Today marks the first day of the first ever gender festival in Kenya. The festival will be held at the Railways Club grounds in Nairobi from 3rd-5th June 2009. This festival has been organised and coordinated by several individuals and organisations all working towards gender equality in Kenya. The gender festival has been organised as an inspiration from other gender festivals that have happened in the region, notably the 8th Gender Festival in Tanzania. Our sisters from next door Tanzania will be participating.

The theme of the festival is "Celebrate diversity and Promote gender equality". The festival is a platform for feminist and women's organisations, networks and coalitions to come together and take stock of gender concerns in Kenya especially those related to the post election violence. Each day of the 3-day festival will have a sub-theme; on day 1- Healing, peace building and unity, day 2-Women movement building in a diverse society and day 3-Men for cultural diversity and gender equality. All the sub-themes are a reflection of the journeys taken by different social movements in organizing towards the achievement of gender equity and equality in Kenya. Setting the pace based on the current discourse on transitional justice in the country, healing the nation, promoting peace and ensuring we remain united as a nation is key to the future of this country. Thus, the activities and discussions on plenary and break-away workshops will all centre on the theme of day one.

There is great power in movements. What can not be achieved by an individual can and will be achieved by the collective! This explains the sub-theme of movement building. We may not speak of one women's movement though reference is always made to the term "women's movement". Going by what has been happening in advancing the rights of women and girls, I know that we have different women's movements all working towards gender equality and a focus on the advancement of the status of women. I will be addressing this subject in more detail as the festival continues to rollout. When a collective of individuals and groups are consciously involved in creating a common story, then in my opinion, what they are doing is movement building. There is a common story in advancing the rights of women and there is a common story among all those attending the festival. You too, can be a part of that story today.

We are at a point where we see men as allies in this work on women's empowerment. There are several men's organisations participating at the gender festival and those that have been doing great work on equality of both sexes. Men for gender equality Now (MEGEN) and Men for Equality with Women (MEW) are a part of this event. What is important in this context is the work that the two have been doing to leverage the work being done by women's organisations. This does not include the work of Maendeleo ya Wanaume and Men Against Women's Empowerment (MAWE), which have been formed to discredit the gains in women's rights. The question of masculinities and construction of the same is key when addressing men's roles in protecting and promoting the rights of women and dignity of all human beings as human rights. This will be the focus of day 3 of the festival.

The femZone will be bringing you all these issues as they unfold at the festival beginning today. Check out the young women's statement shared with the press in the forum on this site.