SPEECH BY PROF. COLLETTE A. SUDA, PhD, FKNAS, EBS, CBS, PRINCIPAL SECRETARY, STATE DEPARTMENT FOR GENDER, DURING UNVEILING OF WEF STRATEGIC PLAN COMMITTMENTS FOR FY 2021-2024 AND LAUNCH OF THAMINI LOAN-A SPECIAL PRODUCT FOR WIDOWS ON WEDNESDAY 21ST JULY, 2021 AT SERENA HOTEL, NAIROBI
Hon Members of Parliament
Financial and Development Partners
Chairpersons of the Affirmative Funds
CEOs of Affirmative Funds,
Colleagues, Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen
I am greatly privileged to be part of today’s congregation and to give my remarks on Women Economic Empowerment with specific focus on a very special category of women, the Widows, here at the Nairobi Serena Hotel.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
My Ministry is home to several affirmative action programs and the Women Enterprise Fund is one of our most successful affirmative action initiatives transforming the lives of women and society. It is the intention of the Government, that through this program, the women who are majority and form part of the vulnerable groups. The women of this country and world over who have suffered unprecedented exclusion from financial services consequently economic disempowerment; these women can be empowered socially and economically through entrepreneurship.
To take it to another level, the widows even face a more severe discrimination arising from cultural orientation, disinheritances, GBV, economic disempowerment among others making it paramount for programs to design specialize interventions for their special needs.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
WEF, has for the last decade, ensured that women are accessing affordable credit and capacity building services thus fulfilling the Sustainable Development Goals and the aspirations of the Kenya Vision 2030.
Women empowerment is a key commitment of the Government, and the Fund is a critical enabler this important objective, by serving every woman regardless of tribe, religion, or socialization through facilitating their financial inclusion.
This program was envisioned to ensure that women create and provide employment and participate actively in the economic development of the country and achieve improved livelihoods.
Inspite of the impressive work done by the Fund and other Affirmative Funds, women are not the same and Widows are a unique category of clientele with myriad of challenges to surmount to access financial support. The Ministry working with WEF, embarked on the journey of empowering this special group of women through setting up a National Widows Economic Empowerment Programme taskforce to answer the question what about widows.
To address the identified issues facing widows, through Government Affirmative Funds, Women Enterprise Fund (WEF) through the Ministry of Public Service and Gender has established ‘Thamini’ -a new financial product to achieve a secure and enhanced income to improve the lives of widows and their families.
Ladies and Gentlemen
The objective of this initiative are;
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To provide widows with specialised training, tailored support and interest free affordable capital to start/expand businesses.
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To increase access to capital through; innovative financing mechanisms, increase women entrepreneurs’ use of holistic business development services and technological advancements with special focus on widow.
This special Loan product Thamini will be disbursed through widow led groups and is a group-based loan facility that gives widows equal opportunity to access interest free group loans with no administration costs. The loan ranges from Kshs. 100,000 to Kshs. 1,000,000 with flexible repayment period from 15 to 30 months.
We have provided fliers with detailed information on the features of the product which I invite you to have a look.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I take this opportunity to recognize the good work that has been done by the Fund over the years. I encourage the Advisory Board and Management to continue ensuring effective, efficient, and prudent management of the Fund for posterity. I equally urge all stakeholders to embrace the Fund and be good ambassadors so that every widow in any corner of this republic can be reached.
Finally, I wish to conclude by reaffirming Government’s commitment towards ensuring that women access opportunities that will enable them to realize their fullest potential.
THANK YOU