The Voices of Ogiek Women on the Rise

Since 2004, the Ogiek Peoples have been systematically evicted from their territories, leading them to face conflicts with other communities. With a focus on their struggles for land rights, this project empowered Ogiek women to become peacemakers. 

An expert from the Rift Valley region of Kenya led a workshop to involve Ogiek women in peacemaking and decision-making processes. She also encouraged them to build an ongoing work relationship with peacekeeping forces in their communities. 

The workshop trained the participants on the causes and effects of hostilities, monitoring strategies, conflict resolution mechanisms and the role of women in peace building. The participants were offered a monitoring tool, and field coordinators were assigned to various sub-locations so the participants could in turn train other women in their communities on the same topics. In this way, the workshop reached 19 women directly, and approximately 250 women and men indirectly.