The STARS Foundation (STARS) improves the lives of disadvantaged children around the world by supporting organisations which meet their health, education and protection needs. STARS believes that effective and well-run local NGOs are best placed to respond to the needs of those they serve.
Founded by the Dabbagh Group in 2001 and based in London, STARS has provided grants to non-profit making organisations working with disadvantaged children and in 2007 launched the STARS Impact Awards. Each year, the STARS Impact Awards identify and support local organisations that achieve excellence in the provision of services to disadvantaged children and that demonstrate effective management practices.
The Internet Society is a nonprofit organization founded in 1992 to provide leadership in Internet related standards, education, and policy. It is dedicated to ensuring the open development, evolution and use of the Internet for the benefit of people throughout the world.
The Internet Society will be accepting applications for the November 2011 round of the Community Grants Programme from 15th August to 16th September 2011. Award decisions will be made in mid-November.
The Community Grants Programme has been established to assist Internet Society chapters and members specifically in projects that will:
• Advance Internet Society's mission and goals specifically those aligned with ISOC Major Strategic Initiatives
• Serve the Chapters’ communities
• Nurture collaborative work among Chapters/Individual Members
• Enhance and utilize knowledge sharing in the global internet community and
• Encourage Chapters’ sustainability and relevance.
Nokia has announced “Create for Millions” a global competition that brings consumers and developers together to create applications for Nokia’s Series 40 mobile phones. Create for Millions also provides developers an opportunity to bring Java and web apps to millions of consumers worldwide and win their share of cash and prizes valued at One Million Euros.
The Create for Millions contest features four categories where you can bring out your best work for Nokia’s Series 40 phones:
1. In the Know – seeking your Series 40 web apps focusing on news and location-based information.
2. Fun & Games – Nokia are eager to try your Series 40 Java games and entertainment apps that will fill those spare moments during the day with amusing, unforgettable diversions.
3. Emotional Closeness – this is your chance to submit social networking apps that are developed either as Series 40 Java apps or web apps.
4. Access to Knowledge – share your life improvement apps (e.g., education, health, etc.), and in this category.
Five social entrepreneurs have been recognized as Social Entrepreneur of the Year 2010 in Africa during the Opening Plenary session of the 20th World Economic Forum on Africa, in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on 5 May.
Shona Mc Donald, founder of Shonaquip had previously been recognized as the Social Entrepreneur for South Africa. The other four winners are Godwin Ehigiamusoe of LAPO in Nigeria, Brien Holden and Kovin Naidoo of ICEE, and Victoria Kisyombe of SELFINA in Tanzania. They received their awards in the presence of President Jakaya M. Kikwete of Tanzania and the Co-Chairs of the 2010 World Economic Forum on Africa.
Social entrepreneurs emphasize long-term sustainability instead of short-term gains. Their primary focus is to maximize benefits for society and the environment by implementing innovative approaches to key challenges. They operate social businesses or organizations that are a mixture of non-profits and for-profits in areas such as energy efficiency, education, waste management, health, education, youth and rural development.
The winners will join a group of leading social entrepreneurs from across the African continent as well as others from Europe, India and the USA, and will be active participants providing insights on sustainability and social innovation in the discussions under the meeting’s theme Rethinking Africa’s Growth Strategy.
The Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, an affiliate organization of the World Economic Forum, conducts the search and selection of social entrepreneurs in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, India and South-East Asia. It selects three to five social entrepreneurs per year from each region. Selected social entrepreneurs are connected to the world’s business, political and media leaders through the events and initiatives of the World Economic Forum.
The following winners were awarded Social Entrepreneur of the Year 2010 in Africa:
LAPO is the leading microfinance institution in Nigeria with over 240,000 clients. It is recognized for delivering sound financial and social services to alleviate poverty and empowering the disadvantaged. Alongside its financial services offering, LAPO supports enterprise development in diverse areas such as food processing, craftworks, merchandising, fabrication and farming, while the LAPO Development Foundation provides social and health empowerment programmes addressing issues of empowerment, nutrition, health, discrimination, injustice and gender equality.
At least 670 million people, mostly in the developing world, are blind or vision impaired simply because they do not have access to a basic eye examination and a pair of glasses. ICEE works in ten African countries in addition to operations in Asia and Latin America to provide screening services and glasses prescriptions through its “Vision Centres”. It focuses on capacity building in the public sector to deliver eye care services, stimulating the professional role of optometrists and eye care providers, thereby expanding and sustaining its impact to 290,000 beneficiaries. It has also developed its own global supply chain and resource centre to reduce the cost of spectacles dramatically for its own services, and also for NGOs and public providers.
In Tanzania, where 75% of the population live in rural areas, and 33% live below the poverty line, most enterprising individuals do not have scarce working capital to buy equipment upfront. Victoria Kisyombe recognized that the capital outlay to buy assets and equipment for small businesses is difficult even on a microfinance loan and thus pioneered the leasing of fixed assets to women, which has led to the development of more than 18,000 value-added businesses and wealth creation. SELFINA’s clients, 60% of whom are in rural areas, become eventual owners of leased equipment and can use it as collateral for further borrowing.
Shonaquip is a social business that provides high-impact support services that promote inclusion and equal opportunity employment for persons with disabilities. It promotes and supports the safe provision of appropriate wheelchairs, offering professional support services and clinical training for professionals and families. It also designs and builds Africa-appropriate wheelchairs and postural support devices suitable for use in rural, rough terrain and remote areas. Shonaquip have 40,000 clients (80% children) who have been provided with mobility devices and receive ongoing holistic postural support.
Sospeter Amenya of BenCro Transition Designs is a Kenyan social entrepreneur whose work mainly involves designing websites and developing custom software to help in various aspects that are aimed at creating more opportunities for the impoverished society.
We recently got a chance to interview him regarding the importance of determination to venture into enterprise as well as his future aspirations.
Here is a snippet of the interview:
Yipe: When and why did you decide to be an entrepreneur?
Sospeter: After doing my IT course at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture, (JKUAT) I started my business soon after graduating in 2008. I had to tarmac (look for a job) for a considerable time before I made a decision to start a business. I also wanted to get start up capital for my business.
I didn’t get a job though. So the idea of joblessness hit me hard and I started thinking of other means. I decided to put my skills in practice and I joined hands with my friend and started a freelancing webdesign business working from the briefcase. It was not registered though.
In the process of searching for clients, we bumped into one corporate client, an NGO that paid us Ksh 20,000. We used the cash as our starting capital to buy a desktop. And this is how we started. The business is now registered and almost 1yr old.
So the sole reason for starting is unemployment and the urge to create opportunities in future.
Yipe: What has been your learning experience in your business venture? Sospeter: One failure makes me sharper to cut through the next and the end result is always success.
Yipe: What’s the most challenging aspect of being an entrepreneur from your perspective? Sospeter: The challenge is lack of understanding from the people you must work with, particularly some clients. Secondly is accessing finance and the long process of business registration. Make it online would encourage others to start their businesses.
The 1st World Youth Meeting at Bari, Italy ended yesterday where African delegates released a Declaration that recognised the challenges African youth face including unemployment, corruption, poverty, lack of access to meaningful education, climate change effects, and civil wars among others.
The Declaration further demanded that African youth be included in decision making and that poverty eradication approaches focus on entrepreneurship development, specifically through the creation of youth funds.
The current economic condition for Kenya is on a down hill while the population growth rate is quite high. This implies there is an increase in unemployment as the new jobs created cannot match the increase in population. A situation is created where the youth are finishing university, college and secondary school expecting to be employed yet the economy cannot accommodate them. This will in the end bring social instability especially with the high cost of education.
But what can the government and the private sectors do to help alleviate the situation that may bring the country to its knees? An initiative such as the Kazi Kwa Vijana was started by the government and has ended as a failure, taking the country back to the maze. The Kazi Kwa Vijana could not have been sustained as we can say the jobs given to them “do not add value” to the economy and the government is spending a huge amount of money in paying recurrent expenses. Also some of the jobs given may seem demeaning to some of the unemployed graduates. Telling an engineering graduate to clean trenches shows that the government has no plans for its citizens who are meant to be assets.
Further, unemployment situations in Kenya have been increased by the high requirements by employers in order to get jobs. Requirement of years of professional experience for jobs in Kenya has made it difficult for the fresh graduates to get jobs and their Kenyan dream of finding that dream job after years of education.
For the country to be able to create employment, the government and the private sector should highly consider embracing entrepreneurship as a source of expanding the economy and reducing poverty. With the shift towards technology, the government can use the youth to enhance and come up with new technologies which will help accelerate growth and achieve Vision 2030.
Some of the ways in which the government can do to help youth embrace entrepreneurship are:
Providing financial assistance and guidance. Many youth have good business ideas but translating these to actual jobs is hindered by lack of knowledge of transforming ideas into feasible and tangible work. Also financial guidance on how to spend the initial finance is necessary as the projected financial statements are is not enough, for example, purchasing of essential assets, marketing and branding, establishing of internal business controls, and book keeping.
Providing mentors to the youth who come up with good business ideas or proposals. The mentors are used to guide the youth especially through the tough times as they have been in the business before and they know what to do best in such situations.
Introducing entrepreneurship as a subject in schools so that the students are able to know early enough how to start their own businesses and succeed. Mentality of students has to be changed from them expecting employment for them to create employment. This should be done for both students in professional courses and those in vocational training. In the earlier years, it was preached in radio stations and songs that at the end of education one will get a good job and this mentality has stuck in the mind of the population. We should therefore start changing the minds of people with regards to this.
Providing tax incentives for young entrepreneurs who provide employment to others. There are difficulties involved with business start ups and therefore the government should recognize this effort by giving the youth tax incentives. This has been done to Export Processing Zones (EPZs) to attract foreign direct investments. Local investments should also be considered important as this brings more stimulus to growth as there are no profit flights.
Patenting of special business ideas created by the young people. This may reduce the chances of the ideas being stolen by other capable individuals or by corporations. Good ideas are known to have been submitted to “wrong” organizations which take advantage of the weak protection laws of ideas. These weak laws demoralize the young people with brilliant ideas who may opt to stay with the ideas for long until they are able to finance themselves. Developed countries are known to have proper laws protecting ideas created by its citizens and developing countries should follow suit.
These are only some of the things the government should take into consideration if it has to help the country become entrepreneurial. The effect of citizens creating job opportunities in the economy cannot be over emphasized and the government has to act fast to improve the livelihood of its citizens.
According to the World Health Organisation, gender-based violence is a major public health and human rights problem throughout the world. Though the assault is carried on in the privacy of the home, the violation is widely seen as a "private" family affair, and for some - a normal part of life.
In Kenya, an estimated 49% of married women were physically abused by their husbands (Borwankar et. al, 2008). Though violence against women mainly occurs in the form of physical and sexual assault; it takes many forms including emotional abuse, verbal abuse, and economic abuse.
Economic abuse includes the controlling of finances; not allowing one's partner to venture into enterprise; taking a partner's money without her permission; denying access to, or knowledge of finances as well as using a partner's finances or credit for personal gain.
Socialisation of the girl child
Women entrepreneurs fall victim in part to economic abuse due to familial socialization from the time of birth. From a tender age, socialization which is the process of inheriting norms, customs and ideologiesdifferentiates girls from boys. As boys grow up, they learn to be the head of their future homes as well as being the main (if not only) breadwinners. Girls in turn are socialized to be the home makers and caregivers.
In some settings, a girl’s day starts early. She wakes up to go fetch water and ensure breakfast is ready before she sets off to school. Her brother on the other hand has the luxury of sleeping in. Between the two, the chances of attaining higher grades are in favour of the boy. Then there is the practice of early marriage that dooms young women to lives where they never have the opportunity to actualise their aspirations.
Though education is one way in which women can emancipate themselves from the grip of the culture of male domination, the education system has only served to perpetuate the proposition that women should be more “arts” oriented than their science oriented brothers. Women are under-represented in tertiary institutions where they would have had the opportunity and facilities to hone their entrepreneurial skills. This in turn adversely affects their business growth potential.
McDowell and Pringle (1992) have argued that women are not only constantly defined in relation to men, but are defined as dependent and subordinate to them as well. This has been manifested in the low numbers of women entrepreneurs in “manly” sectors such as manufacturing. Women tend to operate micro service oriented enterprises with low possibilities for growth. The International Finance Corporation in Kenya has found that despite their potential, women-owned businesses which predominate in trade and service sectors, are smaller and less likely to grow.
And, all their early experiences and nurtured perceptions result in some established women entrepreneurs being disempowered when it comes to making independent decisions about how to spend their business profits as well as the direction for their businesses’ growth. Moreover, though many women empowerment programes focus on entrepreneurship development as a means to empower women, they neglect to design and implement ways to address gender based violence towards so-called “empowered” women.
WHO Controls The Purse Strings?
Then there is the issue of who actually “wears the trousers”, or has control of the household or business budget. Though single-motherhood and female headed households are becoming more common, these homes tend to be poorer than male headed homes. According to the International Fund for Agriculture & Development (IFAD), the reasons are that female headed households tend to have a higher dependency ratio in spite of their smaller average size, and also have less access to resources.
An unfortunate trend has also been recognized where there is the self-perpetuating cycle of these women heads of household also causing their daughters to assume the same roles of unpaid house-help and caregivers, whilst their sons are urged to study so they can in future pull the family out of poverty.
Thus the question for development experts is: what is the use of trying to improve women’s livelihoods while such male dominating norms and perceptions continue to thrive?
Ending the silence
Through the emergence of micro-finance pioneered by Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, financial institutions and policy makers have come to acknowledge the challenges women entrepreneurs face, not least in accessing loans. However once credit is given, who is to say that the beneficiary can keep to the loan agreement if her partner insists on having if not a share then all of the money?
Lack of access to education and opportunity, and low status are correlated to violence against women. Long term socialisation and inaction has meant that many women do not seek help or report abuse when it occurs. Cultural norms, lack of awareness, community pressure and widespread insensitivity of officials have also contributed to the fact that the majority of women who are abused suffer in silence.
Though the educational system needs to take into consideration the inequalities of the girl child when they enroll in school, it is ultimately most vital that there is a committed move to strengthen policy and legal frameworks to recognize economic abuse and outlaw all forms of gender based violence.
The youth of Kenya, uniting under the leadership of the following organizations namely; The Youth Agenda (YAA), Nyanza Youth Coalition, Kenya Muslim Youth Alliance (KMYA), Kenyan Network of Grassroots Organizations (KENGO), Coast Education Centre (COEC), and Citizens Assembly meet in Nairobi beginning October 24, 2009 to discuss the pressing issues surrounding the reform agenda.
Taking cognizance of the fact that Kenya has a large, ever growing, educated, and yet increasingly frustrated youth population; and acknowledging that the unprecedented violence sparked off by the dispute over results of the 2007 presidential election brought a new focus on the large number of dissatisfied youths, a section of youth leaders was prompted to come together upon realizing that there is an urgent need to sensitize and mobilize young people towards a reconstruction of their country by constructively getting them involved in taking control of their political, social and economic welfare through a creative and strategic engagement in the reform process.
It is in view of the foregoing that the youth leaders have mobilized young people to a national conference in Nairobi to enable them add their voices to, and take both personal and collective responsibility in demanding the implementation of fundamental reforms as stipulated in the National Accord.
In demanding the implementation of the National Accord, the leaders also seek to marshal the youth behind resisting manipulation and plunder of public resources by the ruling elite and instead deploy their numbers, energy, courage and devotion to actively demand for transparency and accountability, and advocate for an end to the pervasive culture of impunity, corruption and violence.
A pre-conference workshop will evaluate the current state of affairs in the country in order to facilitate a comprehensive briefing of participants to be drawn from all constituencies of the Republic of Kenya who will be attending the National Conference scheduled for November 17, 2009.
Today's top news story of the Daily Nation went by the title “students with lower grades to join varsity”. The good news was that public universities agreed to admit high school graduates with lower marks compared to last year.
Of course this will improve the lot of students who because of grades would not be able to enter university. However, though this should be a harbinger of hope for Kenya’s youth, several questions emerge on the real effects of such a move.
The unemployment rate amongst Kenya’s 35 million people is approximately 40%. It is estimated that 64% of these are the youth. Out of these, only 1.5% of unemployed youth have formal education beyond secondary school level and the remaining over 92% have no vocational or professional skills training, at all. But does allowing these extra youth the opportunity to go to university make a real impact in their chances of getting a job?
Even though universities are the cradle of research and innovation which could be perceived as a step in the right direction of nurturing future entrepreneurs, the education system before tertiary level does not adequately impart the innovative and resilience skills required of entrepreneurs.
Annually more than 240,000 post-primary students enter the labour force. Additionally 143,000 students graduate from high schools. The Kenyan education system in its current form does not equip these school leavers with skills to start business. Rather the curriculum is founded on rote learning rather than creativity and innovation, further stifling entrepreneurial development.
Even in the universities the calibre of the teaching staff raises questions. The Commission for Higher Education recently proposed reforms where the lowest qualified lecturer would be a tutorial fellow holding a Masters degree. The eminent scholar and noted historian Prof. Bethwell Ogot has been in the forefront as an opponent of this measure. He was recently quoted in the media decrying such a move saying "some teachers with a Masters are even allowed to teach Masters students".
And though these new regulations should be commended as a move to regulate the amphitheatre football stadium scenario many university students have to face and hoarse throated lecturers’ rue, at the end of the day it’s really not what is heard in a lecture but the quality of the content and transfer of knowledge that counts.
Kenyan education reforms have not only been the preserve of academia. Politicians whilst campaigning have promised “new education systems” that increase the capabilities and capacity of the youth to “effectively operate in the knowledge economy”. Even Vision 2030 - Kenya's development plan has lofty claims founded on the education system that will by then make Kenya if not a newly industrialised economy then a middle class one. However government commitment to education has been compromised with a new Education Bill that at least is expected to enforce laws that will keep children in schools, where the Ministry of Education has been less than proactive in ensuring it passes through parliament.
A question of merit versus the feel good factor
Meritocracy is a situation where opportunities are extended based on demonstrated talent, competence and ability, rather than wealth, family background, socio-economic class and other historical determinants of social position.
When extending a helping hand to enable those who just by a few points missed entry into university, thought must also be given to both those already in public universities who worked hard to make the grade as well as those still in secondary school. With no ultimate reward (a decent job with a decent wage assured at the end), the message to those students in our campuses as well as high schools is that hard work in school no longer pays. After all, another meeting of university dons can be convened to lower the entry grade further at a later date.
So what balance can be accommodated?
First, as the first crop of standard one pupils of the 2003 universal primary education policy edge closer to entering secondary school, the policy of free primary and subsidized secondary schooling needs a committed review, with the ultimate objective of providing quality education, whether for all or for a few has to be debated, as well as the subject of another post.
Kenyan policy makers also have to be honest with themselves and the People of Kenya about the increasing rate of unemployment particularly amongst the youth. The education system has to provide financial literacy, personal and business management training as core subjects. The time when a job was assured even in the civil service is over – at Yipe.org we have even heard of Masters degree holders digging trenches as part of the ill-thought Kazi Kwa Vijana programme.
To accommodate both the university graduates and lower level school leavers estimated at 800,000 annually, business reforms that specifically target micro-enterprise startups also need to be implemented.
Ultimately, education has to be held sacred. Kenyans need to take ownership of education and never allow it to be politicized ever again.
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