Women empowerment talks dominate launch of Carole Kinoti Foundation

The Carole Kinoti Foundation, under the visionary leadership of Carole Kinoti, was on Thursday officially launched at the Capital Club East Africa in Nairobi.

The Foundation is dedicated to empowering women, youth, and persons with disabilities through skills development and entrepreneurship in the fashion industry.

According to Ms. Kinoti, she wanted to relate to these groups of people since she has trotted across several marginalized areas in Kenya and interacted with them.

She noted that she has lived with them and listened to their stories, which is why she holds the empowerment of women in marginalized areas dear to her heart.

The launch event brought together stakeholders across various sectors such as fashion, textile, development and government to witness the unveiling of the Daima ‘Mkenya’ Kikoy, a signature product from CKF’S Fibre to Fabric Initiative.

The event displayed CKF’s work within the leather and cotton value chains with a focus on sustainable economic empowerment in Kenya.

Carole Kariuki, CEO of Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA), reiterated sentiments concerning women empowerment in relation to the economy.

“I’ve seen how economic empowerment can change lives. Women play a vital role in our economy but they opened these barriers that hold them back," she said.

"Many of these smallholder farms are by women and make significant contributions to agriculture yet often lack access to the resources they need to succeed. This is the challenge we must uproot together."

Samburu West MP Naisula Lesuuda, known for her enthusiasm in championing for the rights of the girl child, was also not left behind in her support of the cause.

“If it doesn’t translate to money in the pockets for our people, for our women, for our young people; if it doesn’t make economic sense, then really we are not empowering our communities," she noted.

“We want our girls to be empowered. We want our girls to be motivated. We want our girls to be wholesome people."

To further encourage women empowerment, Ms. Kinoti explained how an empowered woman is a gem to those around her.

“If you empower a woman, you empower the nation. If you empower a woman, that mum will feed her children, they will go to school, her husband will be fed and will be guided towards what the family requires,” she stated.

The launch was punctuated with talks on sustainability and ethical manufacturing, with organizations such as the Manji Foundation which repurposes tire covers to make school bags.

Additionally, the foundation has created safe havens for women by building boarding houses in areas with marginalized communities.

To close the show, the audience was treated to a fashion show which interestingly featured girls from the Kakuma Refugee Camp as models who paraded colourful garments in different designs made in Kenya.

A challenge was then posed to the audience to begin wearing Kenyan- made fabrics to empower the communities that grow the cotton.