Hubbie Hussein Al-Haji, Executive Director, WomanKind Kenya partners with MADRE, an international women’s rights group to provide on the ground grassroots level aid to displaced families in Kenya. Many of the families Womankind Kenya serves have come from Somalia.
According to the United Nations more than 1.4 million persons were displaced as a result of devastation caused by civil war and a lack of a functioning central government since 1991.
More than 560,000 Somalis have been forced to live as refugees in neighboring countries such as Kenya.
Hubbie Hussein Al-Haji is in New York attending United Nations’ 56th session of The Commission on the Status of Women.
In the following interview, Hubbie Hussein Al-Haji explains steps that should be taken to improve the social protection of women in rural areas, shares the perspective of working in a vulnerable area at risk from threats from the Islamic Al-Shabaab militia, and sheds light on the challenges of meeting the needs of displaced families in remote regions.
GroundReport (Jackie O’Neal):
1. In a typical month, how many families does Womankind Kenya serve?
Hubbie Hussein Al-Haji:
In a typical month, we at Womankind Kenya serve more than 10,000 households through our aid distributions of food and water, our medical services, distributions of mosquito nets and sanitary napkins and our human rights trainings. Each household we serve has on average 6 people, and the Somali culture of sharing means we could be serving double this number – about 12 people per household, but it is difficult to know exactly how many people we are reaching.
GroundReport:
2. What is your primary role in the organization and do you face any challenges in undertaking your duties?
Hubbie Hussein Al-Haji:
My role in the organization is Executive Director, meaning I am in charge of giving the organization direction so that our goals are specific, and we are not overwhelmed.
There are many challenges I and Womankind Kenya staff face in undertaking our duties. One of the largest challenges is inadequate funding. Not many organizations want to work with rural and Indigenous women. Most large organizations work with urban populations that claim to serve rural communities, but we never see this help.
Another challenge is transportation. Womankind Kenya has only one car, but we try to cover a vast area along rough roads – the region in which we work is the third largest region in Kenya.
Furthermore, the al-Shabaab militias have begun to pose a challenge for us and our work. Because of the presence of al-Shabaab in some of these communities, we have to hire security when traveling, which is an extra cost that we did not anticipate.
Other challenges include the illiteracy rates of the people in these communities (in some communities, 90% of people are illiterate), which poses a challenge for some of our work; the fact that most families are pastoralists, which means they are constantly moving; and the inter-community conflicts over resources.
Lastly, we are always at risk of natural disasters like famine, which pose huge challenges for our work as more people are in need of life-saving aid, medical services and other necessities.
GroundReport:
3. Are there any obstacles you face in the process of serving displaced persons and families and can you describe what they are?
Hubbie Hussein Al-Haji:
As I mentioned before, lack of funding is a big problem, because displaced persons have many needs and if we do not have the resources it is hard to provide for all of them. The challenge I mentioned before about All-Shabaab is particularly acute because there is a large All-Shabaab presence in communities where displaced persons are. And finally, because displaced persons are extremely poor and need so many things, they have high expectations that are hard for a small organization like Womankind Kenya to meet.
GroundReport:
4. In light of the fact women and girls are at risk in some rural regions as a result of drought and need to walk further distances to obtain water and food, they have become at risk for sexual violence. Can you describe the intervention Womankind Kenya provides for these at risk women that may have been victimized?
Hubbie Hussein Al-Haji:
One of the first things Womankind Kenya does is tries to build the capacities of at-risk women and girls, so that they can build preventative mechanisms. These mechanisms may include walking in big groups when fetching water or food, or asking male relatives to accompany them when they leave. We also ask these women to identify hot spot areas so we can build a common understanding of what areas to avoid.
Womankind Kenya also provides counseling for women who have been sexually assaulted, and we accompany them to the hospital for further care. We would like to establish a program where we can help survivors of sexual violence take legal action, but this requires more funding.
GroundReport:
5. Explain what steps should be taken to improve the social protection of women in rural areas.
Hubbie Hussein Al-Haji:
First we need to build the capacity of women and girls so they know their rights and know what to do when their rights are violated. We also have to create awareness among the community and among men and young boys in particular so that they are sensitive to the issues faced by women and girls. We hope to foster positive masculinity instead of negative masculinity.
It is also important to train the traditional council of elders so that they are aware of existing laws that protect women and girls and can help ensure that these laws are followed.
GroundReport:
6. What do you anticipate you will accomplish by participating in the United Nations’ 56th session of The Commission on the Status of Women and how do you hope it will impact your organization and the population you serve?
Hubbie Hussein Al-Haji:
I believe that contributing my voice to the conversations around women’s human rights and rural women has already accomplished so much. For example, I was part of a small committee looking at the African Women’s Statement to UN Member States, and I made sure the voices of indigenous women in my community were included in that statement. Participating in CSW has helped me communicate the problems the women I work with in Kenya face.
I have also learned so much since being at CSW. I will be able to take this knowledge back to my community, and in turn, this will increase their knowledge and capacity. By participating in a MADRE event on rural women I was also able to increase the knowledge of the audience, alerting them to the work of Womankind Kenya, the problems women in my community face and the solutions that exist.
I am also making many friends here – other organizations with which Womankind Kenya can work or even potential funders that would help actualize my dream to help the women and girls of my community.
GroundReport:
7. Are there any messages or information you want to convey related to what the public needs to know about your organization and the urgent help it provides?
Hubbie Hussein Al-Haji:
I would like the public to know that Womankind Kenya works in a rural area that is cut off from communication and is very vulnerable to disaster. The government of Kenya has largely ignored this region, and as a result we are not being helped and our women and girls continue to face many dangers. This region also has many refugees, mostly Somali refugees, who desperately need help.
I want the public to know that much is needed in this region – basic necessities for the thousands of refugees, food security and water, schools and textbooks so that young girls can
receive an education, reproductive health services so that women and girls can lead healthy lives. We need the support of the public if we are to continue providing these communities with their many needs.
For more information, visit:www.womankindkenya.org/
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