Female empowerment and eco-livelihoods

Additionally, our team’s efforts were focused on giving a voice and providing a platform for the development of sustainable enterprises and family livelihoods. The ripple effect will extend to education, health, family income and even security, peace and stability.

Gender imbalance is a major factor obstructing sustainable development in Africa – and poverty is a key element undermining a girl’s right to education. It’s a cycle that reinforces a large gender gap. Many aspects combine to truncate a girl’s education and a young woman’s career, limiting the full realisation of her productive capacities. On the other hand, educating a girl means that, as a woman, she is then empowered and more likely to participate in development efforts and in political and economic decision-making.

One of our beneficiaries is a Conservation International Fellow, Rufo Halakhe, whom we met during our visit. Rufo will use her fellowship to explore how women are affected by tribal clashes involving communities in her region and how women can be champions of peace through their existing cultural structures.

Another very special lady we met is Josephine Ikuru, a community leader and the first female peace coordinator for the Northern Rangeland Trust, a partner of Conservation International. She’s been a champion for women’s rights in Northern Kenya since her teen years, defying gender norms to attend local meetings traditionally dominated by men. Josephine gained a passion for conservation through her efforts to reform poachers, working to end both the devastation of her beloved wildlife and the poverty that has given rise to it. By age 22, she was elected Chairperson of the Nakuprat-Gotu Conservancy, bringing together rival tribes to curb poaching and conserve the native wildlife. Throughout her career, Josephine has successfully reformed dozens of poachers, helping convert several of them into conservationists and peace ambassadors.