By engaging relevant and diverse influencers from the fields of entertainment, journalism, sports and business, we have generated millions of impressions on often-taboo topics like Menstrual Hygiene Management, Gender-Based Violence, Female Genital Mutilation, Family Planning, and Women’s Economic Empowerment. These efforts have helped to keep gender issues on the agenda of political decision-makers in both Kenya and Nigeria.

The below provides a snapshot of our impact on various issues:

Gender-Based Violence

One in three women globally has experienced some form of Gender-Based Violence (GBV) in her lifetime (UN Women). Our goal in Kenya has been to exert public pressure to encourage policy-makers to acknowledge and address this issue

#16toZero was a social media ‘countdown’ designed to raise awareness of GBV, specifically to showcase the breadth of the GBV crisis and call on the Kenyan government to declare zero tolerance for GBV. 20 influencers and activists and 5 NGO partners highlighted 16 GBV related issues, culminating in an op-ed on December 10th, Human Rights Day, calling for the President to declare zero tolerance for GBV by the end of 2020.

Results

#YouVoiceMatters was a 10 week series designed in partnership with Equality Now and Capital FM to bring diverse influential voices together to raise awareness of the Kenyan government’s role in the Action Coalition on GBV at the Generation Equality Forum.

Results

#EastMeetsWest was our first cross-continental activation, Kenyan and Nigerian hip-hop artists King Kaka and M.I. Abaga co-hosted an Instagram Live event to break down the common social norms and stigmas that contribute to GBV. Excerpts:

Overall Impact

Most importantly, the Gender Ministry has taken note of our work and invited our team to launch their historic commitment. At the Generation Equality Forum in June 2021, the Government of Kenya committed $50 million USD to end GBV in all forms. Founder of the Inua Dada Foundation, Media Personality and hive Project Lead, Janet Mbugua moderated the Action Coalition on GBV session at the Forum. 

Women’s Economic Independence

Even before COVID-19, women faced greater barriers to work, access to capital, resources and economic opportunities. And the pandemic only exacerbated these disparities (Fraym). Our work aims to expand the conversation around women’s economic empowerment and debunk myths to drive positive change.

#EconomicEquality is #Better4Kenya was a roundtable event featuring influencers, private sector voices, and an expert from the International Center for Research on Women to discuss inequalities women face when it comes to financial autonomy and what the Government should do to support women during the pandemic response and recovery

Results

Women & The Media: We built a virtual event featuring 14 media professionals to unpack issues of underrepresentation and misrepresentation of women in the media based on the 2020 report “The Missing Perspectives of Women in News“

Results

#WEMatter Twitter Chat: hive organized a Twitter conversation in which 13 participants and 4 NGOs debunked myths around women’s economic empowerment and financial independence, crowdsourced solutions and highlighted organizations who are doing the work on the ground.

Results

Family Planning

Family planning is the information, means, and methods that allow people to decide, freely whether, when and how many children they want to have. Access to safe, voluntary family planning is a human right and is one of the great public health advances of the past century. By empowering women and couples to make informed decisions about whether and when to have children, family planning reduces unintended pregnancies as well as maternal and newborn deaths. It also increases educational and economic opportunities for women and leads to healthier families and communities. Our work aims to expand the conversation around family planning, break down taboos and increase awareness of the need to provide access to family planning.

Ending Teen Pregnancy is #Better4Kenya was a series featuring a radio interview, a roundtable discussion and site visit where cultural influencers actress Kate Kamau and media personality Pinky Ghelani as well as NGO partners from Y-ACT Kenya and Pathways Policy Institute broke down the issue of teen pregnancy and the policy solutions needed to combat the crisis.

Results

World Contraception Day 2020 Nigeria we celebrated with an Instagram Live between popular Nollywood and Kannywood actor Yakubu Mohammed and a health expert from HACEY Health Initiative, Dr. Sajida Muhammed Abdurrahman in Hausa to discuss the importance of “life planning” and share youth-friendly information and services.

Results

#ChezaKamaWewe was a week-long campaign in Kenya to engage men in the topic of family planning and break down the assumptions and misconceptions that contraceptives and child care are “women’s issues”. It was moderated by Valentine Njoroge, television host and founder of Dadasphere Media and featured high-profile male influencers: Gospel DJ, DJ Moz, Journalist for the Daily Nation, Mariga Thoithi, social influencer and youth advocate, DNG.

Results

Press Links

The Guardian Nigeria

The Star

Capital FM