Kenya

Water is Life: Women's Human Rights in National and Local Water Governance in Southern and Eastern Africa

Citation:

Hellum, Anne, Patricia Kameri-Mbote, Barbara van Koppen, eds. 2015. Water Is Life: Women’s Human Rights in National and Local Water Governance in Southern and Eastern Africa. Weaver Press. 

Authors: Anne Hellum, Patricia Kameri-Mbote, Barbara van Koppen

Abstract:

This book approaches water and sanitation as an African gender and human rights issue. Empirical case studies from Kenya, Malawi, South Africa and Zimbabwe show how coexisting international, national and local regulations of water and sanitation respond to the ways in which different groups of rural and urban women gain access to water for personal, domestic and livelihood purposes. The authors, who are lawyers, sociologists, political scientists and anthropologists, explore how women cope in contexts where they lack secure rights, and participation in water governance institutions, formal and informal. The research shows how women – as producers of family food - rely on water from multiple sources that are governed by community based norms and institutions which recognize the right to water for livelihood. How these 'common pool water resources' - due to protection gaps in both international and national law - are threatened by large-scale development and commercialization initiatives, facilitated through national permit systems, is a key concern. The studies demonstrate that existing water governance structures lack mechanisms which make them accountable to poor and vulnerable waters users on the ground, most importantly women. Our findings thus underscore the need to intensify measures to hold states accountable, not just in water services provision, but in assuring the basic human right to clean drinking water and sanitation; and also to protect water for livelihoods.

Annotation:

Table of Contents 
 
Part I Introduction
1. The Human Right to Water and Sanitation in a Legal Pluralist Landscape: Perspectives of Southern and Eastern African Women
 
2. Turning the Tide: Engendering the Human Right to Water and Sanitation 
Anne Hellum, Ingunn Ikdahl and Patricia Kameri-Mbote
 
Part II Kenya
3. Human Rights, Gender and Water in Kenya: Law, Prospects and Challenges 
Patricia Kameri-Mbote and Francis Kariuki
 
4. Not so Rosy: Farm Workers’ Human Right to Water in the Lake Naivasha Basin 
Patricia Kameri-Mbote and Edna Odhiambo
 
5. Watered Down: Gender and the Human Right to Water and Reasonable Sanitation in Mathare, Nairobi 
Celestine Nyamu Musembi
 
6. Gender Dimensions of Customary Water Resource Governance: Marakwet Case Study 
Elizabeth Gachenga
 
Part III Malawi 
7. The Political Economy of the Human Right to Water and Women in Malawi 
Ngeyi Ruth Kanyongolo, Timothy Chirwa, Asiyati Chiweza and Michael Chasukwa
 
8. Women’s Right to Water and Participation in Practice: Insights from Urban Local Water Governance Systems 
Asiyati Lorraine Chiweza, Ngeyi Ruth Kanyongolo, Michael Chasukwa and Timothy Chirwa
 
9. Primary Actors on the Back Seat: Gender, Human Rights and Rural Water Governance in Malawi – Lessons from Mpemba and Chileka 
 
Part IV Zimbabwe
10. Governance, Gender Equality and the Right to Water and Sanitation in Zimbabwe: Contested Norms and Institutions in an Unstable Economic and Political Terrain 
Anne Hellum, Bill Derman, Ellen Sithole and Elizabeth Rutsate
 
11. Zimbabwe’s Urban Water Crisis and its Implications for Different Women: Emerging Norms and Practices in Harare’s High Density Suburbs 
Anne Hellum, Ellen Sithole, Bill Derman, Lindiwe Mangwanya and Elizabeth Rutsate
 
12. Securing Rural Women’s Land and Water Rights: Lessons from Domboshawa Communal Land 
Anne Hellum, Bill Derman, Lindiwe Mangwanya and Elizabeth Rutsate
 
13. A Hidden Presence: Women Farm Workers Right to Water and Sanitation in the Aftermath of the Fast Track Land Reform 
Elizabeth Rutsate, Bill Derman and Anne Hellum
 
Part V South Africa 
14. Fixing the Leaks in Women’s Human Rights to Water: Lessons from South Africa 
Barbara van Koppen, Bill Derman, Barbara Schreiner, Ebenezer Durojaye and Ngcime Mweso
 
15. Gender-Equality in Statutory Water Law: the Case of Priority General Authorizations in South Africa 
Barbara van Koppen and Barbara Schreiner
 
16. Gender, Rights, and the Politics of Productivity The Case of the Flag Boshielo Irrigation Scheme, South Africa 
Barbara van Koppen, Barbara Tapela and Everisto Mapedza
 

Topics: Class, Governance, Infrastructure, Water & Sanitation, Livelihoods, Rights, Human Rights, Women's Rights Regions: Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa Countries: Kenya, Malawi, South Africa, Zimbabwe

Year: 2015

Masculinity on Unstable Ground: Young Refugee Men in Nairobi, Kenya

Citation:

Jaji, Rosemary. 2009. “Masculinity on Unstable Ground: Young Refugee Men in Nairobi, Kenya.” Journal of Refugee Studies 22 (2): 177–94.

Author: Rosemary Jaji

Abstract:

A gender perspective in refugee studies usually conjures up images of refugee women. Such images are an outcome of the association of vulnerability with women and children. Yet, it is not only refugee women who face monumental challenges in the country of asylum; refugee men also encounter a wide range of problems. Exile comes with obstacles for refugee men's quest to conform to culturally defined masculinity. This paper presents the nature of the challenges young refugee men predominantly from the Great Lakes region face in exile and the struggles they engage in as they seek to maintain and live up to their pre-flight notions of masculinity. The paper also shows how the men create alternative masculinities that are sustainable in a context that is largely characterized by existential uncertainties.

Keywords: masculinity, refugee men, Great Lakes, Kenya

Topics: Displacement & Migration, Refugees, Gender, Gender Roles, Masculinity/ies, Men Regions: Africa, East Africa Countries: Kenya

Year: 2009

Ecofeminism in Africa: The Contribution of Wangari Maathai

Citation:

Graness, Anke. 2018. “Ecofeminism in Africa: The Contribution of Wangari Maathai.” In African Philosophy and the Epistemic Marginalization of Women, edited by Jonathan O. Chimakonam and Louise Du Toit, 189-206. New York: Routledge.

Author: Anke Graness

Abstract:

The exclusion of women philosophers and feminist theory from the history of philosophy has been widely criticised, and a number of ground-breaking research projects and publications have furthered the reconstruction of women's contributions to philosophy during the last few decades. African female thinkers and African feminist theory offer interesting insights into several theoretical areas and questions, as well as topics with political significance. One of those topics is the intersection of feminist theory and environmental protection. The most outstanding example here is the theoretical and practical work of the remarkable Kenyan scientist, feminist, and ecological and political activist Wangari Maathai, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004. This chapter reflects on her contribution from a philosophical perspective and focuses particularly on the system of ethical values which Maathai developed in her practical work for environmental protection and poverty reduction in the rural areas of Kenya, as well as in the concept of ecofeminism. 

Topics: Environment, Feminisms, Ecofeminism Regions: Africa, East Africa Countries: Kenya

Year: 2018

Reclaim the Earth: Women Speak Out for Life on Earth

Citation:

Caldecott, Léonie, and Stephanie Leland, eds. 1983. Reclaim the Earth: Women Speak Out for Life on Earth. London: Women’s Press.

Authors: Léonie Caldecott, Stephanie Leland

Annotation:

Summary:

Essays discuss nuclear proliferation, chemical pollution, land rights, childbirth, infanticide, ecology, and feminist activities around the world (Summary from Google Books).

Table of Contents:

1. The Eco-Feminist Imperative
Ynestra King

2. Unity Statement
Women’s​ Pentagon Action

3. Unholy Secrets: The Impact of the Nuclear Age on Public Health
Rosalie Bertell

4. The Long Death (poem)
Marge Piercy

5. Sveso Is Everywhere
Women’s Working Group, Geneva; translated and extracted from the French by Frances Howard-Gordon

6. The Politics of Women’s Health
Nancy Worcester

7. Feminism: Healing the Patriarchal Dis-Ease
Jill Raymond and Janice Wilson

8. Ask A Stupid Question (poem)
Susan Saxe

9. Feminism and Ecology: Theoretical Connections
Stephanie Leland

10. Roots: Black Ghetto Ecology
Wilmette Brown

11. Seeds That Bear Fruit: A Japanese Woman Speaks
Manami Suzuki

12. Another Country (poem)
Marge Piercy

13. Thought for Food
Liz Butterworth

14. The Power to Feed Ourselves : Women and Land Rights
Barbara Rogers

15.  The Land Is Our Life: A Pacific Experience
Léonie Caldecott

16. A Micronesian Woman (poem)
Rosalie Bertell

17.  Greening the Desert: Women of Kenya Reclaim Land
Maggie Jones and Wanagari Maathai

18.  Greening the Cities: Creating a Hospitable Environment for Women and Children
Penelope Leach

19.  Against Nuclearisation and Beyond
Statement of Sicilian women

20. For the Hiroshima Maidens (poem)
Léonie Caldecott

21. Gaea: The Earth as Our Spiritual Heritage
Jean Freer

22. He Wanine, He Whenau: Maori Women and the Environment
Ngahuia Te Awekotuku

23. All of One Flesh: The Rights of Animals
Norma Benney

24. The Mothers Do Not Disappear
Marta Zabaleta; translated by Jackie Rodick

25. Invisible Casualities: Women Servicing Militarism
Lesley Merryfinch

26. Alternative Technology: A Feminist Technology?
Chris Thomas

27. Safety and Survival
Margaret Wright

28. Birth: The Agony or the Ecstasy?
Caroline Wyndham

29. A New Form of Female Infanticide
Manushi Collective

30. Saving Trees, Saving Lives: Third World Women and the Issue of Survival
Anita Anand

31. Time for Women: New Patterns of Work
Sheila Rothwell

32. Personal, Political and Planetary Play

33. The Warp and the Weft: The Coming Synthesis of Eco-Philosophy and Eco-Feminism
Hazel Henderson

34. Prayer for Continuation (poem)
Susan Griffin

Topics: Feminisms, Ecofeminism, Gender, Gendered Power Relations, Patriarchy, Health, Infrastructure, Urban Planning, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Militarism, Political Participation, Race, Rights, Land Rights, Security, Food Security, Weapons /Arms, Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) Regions: Africa, East Africa, Asia, East Asia, Oceania Countries: Japan, Kenya, Micronesia, New Zealand

Year: 1983

Gender Equality in the Oil Mining Industry: A Case of Lokichar in Turkana Kenya

Citation:

Shikuku, Caroline Khasoha, Edward Mburugu, Dr. Salim Nungari, and Dr. Joseph Kabiru. 2020. “Gender Equality in the Oil Mining Industry: A Case of Lokichar in Turkana Kenya.” IOSR Journal of Humanities and Social Science 25 (1): 48-61.

Authors: Caroline Khasoha Shikuku, Edward Mburugu, Dr. Salim Nungari, Dr. Joseph Kabiru

Abstract:

It is increasingly been accepted by various stakeholders in Kenya that women involvement in the Extractive industry (E.I) will speed up economic growth. One of the centerpiece of Sustainable Development Goals has been to achieve Gender Equality by empowering women and encouraging their participation in different development ventures. The general objective of this paper therefore was to establish the nature of hiring practices in the EI in relation to gender equality in Kenya. The paper capitalizes on the conflict theory using a feministic approach, gender relations theory and diffusion of innovation theory. Desk review and various studies done in Kenya on EI will inform this paper while anchoring on a recent study by the authors of this paper whose methodology is described later on this paper. The findings shows that there was a difference in hiring men and women and that gender roles have been transformed as a result of oil mining in Lokichar. The paper will inform stakeholders (government, oil companies) to craft policy responses to challenges that may likely emerge from E.I in Kenya. The paper recommends goodwill in implementing gender policies, monitoring and evaluation and quality assurance of policies set on the hiring practices.

Keywords: extractive industry, gender mainstreaming, Sustainable Development Goals, affirmative action, gender equality

Topics: Economies, Extractive Industries, Feminisms, Gender, Gender Roles, Women, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Regions: Africa, East Africa Countries: Kenya

Year: 2020

“Remember the Women of Osiri”: Women and Gender in Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining in Migori County, Kenya

Citation:

Buss, Doris, Sarah Katz-Lavigne, Otieno Aluoka, and Eileen Alma. 2020. “‘Remember the Women of Osiri’: Women and Gender in Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining in Migori County, Kenya.” Canadian Journal of African Studies  / Revue Canadienne Des éTudes Africaines  54 (1): 177-195.

Authors: Doris Buss, Sarah Katz-Lavigne, Otieno Aluoka, Eileen Alma

Abstract:

ENGLISH ABSTRACT:
In this paper, we explore women’s livelihoods and the operation of gender norms and structures in the Osiri artisanal gold mining area in western Kenya. While “women” and “gender” are seen as increasingly important to policy frameworks for developing mineral resources on the African continent, understandings of women’s roles in artisanal and small-scale mining, and of the importance of gender in structuring those livelihoods, remain limited. Drawing on field research conducted from 2014 to 2018, we demonstrate that while gender norms and structures operate to delimit women’s mining roles, in daily encounters women and men navigate, resist and sometimes reframe those norms. Further, we explore how gender norms may not impact all women the same and how other social variables, such as age, may also influence how women navigate their mining livelihoods.

FRENCH ABSTRACT:
Dans cet article, nous examinons les moyens d’existence des femmes et le fonctionnement des normes et des structures liées au genre dans la région aurifère artisanale de Osiri, à l’Ouest du Kenya. Alors que les « femmes » et le « genre » sont considérés comme étant de plus en plus importants pour les cadres politiques de développement des ressources minérales sur le continent africain, la compréhension du rôle des femmes dans l’exploitation minière et à petite échelle, et de l’importance du genre dans la structuration de ces moyens d’existence, reste limitée. En nous appuyant sur des recherches de terrain conduites entre 2014 et 2018, nous démontrons que si les normes et les structures liées au genre servent à délimiter le rôle des femmes dans l’exploitation minière, lors de leurs rencontres quotidiennes, les femmes et les hommes maîtrisent, contestent et, quelquefois, recadrent ces normes. En outre, nous examinons comment les normes de genre peuvent ne pas affecter toutes les femmes de la même façon, et comment d’autres variables sociales, telles que l’âge, peuvent aussi influencer la manière dont les femmes gèrent leurs moyens d’existence dans le secteur minier.

Keywords: artisanal and small-scale mining, women, gender, Kenya, feminist political economy, exploitation minière artisanale et à petite échelle, femmes, genre, économie politique féministe

Topics: Age, Extractive Industries, Feminisms, Feminist Political Economy, Gender, Gender Roles, Men, Women, Gendered Power Relations, Livelihoods Regions: Africa, East Africa Countries: Kenya

Year: 2020

Absent Voices: Women and Youth in Communal Land Governance. Reflections on Methods and Process from Exploratory Research in West and East Africa

Citation:

Lemke, Stefanie and Priscilla Claeys. 2020. "Absent Voices: Women and Youth in Communal Land Governance. Reflections on Methods and Process from Exploratory Research in West and East Africa." Land 9 (8): 266- 66. 

Authors: Stefanie Lemke , Priscilla Claeys

Abstract:

An increasing number of African States are recognizing customary land tenure. Yet, there is a lack of research on how community rights are recognized in legal and policy frameworks, how they are implemented in practice, and how to include marginalized groups. In 2018–2019, we engaged in collaborative exploratory research on governing natural resources for food sovereignty with social movement networks, human rights lawyers and academics in West and East Africa. In this article, we reflect on the process and methods applied to identify research gaps and partners (i.e., two field visits and regional participatory workshops in Mali and Uganda), with a view to share lessons learned. In current debates on the recognition and protection of collective rights to land and resources, we found there is a need for more clarity and documentation, with customary land being privatized and norms rapidly changing. Further, the voices of women and youth are lacking in communal land governance. This process led to collaborative research with peasant and pastoralist organizations in Kenya, Tanzania, Mali and Guinea, with the aim to achieve greater self-determination and participation of women and youth in communal land governance, through capacity building, participatory research, horizontal dialogues and action for social change.

Keywords: gender, women and youth, communal land governance, right to land, collective rights, Participatory Action Research, transdisciplinary approach, COVID-19, West and East Africa, constituencies

Topics: Age, Youth, Gender, Gendered Discourses, Women, Governance, Land Tenure, Rights, Land Rights Regions: Africa, East Africa, West Africa Countries: Guinea, Kenya, Mali, Tanzania, Uganda

Year: 2020

Reclaiming Peoples’ Power in Copenhagen 2009: A Victory for Ecosocialist Ecofeminism

Citation:

Kaara, Wahu. 2010. “Reclaiming Peoples’ Power in Copenhagen 2009: A Victory for Ecosocialist Ecofeminism.” Capitalism Nature Socialism 21 (2): 107–11.

Author: Wahu Kaara

Abstract:

The article describes the contribution of African women to ecosocialism. The authors argue that the 2009 Copenhagen Conference represents the recognition that the collapsing patriarchal market economy owes humanity an economic debt, and owes the planet an ecological and climate debt. The author compares the status of the police forces in Kenya and Denmark, since both uphold the bankrupt system of neoliberalism.

Keywords: females, socialism, human ecology, protest movements

Topics: Economies, Environment, Feminisms, Ecofeminism, Gender, Women Regions: Africa, East Africa, Europe, Nordic states, Northern Europe Countries: Denmark, Kenya

Year: 2010

Whose Feminism(s)? Overseas Partner Organizations’ Perceptions of Canada’s Feminist International Assistance Policy

Citation:

Rao, Sheila, and Rebecca Tiessen. 2020. “Whose Feminism(s)? Overseas Partner Organizations’ Perceptions of Canada’s Feminist International Assistance Policy. International Journal 75 (3): 349–66.

Authors: Sheila Rao, Rebecca Tiessen

Abstract:

Canada’s Feminist International Assistance Policy, introduced in 2017, is an ambitious and forward-thinking policy focussed on gender equality and women’s empowerment. The emphasis on a feminist vision, however, raises questions about how feminism is defined and interpreted by Canada’s partners in the Global South. In this article, we examine the interpretations of feminism(s) and a feminist foreign policy from the perspective of NGO staff members in East and Southern Africa. The research involved interviews with 45 Global South partner country NGO staff members in three countries (Kenya, Uganda, and Malawi). We consider the partner organization reflections on Canada’s Feminist International Assistance Policy using a transnational feminist lens. Our findings provide insights into future considerations for Canada’s feminist foreign policy priorities, consultations, and programme design. 

Keywords: feminist foreign assistance policy, partnerships, gender equality, Canadian Aid

Topics: Feminisms, Feminist Foreign Policy, Gender, Women, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality Regions: Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa, Americas, North America Countries: Canada, Kenya, Malawi, Uganda

Year: 2020

Local Institutions and Smallholder Women’s Access to Land Resources in Semi-Arid Kenya

Citation:

Po, June Y. T., and Gordon M. Hickey. 2018. “Local Institutions and Smallholder Women’s Access to Land Resources in Semi-Arid Kenya.” Land Use Policy 76: 252–63.

Authors: June Y. T. Po, Gordon M. Hickey

Abstract:

Land is a critical resource in smallholder farming systems, access to which is guided by complex interpretations of local norms, customary values, and statutory laws. This study explores how smallholder women access land resources under local institutions in semi-arid Kenya following a major constitutional reform on land succession passed in 2010. We draw on social relations approach, access theory, and social-ecological resilience thinking to examine Kamba women’s access to land resources using qualitative data collected through in-depth key informant interviews (n = 77), twelve focus group discussions (n = 134), and eight community meetings (n = 363). Results show that although some women were aware of their rights to inherit and own land, Kamba women were generally reluctant to claim land resources through local customary institutions and/or land registration processes. This stemmed from a desire to maintain gender dynamics within the household and to maintain their current relational access to land and other livelihood resources. Women, as daughters, sisters, wives, mothers, grandmothers, divorcée and widows, were found to face vastly different pressures in land resource access. They reported using relational access mechanisms to cope with, and adapt to, land resource constraints. When combined with rights-based mechanisms of access, women could better secure future generations’ land resource access, especially in cases of skipped-generational households.

Topics: Agriculture, Gender, Women, Households, Land Tenure, Rights, Land Rights Regions: Africa, East Africa Countries: Kenya

Year: 2018

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