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Ustawi Kenya and ISF Expand Access to Justice in Nyamira County
Posted by Leocadia Gaudencia
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NYAMIRA County, KENYA – Ustawi Kenya is proud to highlight the continued success of our 2025 Gender-Based Violence (GBV) intervention in Gachuba Ward, supported by the International Solidarity Foundation (ISF). This partnership has been instrumental in our mission to dismantle the structures of silence and stigma that protect perpetrators and punish survivors.
In Nyamira, where women and girls face rampant Female Genital Mutilation, physical and economic abuse often thrive under the cover of traditional norms, Ustawi Kenya deployed its Inclusion by Design model to create a localized, community-led response. By centering the lived experiences of rural women and girls, we moved beyond emergency aid to build a permanent infrastructure for justice.
The Model: A Holistic Justice Ecosystem
The project’s success is rooted in our "Integrated Clinic" approach. We didn't just provide legal advice; we built a synchronized ecosystem involving FIDA-Kenya, the National Police Service (OCS), and village elders. This ensured that when a survivor in Gachuba spoke out, they were met with a coordinated response that included immediate legal protection, private psychosocial counseling, and long-term support.
Evidence for Action: Strengthening Reporting
A core achievement of the ISF-funded initiative was the training of Community Champions. These local leaders were equipped with the tools to document cases and facilitate safe reporting, providing the "Evidence for Action" needed to hold local systems accountable. Data provided by the Area OCS already shows a measurable increase in reported cases and a corresponding rise in successful legal interventions.
Social Innovation and Sustainability
By collaborating with local universities, we integrated social design into our advocacy, ensuring that our reporting mechanisms and data collection tools were tailored to the specific cultural context of Nyamira. This project has not only supported hundreds of survivors but has brokered a new Social Contract where community leadership and government authorities work in sync to reject violence.
"Our work in Gachuba proves that justice is most effective when it is rooted in the community," said the Ustawi Kenya Program Secretariat. "With the support of ISF, we have turned the law from a distant concept into a lived protection for every woman and girl."
About Ustawi Kenya Ustawi Kenya is a civic-innovation powerhouse specializing in Governance, Human Rights, and Climate Action. As technical and social architects, we use community-led data and inclusive design to close the distance between policy and the people.
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