Kivulini Women's Rights Organization - Tanzania

BACKGROUND:
Kivulini Women's Rights Organization is a registered (SO No. 10151) non-government organization founded in 1999 and based in Mwanza. In Kiswahili Kivulini means literally “in the shade”, which implies a relaxed place where people feel supported. It implies a place of safety, under a tree or otherwise shaded, where people meet for discussion and to offer each other support. Kivulini advocates for women’s rights by specifically mobilising communities (men and women) to prevent gender-based violence in order for women and girls to enjoy their rights as stipulated by international human rights conventions. 
Kivulini consists of 6 departments: Advocacy, capacity building, communication through media and learning materials, legal aid & social counseling, community awareness and economic empowerment.  Kivulini has 18 full-time staff; whereby most of our professional staff includes program officers with backgrounds in journalism, law/paralegal, counseling, training and community organizing. An influential Board of Directors consisting of community leaders and human rights guides Kivulini’s work. 

In addition, Kivulini is well known within the community and has developed an extensive network of over 50 committed volunteers.  These are individual members at grassroots level who are committed to volunteer their time and energy to conduct community awareness and education sessions on women’s rights, supporting/counseling community members and referring them to services.  Community volunteers are the key spokespersons of community awareness activities and greatly increase the number of people reached in prorgramme activities and promote community ownership.

MISSION / OBJECTIVES
Kivulini’s mission is to work with passion and dedication to mobilise local communities to empower women and create safe families-safe communities
Kivulini overarching goal: To inspire and support communities in Mwanza region to prevent gender-based violence. It is furthered by four core objectives:

•  To mobilize communities to change the attitudes and behavior that perpetuates gender violence.
•  To build the capacity of community leaders to understand the impact of violence against women and motivate them to initiate change within their own environments that uphold women’s rights and priorities.
•  To advocate for change within existing community structures to create an environment supportive of women’s rights and priorities, particularly the right to safety.
•  To improve women’s social-economic status through legal support, counseling and life skills training.

PROGRAM AREAS/ACTIVITIES:
The overall purpose of Kivulini’s programme is to empower women to claim their universal human rights, particularly the rights of dignity, equality, justice and safety.  Kivulini strives to make the voices of women heard in the Mwanza region, encouraging both men and women to accept the challenge of making communities and homes safe for women.  Our programmes are based on Mobilizing Communities to Prevent Domestic Violence: A Resource Guide for Organizations in East and Southern Africa co-published by Raising Voices and UNIFEM.

Key areas of work

• Service delivery counseling, legal advice, shelter/refuge, referrals
• Prevention at the community –level: community education, mobilization, awareness raising, etc.
• Law reform or enforcement
• Advocacy
• Research
• Media/Publications
• Economic empowerment

GBV Focal Issues

• Domestic violence
• Rape/sexual assault
• FGM
• Child sexual abuse/defilement
• Sexual harassment (work or community-level)
• Economic, social, emotional violence, denial of equal education and mistreatment of child domestic workers.

GBV Prevention Strategies

•  Local Activism (grassroots groups)
•  Advocacy (changing policies and bylaws)
•  Media and Public Events
•  Learning Materials
•  Capacity Building (Community leaders, Community Volunteers, staff, NGOs and selected professionals)
•  Social counseling and referrals
•  Networking and coalition building
•  Legal aid support

{ back }