Building Resilient Communities by Defending Women’s Rights

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This project will use training,networking, and capacity building to promote protection of the rights of women,particularly those impacted or threatened by radicalization and recruitment of violent extremism in Kenya’s coastal region.  More specifically, the project will connect participants through in-person and digital exchanges,activities, and dialogue that increase understanding of Kenyans’ protected rights as citizens and how to defend them, how to identify and report radicalization, and how to improve relationships between affected communities and security and government services.  Proposals will seek to facilitate dialogue regarding grievances and foster advocacy and awareness of radicalization among vulnerable populations. These individuals should include at least 200 women from the coast from different communities and sub-regions who can maximize impact by sharing what they learn with others.  The priority region for this project is the Kenyan coast, and proposals must include a minimum$5,000 component to launch a sustainable legal aid clinic at a Kenyan law school with a campus on the coast. The project supports the Embassy’s strategic goal of strengthening resilience in at-risk populations and supporting peace.  Program proposals should include using U.S.Embassy-supported American Spaces libraries with meeting spaces and Internet in Nairobi, Kisumu, Nakuru, Mombasa, and Lamu as well as U.S. exchange program alumni, and the target region must be on the Kenyan coast.  Ideal partners include women’s organizations that use innovative methods to reach vulnerable girls, women, and youth, and NGOs who work directly with women impacted by radicalization. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION The Public Affairs Section of the U.S. Embassyin Nairobi announces an open competition for organizations to submitapplications to design and implement an innovative program to empower womenvoices on the Kenyan coast. Proposals must include a legal aid component in conjunction with a lawschool with a campus on the coast. Priority Region: Kenyan coast Program Objectives: The project implementers will identify participants from different communities and sub-regions on the Kenyan coast, connect them to each other, and empower their voices through trainings, networking opportunities, improving relationships with government and security representatives, and other activities. The objectives of their activities will include: 1) Engage the target audience to empower women voices and increase understanding of the crucial role women play in preventing and countering radicalization of youth as well as the disproportionate impact of violent extremism on women. 2) Launch a sustainable legal aid clinic with a Kenyan law school with a campus on the Kenyan coast where participants and surrounding communities can access pro bono legal assistance. 3) Organize trainings for participating women to learn their rights as Kenyan citizens and how to access legal aid. 4) Teach participating women how to identify and report signs of recruitment and radicalization by violent extremists. 5) Connect audiences to each other and to representatives from Kenyan government and security sectors to increase mutual understanding. 6) Strengthen community-based organizations (CBOs) on the coast. Participants and Audiences: The priority region for this project is the Kenyan coast, and the target audiences should include at least 200 women from diverse communities and sub-regions on the coast.

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