 Why 254? Imagine. Thank you for staying with us on Why 254 News and it is at the best point of this bulletin whereby we get to discuss about issues affecting people in the society. And tonight we talk about women empowerment and to make some corrections, Jane Motisha is a country director and the women in Africa organization and Benedict Zinzi is a mentor for adolescent girls. Thank you guys for finding time to talk about this topic. And a brief background of what women in Africa is. Women in Africa is a group of women that have come actually in Africa, not just Kenya. We have people in Nigeria, people in South Africa, people in Ghana, people in Tanzania, all of them. It's a movement of volunteer women who want to actually feel we feel we are empowered to whichever level that we are empowered and therefore we feel we can actually empower someone else either the mothers or the girls or whoever else to be able to change the things that we feel if we had been told in Wajanga this would have changed. So our mission is to lead, empower and transform. And to make girls know that they can actually be producers and not just consumers. They can be breadwinners. You realize that most of us in actually global not just Africa, we grew up with the mentality of the woman sits at home and the man brings. So even when you say the breadwinner, just psychologically you actually mean the man. And even when women are doing something, when you have a female pilot, when you have a BCD, you put the gender, why don't you just say the pilot, we'll be saying the female pilot. When you're asking the kids what you want to be, you'll find that the kids are talking, the girls are saying something that we feel they are very feminine, the boys are saying something that is very specific. So just changing that mindset and helping people see women as human beings and helping the women themselves, the girls, the women see them so fast as human beings before they think of themselves as female. Okay. For you, Benedict, you're dealing with mentorship. We know not very many people like taking people and their umbrella and decide to guide them in every stage in life because mentorship without follow-up is not mentorship. So would you tell us your journey on mentorship and what do you push the girls to be and what do you push them to view everything around them? Yes, actually this is one of the core of the organization and also actually it's like a movement. So the thing is that we do empower them, number one is by changing the mindset, number one you change the mindset, you make them believe in themselves, then also there is follow-up because when we, for example, we hold talks, like for example in schools, we want girls to be equal partners with boys and also believe in themselves and bring the same thing that a boy can bring home. So the follow-up is that we, for example, we can choose a particular school. We go there, we take one, we take for example a seminar with particular points. Those points we will follow up again. Actually we can do that for a year and even after. So it's one of the best things that has happened because the girls when they believe in themselves, like for example the time we went and spoke to children and young girls who actually were going to do their kaisipu and you could see the change in that girl, the change and the believing in ourselves, the resolution that girl made and also actually we hold teachers to be our partners, the parents too. So you see there is all-round approach in the girl child. So Jane, what would you say as a country where we are as far as women empowerment, women taking leadership both in the public sector and in the private sector? Where are we as a country? I would say we have really moved on. We didn't have strides but we are still very far. I think there was a report that was released last year late about the women CEOs and the list that kind of are listed in NSC. I think you only had six CEOs. And even if you look at the statistics of the labour market, you will find that women stall at a certain level. We go, we get the job market, we grow and after. They be management level, then people don't go beyond that. Yeah, they'll be very few CEO women and they be CD and the rest they just set management or you go to your assistant and you retire as assistant. Or you get a certain level and that becomes a comfort zone. So this empowerment is just not for the young girls. It's even for us as women to know that we remove that impossibility mindset. You can be. And the first thing that I tell people is if you can't dream about it, if you think you can't, you're right. If you think if you don't take time to just think where do I want to be? What is my vision 10 years from now? What do I want to have with my career? What do I have for my family? What do I have to have with the BCD? And just have that balance view of what you really want to have. Because empowerment is just about careers. Empowerment is just about wealth. Empowerment is something that is well-rounded. It means to live lives that are actually balanced. Because for a very long time, women have just focused on the family aspect of their life. And the men have been able to balance family, world, career, spiritual and all those things. But the woman has always been able to give up everything else for the sake of the family. And because of the same thing, we have seen women being abused again and again, including physical, including people dying, because you feel like you don't have any options. Because the one who is bringing the bread home, the one who is earning a living, is the one who is calling the shots. So you don't have a say, you can't even tell the person that I'm being abused. Because if you say this, you don't know what your life will change to. So it's that aspect of telling people it has to change. And especially matters were not exposed. We realized you cannot empower kids who's mothers are not exposed to us. Yes, because they are the first care givers. Yes, and then at home, if the guy is being told, you can't do this, that's your brother's. You can't do, you're a woman. Yeah, you want to go to the shop with your father, you don't know, you stay home, take care of the baby, get your brother going, get no support for that. Jane, I think you've said that most women will get into the job market and get an assistant position and be comfortable. They not go up managing directors to CEOs and everything. Bennett, what do you think makes women not climb the ladder as we see men do it? Is it that women have taken it in themselves and say that it's not our position to take? Or is it that these opportunities are not availed to women? Actually, as Jane has said, it's all in a mindset. You're given something and then you say, I'm okay with this. And actually when it goes deeper to gender roles, you know, like every community talks about a girl should do this, a boy should do this. But when it comes to JDs, they don't say, for example, job descriptions like in the labor market, it doesn't tell you for a woman it is this, for a man it is this, you have to deliver. You have to do what you're supposed to do. So it is the changing of the mindset. It begins from you, then you believe in yourself. For example, if a promotion is coming up, then you're supposed to apply for that. We need to have more women come out and you need to believe in yourself. It is all in you because you are all it takes to make that move. Maybe we can just talk a bit on that. Some of the things are most for HR professionals and I think some of the things that I've seen in the growth of women, things to do with first of all, the branding. We don't run ourselves like the brand. You go for a meeting and you just prepare how you look, but you don't prepare for the meeting. So when people are contributing for the agenda, you actually quiet. And most women keep quiet actually in meetings and stuff. Even in just staff meetings or board meetings or just management meetings, this woman has been put there, but she's called. Even in parliament we see, we've seen very few women voicing out on the list either quiet or they don't even shop for anything. And when you keep quiet, people will never know your value. So they start sending you to go and make tea. And then also because of how we have been brought up, we start thinking like if there is TV and people are sitting, it is your work to go and serve tea. I don't have a problem serving tea, but that should not be your only contribution in that for them. And you should not serve it because you're a woman. Serve it because you feel like serving people, but not because you feel because I'm a woman and I'm sitting here. So that's one of them. And then failure to contribute to the meetings. So the men are talking and they're saying things are to do about five minutes ago. But you were like, you didn't believe in yourself. Some aspect of self confidence and esteem. So you're like, what if I say this and it's wrong? Then the man thinks about it minutes later and he clapped for them. You also clapped for him. And then the other thing is women like to play modest. You want to talk about your achievements, but it's like you don't want to be seen like you're bragging or like you're being proud of what you're trying to say. So every time you start apologizing. I don't know how you take this, but my opinion is, I don't know how you guys will take this and then you present and then after that you start saying, I hope that makes sense. The men will come there or very confident women will come there and they're going to say what they think. Without apologizing? First of all because we'll have done their research. They know what they're talking, actually makes sense in that value. And when they say, they go like, that was my brief presentation. I hope we get to have the follow up actions and the BCD. Because they are sure about what they are saying. But then you just limit your preparation to many things that you're supposed to be showcasing yourself to how you look physically then. The other thing is actually addressing it appropriately. You're addressing it in a way that you're not comfortable yourself. And therefore in the meeting you are not even comfortable to even volunteer to read the presentation or you're seated but the whole time you are doing like this and you're this mature manager and it's just uncomfortable for you. And then again also I've noted for the men, they actually take the risk. They even apply for jobs that they don't qualify fully. They're missing one, two qualifications. But they still apply for you. For the woman, you go like, who are missing this particular one? I've not finished my MBA yet. I don't think they can apply for this one. For the woman, he'll apply it for soon. Okay, let us look at some of the strides that have been made recently in the US during the midterm elections. We now have 100 women serving in the House of Representatives. We have 12 women in the Senate. We have, in Kenya we have, for example, in Kenya we have 22% of women. In Rwanda, Rwanda is the leading African country, the very high percent on women who are serving. So how now do we empower women to go out there and secure these jobs, secure these opportunities without feeling sorry? The one for political... Every aspect? Either the public sector or the private sector. Now when I'm thinking, in my view, you should wear the right heart, an example. If you're a mother, you wear the right heart. If you're a CEO, wear that heart that fits there with no apology because you are qualified to be there just as any other person. So that is one of my views as Jen says here. It depends because a man will go for that, that he knows that I only miss this. So if we actually made strides and also applied, you also apply if it is, for example, if it is a business, even ordinary juwakali, believe in yourself, do what the others are doing and try. Even if someone is bringing you down, whether it can be your colleague, it can be your fellow women, it can be other men, believe in yourself and also plan yourself very well. I think planning is key. We have the issue of anikope. I've had people complain both in Africa and internationally whereby I am doing the same work as my male counterparts but I get paid less and it's paid more. So how now do we bring out this conversation? How do we make sure that these things do not happen? Because if I have an MBA and you have yours, we get into the office and we're doing the same jobs. Why should you get higher than me? So how do we cap this gap? It can only start with the women themselves. There are things that you have to do for yourself. Of course, as a company, if you're organized when you put systems that make sure there's anikope for you for work, it's a minimum by the government anikope for you for work, but then there's also the power of negozition. So if you're given what you're given and because of whatever fears that you have, you don't feel confident enough to negotiate for more because of the value that you're going to bring of whatever issue, then you end up setting for that. And also because you're not brought up to speak up. So this man works very hard and is able to show of that confident woman that empowered woman works and is able to show whatever they're bringing on the table. They are not modest about their achievements. They are able to be seen to be adding that value. Then this person is able to actually go and ask for more pay. And the woman who supports just to sit at the park and is just comfortable with butter to kazi. As long as I have this job for me, it's okay. Then that will affect the gender prayer. As you wind up because time is not on our side, I'll look at three challenges that would make us not have future women in the field because we talk about the future and think that the future is only for our children and our siblings, but the future is ours too because in 20 years time, a person who is 50 now is not going to be working, but they'll need the person who is probably in high school right now to have all the abilities that they need. We have teenage pregnancies, we have early marriages, and we have FGF. How do we fight this to make sure that we prepare these women for what is coming? A comment from each one of you. Let's start with the next. Nambon, I'll go to the call. Actually parenting. As we are parenting, we should also strive to have equal parenting for both the boy child and the girl child because they will move together in the workplace. They'll move together as partners. So you need to empower them and in areas where we really had mentalities that brought the girl child down as a parent, as a leader, where you are in, you should enforce this so that both are equal partners so that we don't have unbalanced Okay. unbalanced outcomes which we are seeing today. Okay, yes. Jenny, comment on that? For me, I think it's about dropping the kids mindset because you grew up being told you can do this, you can, especially for the girls, you can do this, you can do that. And even for the women and even just because we can't win these alone, the men have to be there on board for us to have people empowered. So even for them, for the society, to know that a child is a child, we don't have to celebrate and throw a party when there's a baby boy and when there's a baby girl, it's just like any other baby that has come to the field. So it's just knowing that all these people are, they're just human beings and they can both add value and they should be given equal opportunity and they should be given equal chances. And again, the structure of the brain doesn't have a gender. There's no male brain and female brain. I think those who study brains will tell you a brain is a brain. So again, as a girl, as a woman, as forever that you are, just go out there and know that you should view life as a human being. Don't keep saying you are my woman, you are my woman. And that goes to women like us who are working. Yeah, we still feel like you can't buy yourself this car, you can't buy yourself ABCD because you're waiting for this man because that's how you were told that this can only be achieved by men. Including even in marriage setups where we most women actually don't own property. Yeah, because they're not catch at that week. To actually think they can actually own stuff and they can actually have things running on their own. They can't have a business running on their own. They can be the pilots, they want to be the flight attendants and all those things. Okay, so last question. How do we rightfully empower women without making the men feel it's like we are empowering them or stepping on them? For me it's about making the men also understand what we are seeing. Like for women in Africa we are not fighting the men. Even when you go for empowerment programs we actually have the men and the boys, the fathers and the mothers in our sessions because we want them to appreciate that there is no point of not educating a girl. If you don't educate a girl when the boy will be going to the university the girl will be getting married at that age of 18. So what have you done? You are increasing the poverty cycle. If you just look at the examples of what is in the market people who have gone to school, the women, they turn out as better citizens, they are kids after that, they live a better life, they go to good schools, they get better medical care and everything is better for them than a woman who didn't go to school. So at the end of the day for both men and women the society to know at the end of the day we just human beings. Okay, I also want to add on what Jane has said. When women in Africa use as the woman as an entry point you cannot be a jackal of all trades. You have to have what you want to do but it is inclusive. So we use the woman, the girl as the entry point to empower her networks. The networks can be family, the networks can be a workplace, the network can be a religious place. So when we use her as an entry point there to be at least to have voice and to be able to work with them. Actually we do inclusive, everyone is in the program but you must have an entry point of the person who you will touch. So that they touch the other. Okay, thank you very much guys for really finding the time to come and share all that with us. That is all we hand for you tonight on Y254 news updates. If you're a lady health there whatever you feel you want to conquer I just challenge you go and do it better and with a lot of confidence knowing that there's no difference between what you can do and what a man can do. Good night. My name is Patricia Murioki.