About Kivulini     |    Our Staff    |    Subscribers & Board

Who are we?

Kivulini is a registered non-governmental organisation (with registration No 00NGO/0009600) based in Mwanza, Tanzania.  It was founded in 1999 by six Tanzanian women who felt that they could not sit back and simply watch the rampant violence against women and girls taking place in their communities. In Swahili, “Kivulini” means “in the shade;” Kivulini implies a place of safety, perhaps under a tree, where people meet for discussions and offer alternative solutions and support to one another. Kivulini has been mobilising the entire communities to inspire and support community based violence prevention interventions to prevent violence against women and girls and its health consequences in low-income settings.

 

What do we do?

GOAL

Our goal is to reduce the social acceptance of violence against women and girls in Tanzania

 

OBJECTIVES

Community Mobilization Program objective: To generate a critical mass of people (men and women) to condemn violence against women and girls through community engagement interventions

 

 Capacity Building Program objective: Strengthen the capacities of community Activists, institutions and other service providers in order to prevent and support survivors of violence and promote the rights of women and girls

 

Women Economic and Legal empowerment objective: Influence systematic change through which poor and excluded women become able to know,   use and  benefit the legal system and enjoy their rights to control and benefit from resources, assets, income and their own time, as well as the ability to manage risk and improve their economic status and wellbeing.

 

Advocacy Program Objective: Influencing formal and informal community based structures, by-laws and better policies and laws that protect women against violence.

 

Governance & accountability Program Objective: strengthened Kivulini’s organizational capacity to provide excellent programming in its service area with a focus on sustainability and ethical business practices.

 

How we do it? (The Approach we Use)

Since 2010 Kivulini adopted and started using SASA! approach in its community mobilization work to prevent VAW. SASA! is about rethinking power, it is about exploration of power – what it is, who has it, how it is used, how it is abused and how power dynamics between women and men can change for the better. In many societies in Africa and in particular Tanzania, social norms portray men as more valuable than women and more powerful than women. SASA is about mobilizing the communities to change social norms, because they lead to violence. SASA recognize that all people are equal in worth and value. SASA shows how a balance of power between women and men means healthier lives for everyone.

 

SASA uses a phased-in approach, based on ‘Stages of Change’ theory, to support communities through a process of change.  Start Phase (pre-contemplation), Awareness Phase (contemplation), Support Phase (preparing for action) and Action Phase (action and maintenance). This means that the content and key intended results of SASA! evolves with each phase.  SASA! takes a benefits-based approach to violence prevention. Instead of blaming or negative messages, SASA! encourages community members to think about the positive effects of balancing power in relationships between men and women.

 

Through the SASA! approach, Kivulini is working to create a movement for social change i.e. A CRITICAL MASS of women, men and multi-sectoral actors who believe that violence is unacceptable, is preventable and are taking visible public actions to prevent it.

 

 

Guiding principles that inform Kivulini’s work

 

1. Focus on primary prevention: Kivulini’s approach raises awareness of both the root causes and the health consequences of VAW and girls and works to address violence before it happens by changing social norms that are embedded in communities’ attitudes, behaviors and practices that perpetuate it.
   
   
2. Holistic approach: Kivulini’s efforts to prevent VAW and girls creatively engages a cross section of community members and both government and non-government institutions in order to generate sufficient momentum (A CRITICAL MASS FOR CHANGE) of women, men, youth and institutions for change and support mechanisms for survivors of violence (women and girls).
   
   
3. Human rights framework: Rather than appealing to community goodwill to keep women safe, Kivulini uses the broader framework of human rights and justice to create a legitimate channel for discussing women’s needs and encourages non-state actors to take responsibility for promoting and protecting the rights of women.
   
   
4. Focus on community ownership of the problem: Kivulini builds the capacities of individual members within communities, groups and institutions to become agents of change within their own circles of influence to take the front line in preventing VAW and protecting the rights and the needs of women and girls.
   
   
5. Process of change through activism: Kivulini understands that preventing VAW and girls in homes and communities requires individuals to identify the problem of violence, consider its importance, evaluate their own behavior and then begin making change in their lives.