In December 2007, violent conflict erupted throughout Kenya in response to disputed polls in the national elections. The YWCA of Kenya and the World YWCA worked with the Red Cross to respond immediately to the crisis, establishing camps and shelters for internally displaced persons (IDPs) and carrying out a Rapid Needs Assessment to identify the immediate needs of women, girls and children in search of refuge from the violence.

Most of the women interviewed for the assessment were emotionally traumatised; most of them had witnessed their homes and small businesses being looted and burnt down amidst the conflict. Women and children faced threats of rape and death as they fled the violence. As one young woman stated, “My auntie was slashed with a machete and she died on the spot. They tried to rape me but I ran away.”

Health care services and basic sanitation were lacking in the IDP camps. Despite having just been through extreme trauma and loss, the displaced women took action, organising themselves into groups to manage life at the camps. The different groups took charge of cooking, hygiene, sanitation and distribution of food. At one IDP camp, women selected two representatives per ten people to be part of the main camp committee, the decision making body within the camp. As a result of this initiative and the outcome of the Rapid Needs Assessment, hundreds of women and children were able to have their immediate basic needs met and to create some stability on which they could begin to rebuild their lives.

Most of the world’s refugees today are women and children. Because of their lack of status in society and the disproportionate effects that conflict has on them, women and girls are often seen primarily as victims in conflict zones and their significant contributions are often ignored in nations emerging from war. However, women and girls can be key agents of positive change in peace building and in adaptation to changing environmental realities. In fact, it has been shown that during natural disasters, communities where women play a leadership role in early warning systems and reconstruction fare much better than communities where they do not.

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