MADRE Conducts Women's Human Rights Trainings and Delivers Aid to Indigenous Communities in Kenya
Contact:
Vivian Stromberg,
Executive Director
PHONE: 212-627-0444
EMAIL: madre@madre.org
July 18, 2005—New York—A MADRE delegation returned today from Kenya, where one of MADRE's Nicaraguan partners conducted workshops on human rights with Indigenous Samburu and Maasai women. The MADRE delegation also delivered donations of school supplies and teacher training materials to schools in rural, Indigenous communities.
MADRE partners with the Indigenous Information Network in Kenya to promote Indigenous Peoples' and women's human rights throughout the country, including the environmental preservation and sustainable development of Indigenous lands.
As in other parts of the world, Indigenous Peoples in Kenya often live in extreme poverty without access to education and adequate health care, including HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention. These conditions are worsened by economic and security policies of the Bush Administration, which exacerbate poverty and threats to women's human rights.
Indigenous women's human rights are also under attack within their own communities. Denied the right to own land, women are made more vulnerable to poverty and gender-based violence. Yet, as those primarily responsible for preserving their Peoples' natural resources and traditional knowledge, Indigenous women hold the keys to combating poverty and creating strategies for sustainable development.
Vivian Stromberg, MADRE's Executive Director, commented: "Our partners in Kenya are working to change the conditions of poverty that are perpetuated�not eradicated�by policies such as those recently championed by the G8. Facing growing threats to their rights and resources, the Indigenous Information Network is working with MADRE to deliver life-saving information about HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention to Indigenous women and youth, and to demand Indigenous Peoples' and women's human rights on local, national, and international levels."
Read MADRE's report, Make G8 Policy History: African Women's Rights and the G8.
Available for interviews:
Vivian Stromberg, Executive Director of MADRE, has worked for over 40 years as an activist in the international peace and justice movement. Her areas of expertise include women's economic development, US foreign policy, health care, popular education, sexual violence, human rights, and child development.
Lucy Mulenki, Executive Director of MADRE's sister organization in Kenya, the Indigenous Information Network, is also Chair of the African Indigenous Women's Organization. Ms. Mulenkei's expertise lie in Indigenous Peoples' human rights, women's sexual health and reproductive health, and the sustainable development of Indigenous, pastoral communities in Kenya.
