Kisumu state and non-state actors will hold a three days women conference from today March 24 to 26th to highlight issues affecting them.
Dubbed “Kisumu Women’s Conference,” it will bring together 100 women from community, research, policy and academic experts in the field of women’s rights.
The conference organized by the Kisumu County Gender Sector Working Group (GTWG) will bring together a diverse local, national and global community working in the fields of safe cities for women, women’s rights and violence against women (VAW).
This is at par with the International Women’s Day (IWD) which was celebrated in recognition of the contributions and the distinct roles women play in the development process of the nation.
The conference will have a number of sessions presented through oral presentations, knowledge and skill-building activities, roundtables, and mini?symposia.
The meeting will highlight Gender-Based Violence (GBV), Peace Building and Conflict Resolutions, Women in Leadership and Decision Making and socio-economic empowerment and financial inclusion.
County gender director Ann Barasa said the first conference of its kind in the county has a rich program describing it as a cutting edge with evidence-based education, human rights interventions and best practice approach around many disciplines.
“This will be an eye-opener bringing vast knowledge on the table and finding solutions to challenges affecting women and girls in the society,” Barasa said.
Barasa said the conference will review, analyze and consolidate different approaches aimed at building safe and inclusive cities that celebrates the social, cultural and political mobilization of women.
Other objectives of the conference is to build strong capacity within local-level civil society in order to mobilize community-wide support for safe and inclusive cities action for accelerating gender parity.
Barasa explained the conference will assess and disseminate lessons learned and good practices developed on enhancing women’s inclusion and right to the city reflecting on SGD 5.
The conference was brought to limelight through a press release by the convener barring activist Winnie Wadera from hosting the conference which the convener claimed she abused the dignity of women and girls on her recent social media posting.
In a press release, the convener condemned Wadera Facebook posting as it does not reflect the guiding principles of the conference convening organizers.
“Wadera will regrettably not host the conference, we strongly believe sexist hate speech perpetuates gender inequalities, patriarchy and stereotyped gender roles at work,” read part of the press statement.
Speaking to The Standard Wadera said she respected the decision of the convener and accepted the outcome.
“I am not okay with the decision they made, I have been part of the process from the beginning but then their decision is final,” Wadera said.