Mombasa women peace builders have complained over the lack of support from the government despite helping in creating peace and tranquillity especially now that the country is heading to the electioneering period.
They say the nature of their work makes them face challenges such as poverty, risk of social rejection, threats to their lives, broken families, and some cultural dilemmas.
Speaking on Monday during a forum in Mombasa, the women said they sometimes dig into their own pockets to save people in dire situations.
“We ask the government to support us so that we can achieve a cohesive society,” Mama Sahale who is disabled said.
She said people living with disability find it hard to move around to do their own work.
“It is stressing sometimes but we do it for our society. This gives us the strength to continue on our own‚” Sahale said.
Coast Education Centre organisation said the government has supported peacebuilding efforts by men more than the same efforts done by women.
Speaking at the forum where the organisation was mapping a report on women, peace and security, executive director Halima Mohamed said safety for women peace-builders is one of the most significant challenges that they face.
“Women who are out there sacrificing a lot, including facing fears of social rejection, suffer in silence,” Mohamed said.
She said there is a lot of discrimination in decision-making tables. In most cases, women peace-builders are not among those who sit at those tables
Mohamed said women peace builders and human rights defenders should be put into consideration whenever policies are made.
“We need women-friendly policies,” she said.
The government, she said, needs to support women peace-builders and human rights defenders more with resources as one way of motivating them.
Mohamed said it is shameful for international bodies to recognise the efforts of women peace-builders in Kenya, inviting them to speak in high-level international fora yet the Kenyan government knows nothing about them or chooses to look the other way.
She said many women-led organisations offer psycho-social support to women affected by violent extremism, gender-based violence, among other social vices that women undergo.
“Our lives are at stake. We need protection. Yes, this is our responsibility but at the same time it is a risk that we are taking,” Mohamed said.
Mombasa woman representative Asha Hussein said women play an important role in peacebuilding in the country and their efforts must be recognised and appreciated by the government.
She said her small contribution is to build a safe house for women victims of violent extremism, GBV, among other vices that women go through.
The Sh38 million safe house will be built in Mwakirunge, on land donated by the Mombasa county government through Governor Hassan Joho.
It will have a capacity of about 150 people.
“By the end of the 2021/2022 fiscal year, the safe house will be completed and handed over to the county, who will partner with some NGOs to ensure its sustainability,” Ashu said.
The woman rep said so many people are suffering from socio-economic hardships but the women bear the brunt of it.
“Today, we see so many issues of domestic violence that lead to mothers and their children being killed by their spouses, who then commit suicide‚” she said.
Ashu said they want to roll out a programme where vulnerable women are easily identified and are taken into their safe house program until the environment is right for them to go back to their homes.
The safe house marries with Resolution 1325 of the United Nations, which talks about the inclusion of women in peace and security.
Edited by Kiilu Damaris
