About The League of Kenya Women Voters

Since her inception in 1992 the organization, in conjunction with other partner organizations, has worked on numerous projects and programmes and recorded significant achievements. The League worked in a number of electoral constituencies from 1992 – 2002 identifying women leaders to vie for elective leadership positions in local authorities and the national assembly. In 2005 the League played a critical role in Civic Education funded by the then ECK and CKRC especially on training Civic Educators in 10 districts. The League worked through all the multi party general elections in Kenya (1992, 1997 and 2002) as a significant player in voter education and electoral monitoring. The League’s role in electoral monitoring concentrated on making the electoral chain free and fair for the full participation of women and continuous improvement of the women positions in the political parties and state appointments.
League’s work in voter education and voter registration also targeted the youth to enhance their leadership skills and nurture a sense of responsible citizenship necessary for good governance and the creation of a gender sensitive youth constituency. Youth Outreach activities have included the production and dissemination of a newsletter (the Youth Voter) and public youth debates on issues of concern to young people. This program was particularly significant in the run up to the 2007 general elections. The League has undertaken a number of activities under its civic awareness component. These include development of a curriculum for opinion leaders and community level voter educators. Research activities of the League have been instrumental in generating information to voters and female candidates. Its voter’s handbook – ‘Women and Democracy; A voter’s Handbook’ produced in 1992 remained a remarkable manual in the work of civil society groups involved in voter education. It has been translated into 8 local languages. Publications of the League in the 2002 election period included “Road to Victory – My Election Companion (2002) “Making Informed Choices – A Trainers Manual for Civic Education (as a member of the Gender Consortium within the National Civic Education Programme).
In 2002, the League launched a weekly radio programme “Nguzo za Kudumu” focusing on key issues affecting women and how they can be dealt with. This has been invaluable resource to women and has been estimated to reach over 10 million people through the Kiswahili Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) channel. The League is in consultation with KBC to renew the program especially on the participation in electoral processes. Through the human rights monitoring project, the League has been promoting legal rights awareness through legal aid clinics, publications, brochures, and radio episodes. Further, the League was part of an organized network comprising twenty other organizations that set up to safeguard the gains for women in the then draft constitution. This coalition established a pool of observers who worked with Committee of Experts and the Parliamentary Select Committee to ensure the women’s gains were safeguarded. The team was convened and coordinated and by the Gender Commission. The League also took an active role in provision of civic education on then draft constitution in July/August 2010.
The organization has also implemented components of the National Facilitation Initiative (NFI) as part of its Information, Communication and Technologies (ICT) program in Taita-Taveta district. The NFI was an initiative of the government and a number of development partners including UNIFEM and CIDA in addressing poverty and discrimination of women in relation to information technology.
