The Wajibu Wetu programme

Wajibu Wetu Programme is crafted to support new frontiers in media, arts, cultural, and digital engagement-focused civil society organisations and innovative approaches to strengthen rights, inclusive governance, accountability, gender equality, empowerment, and the resilience of communities.

In 2016, ForumCiv -supported web series Tuko Macho was featured at the 41st Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). The series is produced by the Nest Collective, as part of ForumCiv’s Wajibu Wetu programme. Photo: The Nest

Programme Background

With the support from the Embassy of Sweden - Nairobi, ForumCiv implements the programme that focuses on delivering five result areas: Inclusive Governance & Democracy – which aims to strengthen community voice and agency in building responsive and accountable governance structures and processes; Community Empowerment, Resilience & Adaptation – which aims to improve the resilience, and adaptative capacity of the community to environmental, and socioeconomic disruptions; Gender Equality – aims to strengthen gender agency in society; Networking, Linkages, and Movement Building – aims to empower partnerships, networks, coalitions, and movements for sustained aggregate voice and action; and Capacity Development – aims to strengthen the internal capacity of ForumCiv and its partners to deliver on their mandate.

The programme has so far been implemented in two phases with the first phase running between November 2015 to June 2022. Wajibu Wetu Programme III started in July 2022 and will be implemented over four years until June 2026.

Wajibu Wetu programme aims to advance inclusive governance, empowerment, and community resilience towards realising human rights in Kenya. ForumCiv works with strategic partners such as national and grassroots civil society organisations, frontline change-makers, creative actors, duty bearers and communities from marginalised areas and sexual and gender minorities. The programme work through a re-granting model, to enhance our partner's agency as rights holders and responsiveness as duty bearers in defending and upholding human rights.

Strategic Approach

Wajibu Wetu works with dynamic and innovative organisations that employ media, culture and art to raise women's, men's and youth's level of civic consciousness, promote active citizenship and enhance the responsiveness of duty bearers. This is done through creative avenues like the use of music, traditional and new media, artivism (art for activism), cultural festivals, documentaries, and investigative journalism among others, whose civic engagements, though small in scale, have impacted positively in addressing injustices and human rights violations.

As such, the programme works with a broad range of strategic national, grassroots, traditional and non-traditional organisations implementing projects that promote good democratic culture, gender equality and respect for human rights in Kenya.

The programme achieves its goal and objective through strengthening the activities of civil society organizations, networks, and coalitions to effect change through respect for human rights, democracy, gender equality, and the effective use of natural resources; harnessing the power and influence of arts and culture and working with individuals and companies limited by guarantee; working on advocacy globally and regionally for accountable democracy, respect for human rights and gender equality; capacity development centred on a bottom-up perspective focused on strengthening the existing capacities of our partners and internally as an organisation while using different learning perspectives adapted to the context and needs.; and grant-making and grant management of seed finding to diverse civil society organisations particularly at the grassroots level and in marginalised areas.

Wajibu Wetu further continues to nurture grassroots organisations that operate in marginalised areas and support the advancement of democratic culture and gender equality at the grassroots level.