Our visions for 2025: Women lead the charge for an equal world
The women who have shared their visions for 2025.
What you need to know:
Some seek to expand their outreach, empower abuse survivors, and strengthen partnerships to support marginalised women.
Others seek to promote male engagement, reduce GBV, and empower men, boys, and communities for sustainable transformation.
One plans to launch career, master languages, and advocate for marginalised communities through social justice and activism.
As the New Year begins in earnest, many people are optimistic that it will be much better than 2024. Many Kenyans have complained that the just-concluded year was tough, with a badly doing economy and high taxation weighing heavily on them.
Women have also not been spared with the tough economic times characterised by a punitive taxation regime. However, despite these setbacks, women are optimistic that the New Year will be much better and have a vision for 2025, which entails the things they want to achieve. We look at women’s vision even as they look back at how 2024 looked for them.
Edith Murogo, executive director, Centre for Domestic Training and Development
"I cannot thank God enough for letting me witness the New Year. It is a miracle and the goodness of the lord. My Vision for 2025 is to enhance transforming lives and empowering survivors. This has always been my passion. As the New Year unfolds, my vision CDTD is one of expansion, resilience, and impact. I aspire to strengthen CDTD’s capacity to serve even more girls and women in need of care and support, enabling them to thrive against all odds.
Edith Murogo, executive director, Centre for Domestic Training and Development.
"My goal is to reach the most vulnerable and marginalised girls and young women who have endured abuse and exploitation, providing them with comprehensive, holistic care. In 2024, we supported about 1,000 beneficiaries, a milestone I hope to surpass in 2025. To achieve this, we will enhance our programmes to address their multifaceted needs and collaborate with like-minded organisations, government departments, communities, and individuals. Together, we can bolster our response and make meaningful, lasting change.
"As the founder and leader of CDTD, I am passionately committed to driving this vision forward. With each step, I aim to ensure the organisation remains a beacon of hope and empowerment for those we serve. The year 2024 was a bittersweet journey for-a mix of remarkable achievements and significant challenges.
"On one hand, I was honoured to receive three prestigious awards: The Trafficking in Persons Report Hero Award by the US Department of State, the Child Labour Champion Award from the ILO Capsa Project, and the Exceptional Philanthropy Award by the East Africa Philanthropy Network. These accolades are a testament to the impact of CDTD’s work and the collective efforts of my team.
"On the other hand, we faced unforeseen challenges. Severe floods caused extensive damage to our shelter, including the destruction of our perimeter wall. The repairs imposed a heavy financial burden on our already stretched resources. Additionally, the rising demand for our services—driven by an increase in gender-based violence—further strained our capacity.
"While these challenges tested our resilience, they also underscored the growing need for the vital services we provide. They reminded us of the importance of our mission and strengthened our resolve to forge ahead."
Faith Nashipae, co-founder of Thriving Communities Africa (TCA) and the national chairperson for Male Engagement and Inclusion, Gender Sector
"I am delighted to witness the New Year. It is my hope that 2025 will bring better tidings for me financially. My vision for this year is to launch my book on the journey to breaking the ceilings for the gender sector and positioning men and boys in national and global spaces.
"As the national chairperson for Male Engagement and Inclusion, my biggest goal for 2025 is to have the National Strategy on Male Engagement and Inclusion launched for implementation. This is an important milestone for all men and boys in Kenya and a foundational move to grounding the work on male empowerment while indirectly accelerating gender equality and women’s development. The strategy will also serve as a major resource mobilisation document that will help prioritise Male Engagement and Inclusion (E&I) as a gender transformative approach in Kenya. It will definitely be a guide to male E&I in Kenya.
Faith Nashipae, the co-founder of Thriving Communities Africa and the national chairperson for Male Engagement and Inclusion, Gender Sector
"As the lead of TCA, where we target men, boys, families and communities for Sustainable Social Transformation, I reckon that 2024 was not an easy year, especially financially for men and boys. This is largely due to the backlash on the agenda as well as the male mindset in Kenya. Those who have made it believe that men have no problem and those who understand the need are unwilling to contribute to the development of their own gender. Thus, 2024 was difficult at an organisational and individual level. We thank God we came through. Focusing ahead and in embracing this new season, we intend to scale up more implementation of Nitasimama Imara Men and Boys programme in the counties towards reducing GBV and male suicides.
"We also hope to increase the number of young men getting entrepreneurship skills for their own development and increase reproductive health information among our young boys. They, too, have a right to knowledge that will prevent pregnancies and new HIV cases. We also look forward to increasing male mentors and more practical fatherhood into the year through working with the 50 Thousand Families Project. The year 2024 was difficult for me, especially economically. It is my hope that the New Year will be better and bring more good tidings."
Candy Margaret Vizengwa, student, USIU-Africa
"I am the happiest person and thankful to God for helping me see the New Year. This year has a lot of significance in my life. It is the year that I am finishing my university education and one when I will graduate. As a journalism student, my vision for 2025 is to start my internship and forge my career path as a young, passionate professional in the communications and advocacy space. My focus is on mastering the foreign languages I have always wanted to be fluent in. I have to enrol in a language school and start the journey, one language at a time.
Candy Margaret Vizengwa, a journalism student at the United States International University-Africa.
"I have to get a parrot in the course of the year. I have to define my activism path and continue making a difference. I have to start adulting and ensure my success at it. I would be moving out within the first month of January, start my internship and forge my career path as a young, passionate professional in the communications and advocacy space.
"My focus is on mastering the foreign languages I have always wanted to be fluent in. I have to enroll in a language school and start the journey a language at a time. I have to get a parrot in the course of the year. I love languages, all languages. It is for this reason that I have always found myself stopping my language-learning journey at the upper beginner level before moving to the next language.
"This year will be different because I am starting my ‘two languages per year’ strategy. My first language will be French for the first five months, a month break, then Spanish for the next six months. Enrolling in a language school will give me both discipline and exposure that doesn’t limit me to online language practice.
"I will be moving out of our family home this January to live on my own. Moving out is nerve-wrecking but refreshing. Not only will this give me the space for growth but also give me the focus on my career development. I have to start adulting and ensure my success at it. I would get to practise what I have been studying and study what I have been practising to excellence as an adult young on independence.
"This New Year, I have to define my activism path and continue making a difference. I have always been vocal on social justice. This has led me to explore gender-based violence, sexual and reproductive health, girl rights and human rights. I am also discovering how much climate change intersects with our day-to-day livelihoods; it is an activism path I will get into this year.
"During and after extreme weather events, girls are at increased risk of violence and exploitation, including sexual and physical abuse, and trafficking. These risks are heightened when collecting food, water and firewood, or when staying in temporary shelters. This is the reason I am looking forward to getting involved in climate change activism to ensure affected women and girls have access to justice.
"For me, 2024 was a blend of both good and bad memories. I started the year off with a lot of challenges up my sleeve. The year has, however, ended on a good note because I have got to experience the best vacation ever with family in Malindi."
Christine Odhiambo, primary school teacher
"I am thankful to God for blessing me to see the New Year. I do not take it for granted as there are many people who wanted to see 2025 but did not. My vision for 2025 is to prioritise myself and further my education on special needs. As a teacher, I have had the desire to teach and impact children with special needs, so this must be fulfilled this year. Most teachers do not like to specialise in special education. For example, in the school where I teach, only one teacher has specialised in this kind of education.
Christine Adhiambo, a primary school teacher.
"In my school, there are 15 pupils with special needs and I feel this kind of education will equip me with the requisite knowledge of how to handle them better. Even though they are special in their own ways, they are good children, who just need acceptance from their families and friends. Each school has a special unit to take care of pupils with special needs and my plea is for the teachers to handle them well.
"The just concluded year was bad for me. The economy was not good at all and that affected many of my plans. It is my hope that this year will be much better with an improved economy. Last year, I also experienced heartbreak, deception and many disappointments. I learnt that people do not care what you are going through so long as you come through for them. The people we prioritise sometimes treat us just like options. However, I thank God for his grace, which has helped me to surmount these challenges."
Gloria Orwoba, nominated senator
"I must say that I am grateful to God for the blessings of the New Year. As a mother, I intend to spend time with my newborn son, Kekeli, who is just about a month old now. Being a mother of two boys, my firstborn being 17, I have seen how time flies and what it means to spend time with your children. We have a lost generation that cannot be faulted on who they have become as it is the absence of guidance and proper parenting that has brought us to where we are as a country.
Nominated Senator Gloria Orwoba.
"As I did with my firstborn, I will not compromise on the time that I have with my children. Kekeli, in particular, needs me more, this one will be one fiery personality and he has a bright ordained future ahead of him, so we are not taking chances with our time with him!
"I look forward to a productive 2025, both at the workplace and in my personal life. At work, my plan is to get the Sanitary Pads Bill past the Second Reading. I hope to convince my colleagues in Parliament to vote for it as it will ensure all schoolgirls in this generation and years to come have access to menstrual hygiene products without having to sell their bodies (sex for pads) or miss school days as they improvise to manage their periods.
"I believe passing the Sanitary Towels Bill will mark the beginning of the end of period poverty in Kenya. It will reduce the rate of teenage pregnancies, new HIV cases, child parents and other issues that have been symptoms of the lack of access to menstrual hygiene products. This cause is close to my heart and I have every intention to see this to fruition. I also intend to persuade the government to finally get gender desks at police stations working and move them to hospitals.
"Having functional independent gender desks would effectively lead to quick convictions of perpetrators and ultimately trigger a behavioural change in our communities. As a young woman, in my early 20s, I had multiple experiences that exposed me to the dark side of gender-based violence (GBV) and that’s why I am so passionate about being a change maker in the space of women’s empowerment.
"This must be the year when we institute real positive change to end GBV. It is the year when I get back in touch with my creative side. I used to be a producer of theatre shows and I want to get back to working on this. I intend to produce a show that will tour Europe in the 2025/26 theatre season. Politics has made me appreciate creative arts even more and because of this, I have a different lens that I would like to explore in the next production.
"One last thing that is on my 2025 list is to meet Ingrid Betancourt, the Colombian politician who ran for presidency. She is my all-time mentor, and one of the many reasons I joined politics.
"No, I have no plans on losing weight or joining a yoga work out team!
"I would say 2024 was a good year for me. I thank God for the immense support that I received from my donors and partners; we were able to distribute 167,500 packets of sanitary towels to girls and women who needed them. Addressing period poverty became the front and centre of important national conversations, including the Finance Bill, hence a huge step in ending the stigma around menstruation.
"I thank God for 2024 because it was the year when I experienced immense growth in my relationships, mentally and spiritually. It is also the year that God blessed us with our much-awaited second-born. It has been a journey of prayers and hope and God has seen us through! If not for anything, my family and I have had good health throughout 2024 and that alone is the reason why 2024 has been an excellent year for me!"
Julia Nyokabi, founder of Premier Peak Leadership Foundation
"It is always an honour and privilege to witness a new year. It is a testament to the immense love that God has for me. I can never thank him enough for this. I know many people who wanted to see the New Year but did not. I am focused on launching the gender and leadership books I have authored and releasing them into the market. As Premier Peak Leadership Foundation, a social enterprise that deals with capacity building, we would also like to strengthen our safe house situated in Murang'a County given that we have received many GBV survivors in the past year.
Julia Nyokabi during an interview at the University of Nairobi.
"GBV has been on the rise and our safe house has been receiving many cases. It is my hope that this year we will enhance its capacity. This will help survivors in distress and those in urgent need of rescue and shelter. We need to source resources to support women and girls and ensure that as we reintegrate them into society, we give them seed capital and economic activities to help them stand again. I believe this year we will be able to create more jobs and offer opportunities to women and the youth.
"As for me, 2024 was a great year with immense reservations. From June 25, we have been on a downward trajectory with young children marching in the streets to protest against bad governance and the horrifying response from suspected government squads abducting young children for unknown reasons, which is just sad. It was, however, also a difficult year and business-wise, women suffered a lot. As an organisation, taxation and political temperatures affected all of us and continue to do so."
Nancy Musami, volunteer counsellor in Kilifi
"Seeing the New Year is a blessing and I am thankful to God for his immense love for me. As volunteer counsellor here in Kilifi, my work is to ensure that girls, who is the most vulnerable to sexual and gender-based violence, are respected and perpetrators brought to book. I hope that this year I will be able to reach more survivors of SGBV so that I can help them to rebuild their self-esteem and get back to their normal lives. Besides, I also handle many domestic violence cases, about five in a week. Some of these cases affect me as some survivors come to me crying but I have to always be strong for them.
Nancy Musami at her home on the outskirts of Kilifi town on November 11, 2024.
"I also hope that this year, I will be more involved in creating awareness of femicide in our community. The rising cases of femicide are scary because, as a woman, you do not know what may happen to you.
"Since most GBV survivors cannot afford professional counselling services, I decided to step forward when an opportunity came to be trained so that I can take care of them. Handling such cases also affects me. To safeguard my mental health, I, too, undergo several counselling sessions in a year.
"As a gender champion working with the Centre for Rights Education and Awareness, I will seek to work with other stakeholders to end SGBV. This will entail mounting a serious awareness campaign on GBV at the grassroots level where cases are rampant and offer psychological support to survivors.
"Kilifi is one of the counties with high SGBV cases. According to the 2022 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey, 20 per cent of women aged 15–49 have experienced physical violence since age 15. The report also indicates that eight per cent of women aged 15–49 had experienced physical violence in the 12 months preceding the survey.
"It also shows that 12 per cent of women aged 15–49 had experienced sexual violence, adding that seven per cent of women in the same age group had experienced sexual violence in the 12 months prior to the survey. The report indicates 30 per cent of women aged 15–49, who had been married or had an intimate partner, had experienced physical, sexual, or psychological violence at the hands of their most recent husband or partner."
