FOUR WAYS TO FOSTER EMPOWERMENT
Introduction
Women are considered the backbone of the family unit and often have to juggle professional
and personal responsibilities. Even with this juggling act, many perform brilliantly in their
workplaces while efficiently handling personal and family matters. Despite all this and with
the deadline to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals drawing ever nearer, we are yet
to achieve gender equality.
This article explores ways to empower women and girls to access all their rights, including
quality education and make their own life choices on matters such as abortion.
Holistically, women’s empowerment should comprise aspects of socio-economic factors and
equality and ensure women get their rights. This is long overdue for all women. Atlas Corps
suggests the following measures that can help bring empowerment for all women globally:
1. Put more women in leadership and decision-making spots.
Women are gaining power more than ever before. We see them as elected leaders and
heads of different industry sectors. Globally, they are accepted as great contributors to the
economy. Increased representation at the top can ensure that women can use their influence
to help pass policies and effect changes that will impact millions of others.
To accelerate this wind of change, we ought to give women the opportunity to serve in more
decision-making positions. Advocating for fair wages and decent jobs for all women is one
step that can bring us closer to a cultural shift that ensures an all-inclusive economic
structure. Women can then play a more significant role in policy and decision-making
processes.
Capacity building for women as potential leaders, now and in the future, can help them
achieve their life goals.
2. Invest in entrepreneurial ideas
Investing in the education and skills training of girls and women is no effort in futility since it
benefits everyone around them. Statistics have shown that working women invest 90 per cent
of their income back into their families. Despite this, there are still disparities in how we
support women’s entrepreneurial efforts.
More female entrepreneurs would mean an improvement in closing the wage gap. Locally,
for example, the Ministry of Public Service, Youth and Gender Affairs takes the initiative to
train women in entrepreneurial skills through the Women Enterprise Fund. Other
stakeholders can also play a role in skills training for women; for example, the organisation
Women United For Our Future (WUFOF) spearheads entrepreneurial efforts through clean
energy in Alego-Usonga. The Mama Twende Tunaweza table banking groups also conduct
regular training and workshops for their members to explore entrepreneurial endeavours.
Beyond training, people can invest in financing and boosting women’s businesses. The
Uwezo Fund, launched in 2013, has so far supported over 700,000 women.
3. Take a stand against unpaid labour
Being unpaid or underpaid is a thorn in the flesh for many women. Often, their unpaid labour
– which varies from tilling farms to fetching water from nearby streams to domestic work –
goes unnoticed. Either that or they earn below the minimum wage. Global Citizen estimates
that women and girls undertake more than 75 percent of unpaid care work worldwide, with
the problem is especially rampant in developing nations.
Labour organisations can ramp up the efforts to bridge the pay gap as equal pay can help
women explore their full potential. Dishonest employers should also be exposed.
4. Mentorship
We should take a holistic approach to mentoring both women and children. Mentorship can be
in the form of leadership and other skills that will come in handy in their day-to-day work and
activities. They can also be educated on their rights and encouraged to stand up for them.
In Kenya, there already exist programmes that offer mentorship to women. One such
programme, the Women’s Youth Mentoring Scheme by Thrive, mentors young women in
Nairobi. It would be ideal to expose these programmes to the masses so they can take up
the already available mentorship programmes, even as we look to establish more
programmes and opportunities for mentorship.
More ways we can empower women
● The four points above are just a start on things that can be done to empower women.
Other suggestions include:
● Ensure access to quality education
● A cultural shift from outdated/outlawed cultures that disadvantage women
● Fair resource allocation and distribution
● Legislation is necessary to create laws that cover gaps or rectify grey areas in
gender-based law. Civil society is also a powerful tool for speaking for minorities or
the marginalised. They can amplify the existing efforts.
● Formation of spousal organisations that serve to complement empowerment efforts in
different niches.
Conclusion
We yearn for the day when all women will be truly free, have equal rights and be able to
make decisions about their welfare. The above measures should help us draw ever nearer to
achieving women’s empowerment both locally and globally.
Post by Anyanzwa Brian
Photograph by Laval Julia