Urgent Action Fund Africa (UAF-Africa) - Kenya
Quick information guide
Kenya Government’s leads by example in Gender Equality and Women Empowerment. It has established a Women Enterprise Fund
Aim:
to provide accessible and affordable credit to support women start and/or expand business for wealth and employment creation.
Loans provided by the Fund:
- Constituency women enterprise scheme
- LPO Financing
- Bill bond Financing; and
- Sacco lending
Other services:
- Capacity building
- Market support; and
- Linkages
Read more
Contacts.
Ministry of Public Service, Youth and Gender Affairs.
Directorate of Youth Affairs.
P.O. Box 34303-00100.
Nairobi-Kenya.
Harambee House,
Harambee Avenue
Empowernment Programmes for Women In Kenya
Women in the Kenyan contribute significantly to the economy of the country both directly or indirectly and therefore stirring up the economy out of such a high poverty index would need measures put in place for economic empowerment of Kenyan women.
The government of Kenya has established funds and policies such as the 30% procurement allocation for all government tenders so that more women may have an entry chance in such a competitive space. Private Sector Organisations have also set up programmes to empower women.
Urgent Action Fund Africa (UAF-Africa)
Urgent Action Fund – Africa (UAF – Africa) believes that when women have equal access to resources, opportunities, markets and innovations they are able to increase and leverage their intellectual, social, political and economic capital, fueling their progress towards financial independence. To facilitate this access; advocacy, awareness raising, capacity building and financial education are essential.
Pursuing Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE)
Women face unique economic challenges and therefore require support which is responsive to their specific challenges and needs
Women’s unequal access to/control of resources and economic opportunities, in addition to socio-political and economic contexts which discriminate against women, entrenches and sustains gender inequality. Inequality in the economic sphere, which leads to the lack of financial independence, directly contributes to inequality in other spheres of women’s lives. Therefore, women’s economic empowerment is a critical area for addressing women’s practical and strategic interests.
Despite having comparably advanced constitutions and legal redress systems, many women in Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya still struggle with access to equal opportunity and ownership of assets. Women, particularly those who run small and medium informal and formal businesses in rural, peri-urban and urban areas lead different economic lives to men and the inequalities in economic systems and structures at small and medium business levels has limited their ability to fully participate in and profit from the economy.
For instance, women in rural areas who rely on farming/agribusiness often do not have control of or ownership of land which negatively affects their income and the sustainability of their businesses, while in peri-urban and urban areas, small-scale vendors (a majority of whom are women) such as street vendors are excluded in urban planning and development initiatives; limiting their ability to successfully run their businesses. African governments’ initiatives to increase economic opportunities and activity often do not take into consideration the unique realities and challenges faced by women, particularly for small and medium (both informal and formal) businesses. Addressing the constraints to women’s economic empowerment is fundamental to lasting, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, poverty reduction, food security and to the achievement of gender equality.
Contacts
ADDRESS
Urgent Action Fund Africa
2nd Floor, Riara Corporate Suites
Riara Road, Kilimani
Naiobi, Kenya
Tel: +(254 202 301 740 / 732 577 560