Women & Girls
Equality for women and girls creates something greater for everyone. At RNF We define women’s economic empowerment as the transformative process by which women and girls go from having limited power, voice, and choice at home and in the economy to having the skills, resources, and opportunities needed to access and compete equitably in markets and the agency to control and benefit from economic gains.
Half the world is women – and half the world is under 25 years of age. Women are particularly vulnerable in times of global crises. In many developing countries, primary, secondary and tertiary education for girls remains a challenge. There is no gender equality yet in matters of access to education, professional opportunities, pay and public representation.
Women remain underrepresented in top positions. In some countries of the world not a single woman is sitting in the National Assembly. All around the world, in every country, women and girls still struggle to exercise their full human rights, even to be seen as full human beings. Violence against women and girls is perhaps the most obvious manifestation of the deep imbalances in power in our societies, and the vulnerabilities and limitations that follow them, especially for the most marginalized, and especially in crisis contexts, when vulnerabilities are at their peak and protections at their lowest point. Defending women and girls’ rights means understanding and addressing these effects holistically. Inadequate facilities at schools force millions of girls around the world to miss class during menstruation. It’s estimated that more than half of schools in low-income countries lack sufficient toilets for girls or are unsafe and unclean.
Worldwide, 1 in 3 women have experienced physical or sexual violence—most often by an intimate partner. Nearly 750 million women and girls alive today were married before their 18th birthday, that is amounting to marriage of underage girls and over 200 million have suffered female genital mutilation – a thing still common in some of our communities. More than 70 per cent of all trafficking victims worldwide are women and girls, and 3 out of 4 trafficked women and girls are sexually exploited. This must end. Access to quality education and skills training has never been so important to ensuring a future of dignity for all women around the world.
Youths
The youth on the other hand form a special group in the DNA of RNF. In Kenya, 70% of our population is comprising of the youth. This group is vulnerable and faced with so many challenges that they cannot overcome on their own if left alone. RNF works with youth groups with special talents such as Football and ensures that they are well equipped with football kits, balls and other necessary materials to ensure that such young youthful football teams and other related clubs from the informal settlements that are truly inspiring are fully supported. This will equally apply to other groupings in others sectors.
