FORUMS
Why Dialogue? To provide an avenue for women and young girls (young mothers) discuss the issues affecting them without fear and intimidation, get local solutions and to network. Get their view on how they can promote economic development and moderate voices in the society. To connect women with security apparatus to discuss parental challenges and issues affecting the society.
Nairobi, Mombasa and Kilfi Women Dialogue Forum; Women agreed that there was hatred between different faiths and tribes since the terminologies used in describing each other was discriminative and fueled more conflicts. Muslim participants felt that their Christian counterparts were calling them lazy, illiterate and backward. The Christians felt bad when Muslims call them Kufar and when they hear ‘Allah Akbar’ they think that they are converging to kill each Christians. During elections, women are mostly used to fuel hatred since they are used to name calling each other i.e. Kehe, Mwizi, Msaliti, Kigeugeu, Muguruki, and watermelon etc. They needed to understand more about jihad and kufar and to be informed if there was jihad in Somalia.
Jihad means ‘holy war’; to strive to do good deeds, to strive to succeed in life, kufar; means pagan, someone without any religious affiliations; they were also informed that in Somalia there was political war, people fighting for leadership and to acquire resources and thus misuse of youth in the name of religion. Most youth recruited were promised good pay and good life, yet the ones who managed to come back have evidently stated that the lifestyle was pathetic, everything contradicted religious teachings.
Demystifying narratives used in radicalization
There is need to empower local women to prevent violent/extremists’ ideology and political extremism through information sharing and trainings of this nature to demystify these terminologies and to discourage women from engaging in divisive politics for peace and stability in the country. Women are supposed to have constant communication with their children, be friendly to their children, and be closer to them in order to understand them better. To empower communities to know that they are all Kenyans and should stay away from political conflict that leads to fight. Women need to be each other’s protector, to have more trainings and forums to educate communities especially the youth on effects of violence. Women should build trust with each as a community, empowered to preach peace at family level, in churches and mosques. To advice the youth on the consequences of joining illegal groups (death and imprisonment). To engage and keep youth busy through arts and nurture talents to avoid idleness.
To empower youth through information to avoid being misused by politicians, to encourage communities to vote wisely to get leaders who have visions, to stop incitements from politicians.
How to promote interfaith, volunteerism and social cohesion among women of different faiths
Women should be sensitized to unite irrespective of their religious affiliations to promote economic development and moderate voices, have regular meetings/seminars on volunteerism, and create safe-space for women to interact and share issues affecting them. Engage women groups on importance of cohesion, door to door campaign on unity and interfaith, engage in dialogue in churches, mosques and communities, campaign in social media, chief barazas, chamas, posters/fliers. Women can be trained to be counselors to give hope, can do mediation between the warring groups, can educate each other on the importance of cohesion and volunteerism, can advocate for peace, can be role models in the community, can be peacemakers, can give advices when needed to, can talk in one voice as Christians and Muslims.
Women agree that there is great importance of maintaining good work relationship with security apparatus, though many women have fear of facing the security dockets due to lack of confidence and stigmatization associated with working with them.
Good working relationship will help in getting any information pertaining Identity cards, relief foods, old-age allowances, bursaries among other goodies. Most women feel that most security officers are corrupts, biased, sexually abusing women, arrogance, they lack confidentiality among others.
How to acquire leadership for change among women
Leadership for change can be acquired through empowerment of women, by speaking one language as women, be role models to the community and through advocacy work.
Women have numerous factors that hinder them from engaging in economic gains; they lack education in conducting businesses, they lack capital to start businesses what they work for is from hands to mouth especially single mothers. Harassments from city County officials due to lack of important business documents which are expensive. They lack good places to set-up their businesses i.e. rent. Parents lack school fees to educate their children due to poverty and illiteracy, some parents are widows/widowers, unable to take up responsibilities single handedly, most women are jobless, peer pressure has a big influence on parenting since most teenagers are misbehaving and are not listening to their parents.
