Belinda was selected amongst several applicant advocates in the world to represent Kenya and NIGEE during the global meeting. It was her first time in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and she was priviledged to meet our donors to share our girl-led advocacy experience and lessons learnt. She also met Swatee Deepak, the Director of Stars Foundation, which is the convening partner of With and For Girls Award Winners collective. The Stars Foundation team were happy to meet this inspiring and upcoming ending child marriage advocate and ambassador.
During the meeting, she got an oportunity to meet face to face with Norman Chella, and appreciated him for the joint work they did with Chiharu Sasaki as part of our partnership with Friends of NIGEE in Japan.The duo were able to help us raise over KES 400,000 in June 2016 and support 12 girls in Migori County to access quality secondary education.
In the last 5 years, NIGEE has continued to work together with different county governments in western Kenya. Through these partnerships, NIGEE managed to build a relationship with several stakeholders who have unwaveringly supported our effort in ensuring that the girls are retained in school and more are enrolled. Our main partners have been: the county governments of Homabay, Kisumu, Siaya and Migori; political leaders such as First Ladies, Ministers for Education at the county level and Members of County Assembly (MCAs); schools management committees; Head teachers in schools; local and regional companies; and Local NGOs (Impact Research and Development Organization (IRDO), VSO Kenya, Msichana KURIA, Samburu Girls Foundation, Pastoralist Girls Initiative, HOVIC and Plan International).
Engagement with the county governments has continued to enable us win community trust and legitimacy. The county governments have always been instrumental in ensuring that some of our girls’ access available bursary funds to offload some of the burden on NIGEE.
NIGEE is also still an active member of 2 international advocacy bodies; Girls Not Brides: The Global Partnership to End Child Marriage and The Girl Generation; Together to End Female Genital Mutilation.
Belinda is engaging during a session on Meaningful Youth Participation (MYP) at the Global Meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia |