The Endorois Indigenous Women Empowerment Network (EIWEN) is an indigenous local Community Based Organization founded in 2016 by local Endorois women who were committed to improving the living standards through capacity building of indigenous and marginalized women and girls.
EIWEN has two main programs, namely Women Empowerment, and Disability Rights and Empowerment. Over the coming two years, EIWEN is planning to focus on empowering Endorois women to participate actively in economic, social and political processes. The organization will use the chama model to fuel economic empowerment of Endorois women through skills development and linkage to affirmative funds including the Women Enterprise Funds, Uwezo Fund and Youth Enterprise Development asw3Fund. Further, EIWEN will educate Endorois women on their constitutional right to participate in decision making processes as well as own and inherit land. Further, EIWEN will adopt economic empowerment strategies that are sensitive to the changing environment. As such, the organization will leverage the traditional role of Endorois women as reservoirs of indigenous knowledge to promote environmental conservation and adapt to climate change by embracing climate smart agriculture and agro-ecology approaches. For the Persons with Disabilities program, EIWEN advocates for their rights through enhanced awareness and access to government services and assistive devices and promotes their inclusion in decision making and economic development processes through enhanced access to government procurement opportunities