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.