| ANNUAL REPORT |
| KAMUKUNJI PARALEGAL NETWORK ASSOCIATION |
| (KAPLEN) 2010/2011 |
| |
| PREPARED BY |
| Benjamin Sidori Ombiri (Phone: +254 723 933 463, Email: bensidori@gmail.com) |
| P.O. Box 8790 – 00300 – Nairobi, Kenya, Mobile Phone: +254 716 778 259, Email: kaplen1@yahoo.com |
TABLE OF CONTENTS Page
Acknowledgement……………………………………………………………3
- List of Acronyms ………………………………………………………………4
- Overview ……………………………………………………………………….5
- Programs and activities …………………………………………………….5
- Legal Aid and Education .……………………………………………..5
- Health and Environment ………………………………………………..5
- Leadership and Governance …………………………………………..5
- Youth, Children and Gender .…………………………………………..6
· Other cases .………………………………………………………..6
- Achievements …………………………………………………………………6
- Challenges .…………………………………………………………………….7
- Funds …………………………………………………………………………7
- Commitment .……………………………………………………………..7
- Community ………………………………………………………………..8
- Skills and Capacity building …………………………………………….8
- Future Plans ……………………………………………………………………8
- Conclusion .……………………………………………………………………8
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
With both our success and challenges as KAPLEN, we still want to thank the members of staff for their tireless efforts in addressing HR in the community. We also thank our partners for their support and collaboration and that we continue with the same spirit. We acknowledge and give thanks to the following organizations; KIOS Finland, SJCC, Ms Kenya(Now Actionaid), AMWIK, IMLU, HAKIJAMII, LRF, COVAW, UNIFEM (Now UN-WOMEN), KCBO-NET, NPSN, KHRD and NCPA.
We appreciate and look forward to a continuous working relationship.
List of Acronyms
KAPLEN – Kamukunji Paralegal Network (Association.)
COVAW – Coalition of Violence against Women
IMLU – Independent Medico-Legal Unit.
LRF – Legal Resource Foundation.
AMWIK – Association of Media Women in
SJCC –
PYGRON – Pumwani Youth Groups Network
HR – Human Rights
GBV – Gender Based Violence
NPSN –
KHRD – Kamukunji Human Rights Defenders.
NCPA –
KCBO-NET – Kamukunji Community Based Organizations Network
OVERVIEW
With the main goal of ‘ having a community that is well empowered, participatory and protected from any kind of Human Rights Violations’, the year ended has put KAPLEN on toes compared to previous years. With enormous support from the members of staff, partners and the community as a whole, the organization has worked tirelessly to ensure the community within the area of coverage has received the necessary legal assistance. The organization has also experienced growth in one way or the other.
PROGRAMS
During the year, the organization worked under our four major programs;
· Legal Aid and Education.
· Health and Environment.
· Leadership and governance.
· Youth, Children and Gender.
With the above programs, KAPLEN was able to carry out diverse activities in ensuring that the laid objectives are achieved.
Legal aid and education
We were able to carry out free legal aid clinics in the community. Here we invited the organizations that we network with and three of the organizations attended; COVAW, IMLU, LRF and our partners KHRD and NCPA.
With the assistance of our partner organizations, we were able to reach out and document over 50 cases from community members of mixed gender.
Health and environment
We collaborated with partners to carry out sensitization workshops and open forums, debates and clean ups within Pumwani. This was mostly with PYGRON, a network of environment and sanitation groups.
Leadership and governance
We organized several activities in the community.
- We conducted a Radio Listening session on Making Local Authorities Accountable. The aim was to encourage the community members to follow up on the devolved funds with the relevant authorities, to act as watchdogs in ensuring that community development projects are implemented accountably and timely.
In this activity we were able to reach out to 27 community members (16 Women and 11 Men) from Motherland and Kiambiu villages. The participants consisted of leaders of different community groups.
- We conducted a women’s Consultative forum on Local Corruption. The aim of this activity was to address forms of corruption in three main sectors, i.e. Health, Education and Water. Participants were to share personal experiences, identify the major causes, the effects and suggest possible solutions.
- The members were also able to attend different accountability forums and leadership trainings organized by our different partners. This has amplified the capacity of members hence effectiveness in Advocacy work.
Youth, children and gender
In this program there was a lot of work for KAPLEN, especially on GBV. We had a total of 37 GBV cases reported and documented. We also had cases which involved referrals, counseling, arbitration and dialogue.
Out of the 37 Cases, 11 were wife battery, 9 were child labor and physical abuse, 4 were failure of parental responsibilities, 3 were assault cases, 1 husband battery, 1 Sexual harassment, 1 threat to kill by civilian, 1 threat to kill by police, 1 Kidnapping, 1 Arson and attempted murder, 1 Forced eviction, 1 Hit and run, 1 Failure of debt repayment and 1 dismissal from work without notice pay.
In summary, we had 29% cases of wife battery, 23% of child labor and physical abuse, 10% of failure to take responsibility as father, 8% of physical assault and the rest of the cases had 3% each.
This gives a clear indication that Women and Children are the mostly affected, hence the need for more commitment of service as an organization.
Other cases:
- KAPLEN members were able to carry out counseling and mediation to some of our clients with minor cases like misunderstanding between couples and the problem of excessive alcoholism, which is also prevalent in Motherland area.
- We drafted three (3) Affidavits and two (2) Referral letters.
- We assisted the residents of Motherland to mobilize for assistance after fire razed down 20 houses in the area. The families received support from well wishers and a little assistance from the CDF office.
ACHIEVEMENTS
During the year we were able to experience some achievements, which optimistically will increase our effectiveness in offering services to the community. Here is an outline of most of our achievements.
- Having an office to work from has made our work easier. The office location is efficient for us and the community we serve and is equipped with two computers, a printer-photocopy-scanning machine, two steel cabinets, 5 chairs and some stationery. The office is also installed with electricity.
- Getting Certificate of registration from the Registrar of Societies in the
- To carry out some of our activities, our small grants have always delayed because we didn’t have an account. We are proud to have a Bank Account that will make it easier to access funds easily and in good time.
- We have carried out activities and handled cases of violations in the community. Through this, we have built confidence with the community and they acknowledge and appreciate our work. The community has also supported us in kind whenever we neede them.
- We have participated in National Days, especially Human Rights Day, Torture Day and World Aids Day among others.
- We have built and strengthen Network and collaboration with other like-minded organizations.
CHALLENGES
ü Funds
Insufficient funds, has made it difficult to carry out some of our activities and other logistics such as transport for referrals, Networking and Communication. Currently we don’t have a donor and we use members’ monthly subscriptions for some of our activities. We have also experienced unclear funding strategies from some of our partners in some activities.
ü Commitment
Commitment of some members has been low in terms of attending meetings, carrying out duties in the office and activities. Some of the staff members have families hence they have to do other jobs for income. This challenge would be addressed if there was consistent monthly wages or allowances for the staff and an income generating project.
ü Community.
Some community members are not supportive. Some of the clients drop their cases because some of them take long and at times they fear to testify to the police and following court processes.
ü Skills and Capacity building.
Some members of staff have little knowledge and skills in counseling and mediation. Others also lack skills on computer, which is a requirement when it comes to documentation of cases. There is also need for refresher trainings due to the day to day changes in Human Rights legislations and policies.
FUTURE PLANS
As an organization, our major future plans as laid are;
- Expand our Network and Collaboration with other new like-minded organizations, both locally and internationally.
- Documentation through short Video Documentaries and Photographs to give a visible indication of the state of Human Rights in our community. This will propagate and give updates on state of Human Rights situation in the community.
- Use Social Media platforms, as a Communication Strategy, for Social Change especially; Facebook, Twitter and Blog.
- Having a Website as an avenue for reporting, networking and collaboration both Nationally and internationally.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, we are hoping that this year will be of more efforts and improvement in implementing functional, sustainable and pertinent activities in advocating for HR protection and continuous assistance to the larger population who cannot afford legal representation.
This year in particular, there is immense need for Civic Education in areas of Constitution implementation and Electoral process in readiness for the coming General Elections.
We hope to renew our energy toward efforts of promoting justice and Equality to all.
‘Aluta Continua’
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