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In 2013, the Centre for Rights, Education and Awareness (CREAW) in Kenya was facing closure. Nearly 5,000 cases affecting women that CREAW was overseeing were still within the legal system but the organisation \u2014 like many in the country \u2014 was in the midst of a funding crisis. CREAW is a national, women\u2019s human rights nongovernmental organisation based in Nairobi, whose vision is \u201ca transformed and just society\u201d. Its mission is to champion, expand and make real women\u2019s human rights with programmes grounded in core values of integrity, professionalism, passion, innovation, and synergy. It is headed by leading woman\u2019s activist, Wangechi Wachira. CREAW\u2019s relationship with the African Women\u2019s Development Fund (AWDF) started in 2007 when another leading women\u2019s organisation and grantee partner, FEMNET, suggested the organisation apply for funding for their women\u2019s programmes.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy the time we started the relationship around 2007, Kenya was going into a general election. AWDF funded a programme that worked to support women to be able to participate in decision-making processes,\u201d recalled Wachira. \u201cBefore the election, things were fine but after the elections, things went south. We were able to play a role in peace building during that process. We went back to AWDF and said that women had come out in big numbers to vote but in the aftermath, women had been abused and violated. We wanted to go back to the communities and document the stories of the women we had worked with,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThe country has made a lot of strides since 2007. In 2010, Kenya passed a Constitution and women were able to push for their issues at a constitutional level. Since then a lot of laws have been passed that deal with the issues of women. What remains, however, is to make sure that they are finalised, implemented and that the relevant government institutions take responsibility for them to be enacted,\u201d said Wachira.<\/p>\n
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