Voices from the Indigenous Women’s Exchange in Kenya
Between February 28 – March 3, 2022, the Chepkitale Indigenous Peoples’ Development Project (CIPDP) and FPP organized a 3-day Indigenous Women’s Exchange at Chepkitale, Mount Elgon, Kenya. The intention of the exchange was to make space for Indigenous women to come together, across borders and boundaries, to share their experiences and strategies within their collective land rights struggles and learn from each other’s stories.
More than 250 Indigenous women, and 17 men, from 6 forest-based communities across Kenya and Uganda- including the Aweer, Benet, Batwa, Sengwer, Mau Ogiek, and Mount Elgon Ogiek communities- came together.
We were very fortunate to have local indigenous women facilitators and the CIPDP team with us to facilitate the exchange. Their relatability, sensitivity, and the ways they held space for conversations were invaluable.
The exchange was facilitated in a way that was open and participatory, with space for fluidity. From the beginning, we wanted those who participated to feel a sense of ownership over the space and the freedom to express themselves as they wanted.
The links below lead you to the speeches of Cosmas Chemwotei Murunga and Lidya Liyio, two participants who shared powerful speeches on the last day of the exchange, both of whom speak to the collective strength of communities united.
“I want to tell you women, that if we stand like this - our land will never be taken. When we are together, we sharpen each other like blades.”
Lidya Liyio, Mau Ogiek
Read Lidya's speech here
While women spoke about their experiences within their collective land rights struggles- present and past- and articulated their visions for the future, men who had come to the exchange held a parallel meeting in which they discussed how they saw the role of women in land rights. On the last day of the exchange, women and men came together to share what they had discussed and found themselves not at odds, but standing side by side, supporting each other in their collective struggles to secure their rights- as peoples. The roles and responsibilities of everyone, dynamic and rooted at the same time, and the collective strength of communities united were celebrated:
“Batwa, Benet, Aweer, Sengwer, Ogiek, and some who are not with us, we want the women to know that from where you came and from where you are now, you [have been in the struggle from the beginning]. Women, you have not yet moved [as a] delegation to the offices, but for us men we say: thank you so much. We were together in the struggle. You were there besides me in my ribs when they were beating me. Today, for us men who are seated here, we don’t say ‘let’s go for this battle together.’ We have come to tell you that you have been with us throughout this struggle. We have come to tell you that we want now to see how we can help each other in this struggle.”
Cosmas Chemwotei Murunga, Community Elder and a long time community rights defender
Overview
- Resource Type:
- News
- Publication date:
- 16 June 2022
- Region:
- Kenya
- Programmes:
- Legal Empowerment Conservation and human rights Territorial Governance Culture and Knowledge
- Partners:
- Chepkitale Indigenous People Development Project (CIPDP)