*Highlight and disseminate credible information on social issues.*
Brief
PTN lobbies policymakers on the development and implementation of appropriate policies on peace security and development. It also advocates for human rights, justice, and good governance.
Activity Highlights
1. Road to Citizenship
The forefathers of the Makonde community were know
n to have first arrived in Kenya through Tanzania in 1930’s to work for the British. By the time Peace Tree Network first interacted with the community in 2015 they were still stateless and had not been recognized Kenyans. This follows the discriminative nature of their relationships with the locals right from being labelled as Waliokuja (Those who came). As a stateless nation, the makonde community lacked identity cards and as such went through various challenges just to sustain their livelihoods. This include the inability to enroll to instituitions, acquire basic financial service like having an Mpesa or bank account, financial strains as a result of being able to secure formal employment among others. In 2017 the petition for citizenship by the Makonde community was granted through a solidarity move from the locals following the intermarriages, the CSOs, Religious Institutions and other relevant stakeholders. They trekked from Kwale County to State House Nairobi in October 2016, championing for the Makonde recognized as citizens in a bid to lessen their struggles.
Peace Tree Network therefore opted to document this history. While the Makonde got the recognition and citizenship that they had yarned for many years, this survey sought to find out how citizenship changed their livelihoods. This was done by examining access to the following socio-economic indicators; identification documents such as national identity card and birth certificates, employment opportunities in both the County and National government, financial services such as banks accounts and banks loans, educational assistance such as bursaries and sponsorship, government’s funds/grants for economic empowerment, social services such as cash transfers for the old, orphans and vulnerable children, persons living with disability and relief food and finally change in general societal perceptions about the Makonde community.
To help us document this history of the Makonde community in Kenya was Robert Waweru who has a vast knowledge on stateless persons in Kenya. He has written papers and published works centred on this and thus his interests and our works being in tandem made the publication of this research possible.
2. Telephone Survey
Since the lockdowns as a result of the Covid 19 pandemic, 1.7 Million people in Kenya have lost their jobs and the socio-economic pressures are very real. PTN sought to investigate the impact in Kwale County so as to come up with responsive measures. This was done through a telephone survey that had 20 persons sampled from the four sub-counties in Kwale County. Drawing from the research some of the arising issues were the rise of cases in domestic violence, child neglect, and incest.
3. #Panguzamachozi
Kwale county was equally badly hit as other parts of the country following the pandemic. Going by telephone surveys, PTN saw the need to create safe spaces where people could be able to share their predicaments and find solutions. This was done through a series of panel discussions that accommodated experts, survivors, Civil society, and government representatives. The topics included COVID 19 & GBV, COVID 19 & Disability, and COVID 19 & Education. These were streamed on the PTN Facebook and Youtube pages. Conversations under this hashtag on Twitter accrued cumulatively 12Million impressions.
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