Woo men to surrender firearms, Isiolo gender activist tells women
What you need to know:
- Women in Isiolo, Laikipia and Marsabit counties have been challenged to take the lead in peace building initiatives.
- Isiolo Gender Watch Executive Director Grace Lolim stressed on the importance of women’s inclusion in promotion of peace and security.
- Stakeholders call for abandoning of structural barriers deep-rooted in cultural norms that impede power and influence of women.
- Women to embark on sensitisation sessions at the villages in an effort to ensure that communities coexist peacefully.
Women in Isiolo, Laikipia and Marsabit counties have been challenged to take the lead in peace building initiatives in an effort to end incessant resource based conflicts.
Isiolo Gender Watch Executive Director Grace Lolim stressed on the importance of women’s inclusion in promotion of peace and security for the realisation of meaningful development.
Speaking during a training of women from the three counties on conflict resolution and how to share anonymous security alerts held in Isiolo town, Ms Lolim reiterated the organisation’s commitment towards building capacity for women to participate meaningfully in peace initiatives.
“Women have a big role to play in peace building and we will continue supporting them to undertake sensitisation at the grassroots,” said Ms Lolim.
Cultural norms
Stakeholders at the event called for abandoning of structural barriers deep-rooted in cultural norms that impede power and influence of women.
Mr Rodgers Bosire from the National Focal Point on Small Arms and Light Weapons said women should use their ‘highly persuasive’ power and skills to positively influence men’s decisions.
“Talk to men and change their attitude towards inter-community attacks,” he appealed to the women while lauding the organisation for coming up with an application for sharing anonymous alerts.
With proliferation of illegal firearms in the region blamed for the spike in insecurity, women were asked to woo men into voluntarily surrendering firearms in their possession.
Rights activists
“I want to encourage women to be role models of peace as together with children, face the huge brunt of insecurity,” a women rights activist, Lucy Mworia said.
While likening women and men to neck and head, Ms Lolim said the head cannot move without the support of the neck which “has the power to determine the direction the head takes”.
“They participants will embark on sensitisation sessions at the villages in an effort to ensure that communities coexist peacefully,” Ms Lolim added.
They were also urged to engage their children against engaging in extremism which continues to pose a security threat in the counties.
