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How do women drive change in Kenya?


This International women day, we will focus on the vital role of women in pushing for positive reforms in Kenya whether it be in business, gender rights and disability activism. Three female changemakers will join our equally impressive host in giving voice to the triumphs and challenges of being a female change maker in East Africa’s most vibrant economy.

The event will serve as a forerunner to the launch of Africa Talks In The Hague later in the evening. The Nairobi edition of Africa Talks will be streamed live on Hague Talk’s social media pages. The event in Nairobi will be attended by dignitaries from both the local and foreign embassies as well as Kenyan civil society actors.

Our aim is also to ensure that the venue is packed to the brim with young female leaders from different fields, professionals and university students. Inspiration on this debut edition of Africa Talks is drawn from the 2019 International Women’s day theme #Balance for Better celebrating how African Women are pushing towards achieving a more gender-balanced world in Africa.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

  • Wanja Maina is a Kenyan blogger and disability-rights advocate. She runs “Hummingbird”, a popular Facebook page that has more than 147,000 followers. Since becoming disabled at an early age, Wanja has worked hard to use her profile and platform to make a difference. She has carved out a niche as a passionate and eloquent advocate for persons with disabilities. She thinks young disabled women in Kenya are triple marginalised for being young, being women and having disabilities.
  • Sheila Mwanyigha is an accomplished Media Professional with more than 15 years’ experience in radio, television and print, as well as an award winning performing artist. Sheila holds an MA in Medical Sociology from the University of Nairobi, and is a published scholar in the International Journal of Social Sciences. Sheila served as the host of Tusker Project Fame, a live African music reality show for five years to audiences in six East African countries. She has also worked as a television morning breakfast show host. Sheila is currently the host and producer, of Sheila Lives Out Loud, an online chat show on YouTube and her social media channels, that encourages viewers to Live, Love and Grow.
  • Joyce J. Wangui is a Kenyan freelance journalist covering the International Criminal Justice beat. She has a wealth of experience in reporting on sexual violence in conflict particularly the gendered violations inflicted on Kenyan women [and men] during the 2007/08 post election violence. Her reporting aims at giving voice and visibility to the plight of survivors in their quest for healing, justice and accountability. She has reported in-depth on the Kenyan trials at the International Criminal Court (ICC), the Jean-Pierre Bemba trial (also at The Hague) and the Hissène Habré trial Extraordinary African Chambers in the Senegalese court system. Joyce remains deeply concerned about the plight of victims of poll-related sexual violence and actively uses her Twitter handle @JJWangui to advocate for rape justice and offer tactful communication support to survivors of sexualized violence in Kenya and beyond.
  • Immah Reid is an activist whose main focus is gender and sexuality matters. She is also a poet and radical feminist. She currently serves @AFRAKenya as the executive director. Her work reflects on social change using arts and media to bring and hold conversations that are necessary for our continent and global consciousness.

Moderator Muthoni Gitau is a digital content creator in Nairobi Kenya. She has worked in the creative industry since 2010 as a scriptwriter, poet and actor. She has been a freelance writer since 2009 and started a lifestyle blog in 2013. In 2017, she rediscovered her love for film and has been growing as a respected film critic. She has diversified her blogging into food, film and lifestyle where she was nominated as the Best Food Blogger at the 2018 BAKE Awards. When she’s not on her blog, you’ll find her on YouTube sharing DIY (Do It Yourself) tutorials. She currently resides in Nairobi with her husband and their three cats

This edition is powered and organized by PAWA254.

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