Uraia Trust, based on the scoring criteria matrix provided under Annex 1 – Concept Evaluation/Scoring Grid.
Applications will be assessed against the following criteria:
7.1 Application form
6.2 Where and how to send the Applications.
Applicants should verify that their application is complete using the checklist attached to the grant application form. Incomplete applications may be rejected.
For organizations submitting hard copies:
Applications should be submitted in either a sealed envelope by registered mail, private courier service or by hand-delivery (a signed and dated certificate of receipt will be given to the deliverer).
The Project Manager
Centre for Rights Education and Awareness – CREAW
Elgeyo Marakwet Close off Elgeyo Marakwet Road, Hse No. 1 (on the Left), Kilimani.
P.O. Box 35470 – 00100, Nairobi, Kenya.
Google Maps: CREAW Kenya – Headquarters
Applicants must verify that their application is complete using the checklist attached to the grant application form. Incomplete applications may be rejected.
For organizations submitting through the portal or email submissions:
To Apply Click Here: Call-For-Proposals-WVL-Kenya – Application |
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6.3 Deadline for Submission of Applications
The deadline for the submission of applications is 12th August 2021 as evidenced by the date of dispatch, the postmark or the date of the deposit slip. In the case of hand-deliveries, the deadline for receipt is at 17.00 hours (5pm) Kenyan Time as evidenced by the signed and dated receipt. Any application submitted after the deadline will be automatically rejected.
Submission deadline:
12 August 2021 – 17.00 pm EAT |
|---|
6.4. Feedback on applications
The successful applicants under this call will be contacted by the CREAW secretariat directly by 12th of October 2021 and advised about the success of their application and next steps. Depending on number of applications received it may not be possible to communicate a decision to all the unsuccessful applicants.
The information on successful applicants will be published on CREAW’s website and all social media and relevant community media platforms. It will also be electronically circulated to CREAW’s networks with the list of successful applicants made available with all annexes at CREAW’s headquarters, satellite and regional offices, at partner institutions and or state offices such as local chiefs in the target areas.
Annex 1: EVALUATION CRITERIA/SCORING MATRIX
| 1. Operational capacity | Score |
|---|---|
| 1.1 Does the applicant have adequate representation of women (or gender non-conforming people) in the organization’s staff team, leadership or Governance team? | 5 |
| 1.2. Does the applicant have sufficient management capacity? (Including staff, equipment and ability to handle the budget for the action/project?) | 10 |
| 1.3 Is the organization made up of and/or working with socially excluded and disadvantaged women and girls or gender non-conforming individuals who include but are not limited to; refugees, ethnic minorities, rural women, urban disadvantaged, women and girls living with disability, HIV and AIDS, sexual minorities, or sex workers? | 5 |
| 2. Relevance of the action | Score |
| 2.1 How relevant is the proposal to the objectives and priorities of the Call for Proposals? | 10 |
| 2.2 Extent of the organization’s focus on women’s and girls’ rights and services, can demonstrate, through its activities and actions, a belief in the full realization of women’s and girls’ or gender non-conforming people’s human rights; a focus on transforming gender inequalities and making systematic changes to sustainably improve women’s and girls’ or gender non-conforming people’s lives, (which may also include by engaging men and boys) | 20 |
| 3. Quality of the project proposal | Score |
| 3.1 Are the activities proposed appropriate, practical, inclusive, and consistent with the expected results? | 10 |
| 3.2 Quality and quantity of experience in doing activities, awareness-raising or advocacy on women’s, girl’s or LGBTI issues and rights | 5 |
| 3.3 What is the presence/reach of the Organization in the county it serves. | 5 |
| 3.4 What is the Quality of Concept Note submitted promising approaches to advance gender equality | 5 |
| 3.5 What is the degree of sustainability of the expected results? | 5 |
| 4. Budget and cost-effectiveness of the action | Score |
| 4.1 Reasonable costing of budgeted items | 5 |
| 4.2 Past experience managing similar size of grant | 5 |
| 4.3 Value-for-money | 10 |
| 5. Total score and recommendations | Score |
| 1 Operational capacity | 20 |
| 2 Relevance of the action | 30 |
| 3 Quality of the project proposal | 30 |
| 4 Budget and cost-effectiveness of the action | 20 |
Total |
100 |
