SGCI Gender and Inclusivity Initiative, Kenya: eflections on the journey

Abstract

Kioko Mwania, National Research Fund, Kenya: A key strategy on the part of the National Research Fund in its engagement with the Gender & Inclusivity project has been the identification of gender champions, leaders within the organisation who are passionate about the concept and are willing to promote the goals of G&I among staff. In this interview, Mr. Kioko Mwania admits he has been surprised by the extent to which his fellow co-workers have come to appreciate the necessity of gender inclusivity. "It has been a sea-change for them, [requiring them] to move away from some deep-seated cultural belief...the process of change within these individual co-workers is such that, for them, it has been a journey," he says.In the longer term, the hope is that the norms espoused by the G&I project will be "deeply entrenched" within the NRF to the extent that as individual champions transition out of the organisation, new staff will move in to ���take up the mantle" and the NRF can serve as a model institution for gender inclusivity within the national innovation system.