Pastoral Women's Council (PWC)

As a founder and Executive Director of Pastoral Women’s Council (PWC), I will upscale and strengthen PWC’s work. Our incredible grassroots network of 10,000+ women is key to the sustainability and scalability of our work. Our goal is to double our membership in the next five years. 

With this grant, I will advance PWC’s vision through:

• Strengthening PWC Engishon Fund, a microfinance initiative that is currently the only financial institution supporting pastoralist women and youth in Northern Tanzania with affordable and flexible loans considering the reality of the Maasai way of life.
• Creating more Women’s Rights & Leadership Forums; women led and sustained innovative platforms which give Maasai women a collective voice to advocate for their rights and promote their decision-making power, instrumental in exercising their rights to own land, livestock and other property and to occupying more influential positions of power than ever before.  
• Kickstarting an education foundation supporting young Maasai girls fleeing from forced marriages by providing quality educational opportunities in a safe environment.

In so doing, we have chance to create a new generation of a Maasai society which embraces equality and rights for all and offers individuals the foundation of a life with freedom and dignity. 

At a very young age, I learned to be brave and to standup for what I believe in. Born to a very conservative Maasai family in northern Tanzania, and labelled a troublemaker, I was sent to school where corporal punishment was used so that I would be less mischievous. While in the 5th grade, the only other girl in my class was married off to an old man. The next year was my turn; I adamantly refused, successfully completed my primary education and with the support of KIPOC, a local community NGO, I eloped for further studies. I came back to work for KIPOC which enlightened me even further to the need for a Maasai-women-centered organization.

In 1997, in a meeting with 9 other Maasai women, I introduced the idea of PWC. Since then, we have grown to 10,000+ members, who we work together to change cultural and societal norms for the better, using education and learning to empower women and marginalized pastoralist communities in Tanzania, improving rural livelihoods and strengthening individual and communal rights. 

In solidarity, we continue to challenge gender-oppressive social norms by enabling women to become their own advocates and decision makers. 

Women and girls in pastoral communities battle inequity and marginalization compounded by post and neo-colonialism narratives and structures. As part of an underrepresented indigenous community, and because of deep-rooted patriarchal norms and power imbalances that prevent them from accessing, controlling and benefiting from resources and services, pastoralist women are double-marginalized and confined to a vicious cycle of poverty and gender-based violence (GBV).

Through Girl’s education, Women’s Economic Empowerment and Women’s Property Ownership and Political Rights, PWC has elevated Maasai women and girls to become agents of change, transforming negative social norms that inhibit gender equity and inclusive development into positive norms that respect everyone’s rights and ambitions.

We are most proud of our impact on women’s rights: 700 women now own plots of land, enhancing their food security; 891 women successfully challenged rights violations; 2,000 women petitioned the government, forestalling eviction and associated human rights violations and saving 1,500km2 of their ancestral land;  over 1,500 girls have received scholarships after being identified as marginalized, impoverished and highly vulnerable to, or already experiencing, abuse.

By adherence to solidarity, we act in unity to achieve a powerful community voice to eradicate injustices perpetrated within and on these traditional pastoralist communities. 

Our holistic approach challenges structural and institutional norms of inequity and offers gender-equitable alternatives. It elevates pastoralist women into decision-making positions at all levels of society from where they can significantly influence policies and practices.

Our innovations include:

• Engaging policy and decision makers at local, district, regional and national levels to enhance representation of pastoralist women, youth and men in decision making spaces.  This innovation sees that they shape policies, ensures their needs and priorities are addressed and removes colonial narratives from polices and laws.
• Providing accessible, foundational education, vocational training, and leadership skills to underserved women in a culturally sensitive and community-specific way.  This innovation leads to growth in women’s confidence, aids in self-reliance, increases their personal agency, and empowers women to advocate for inclusion in policies that currently exclude them.
• Engaging influential male champions, including traditional leaders, to advocate for and adopt inclusive social norms and behaviors. This innovation will ensure that women and men can use their deep knowledge and lived experiences to co-create a sustainable future, for example, implementing an inclusive Maa Constitution designed by pastoralists for pastoralists.

Women and girls in pastoral communities battle challenges compounded by the global forces of systemic and institutionalized gender and racial inequality. PWC works with the community to challenge patriarchal norms and women are supported to achieve goals of empowerment, ownership and education, therefore co-creating positive changes that benefit everyone with long-lasting equitable solutions to ingrained issues.

Norms are starting to shift through the Secure Your Family's Future training programs working with 224 women and men community champions and who have subsequently sensitized over 400 community members with knowledge on women property and land rights and gender equality. It is becoming more common for husbands and wives to make collective household decisions, a significant shift in a society where men usually make all decisions.

Through 177 WRLF across three districts, women have secured leadership positions in village governments (153 women) and district governments (24 women) during the 2019 and 2020 general elections. Maasai women are now speaking up in public and claiming their rights in unprecedented ways.

In response to COVID-19, we undertook a widespread sensitization campaign; providing guidance and preventative items in 15 villages and to over 5,000 students in secondary schools to improve hygiene and curb it’s spread.