Posters
Practical Action
Real Life Story
Posters Help Promote Women's Participation in Kenya's Governance
Kenyan women’s groups from Kakamega in Western Province have used posters to address a
wide variety of issues affecting their lives. Under the guidance of Professor Khasiani the
groups started out by encouraging women’s involvement in the democratic process, and to
enable up to 30,000 women learn how to access information via computers.
On a brightly coloured poster, a woman wearing the traditional
Kenyan village attire of a kerchief, a wrap-around skirt and
cotton blouse is doing something untraditional: using a
computer. The poster reads in Kiswahili, 'Be educated through
computers’. This poster is a humble but significant step in
encouraging rural Kenyan women to increase their
participation in the democratic process.
In December 1998, the project team asked a sample of
women's group leaders to identify the civic education needs of
their communities. These women were later invited to Nairobi,
along with local chiefs, for a meeting. After the meeting, the
group leaders began developing education materials. They
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of the posters.
A poster promoting family
One poster reads in Kiswahili: 'Vita nyumbani bado ni vita' ('Violence at home is still
violence'). It shows a man with one hand on a woman's throat and the other brandishing a
lash. The women leaders also felt that transportation issues should also be addressed, so
another poster states; 'Roads are good, they bring development’. A third poster shows rural
women in a bank manager's office, with the caption; 'Give credit to women to promote
development’.
Real life story by kind permission of IDRC adapted from writing by Mike Crawley that
appeared in IDRC Reports, the online magazine of the International Development Research
Centre, Canada.
Further reading
Storytelling Practical Action Technical Brief
Community/Street drama Practical Action Technical Brief
Exposure Visits Practical Action Technical Brief
Public Gatherings Practical Action Technical Brief
Information, Communication, Learning selection of Practical Action Technical Briefs
Using Existing Mass Media Practical Action Technical Brief
Podcasting: Recording and Using Local Voices for Knowledge Sharing Practical Action Brief
Newsletters and Booklets Practical Action Technical Brief
Wall Newspapers Practical Action Technical Brief
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