Corridors of uncertainty in Kenya's bandit region

Kenya’s Turkana County borders Uganda, South Sudan and Ethiopia, where porous borders allow pastoral communities to seek out pasture for their livestock. Every September, these communities gather to commemorate a historic peace accord from 1973. Less than 48 hours after the 2022 celebrations, a shootout in the eastern district of the county left 8 police officers and 3 civilians dead.

While bandits exchange attacks, the women of Turkana suffer greatly at the hands of resource scarcity, poverty and patriarchy. Elizabeth Lokwawi, 45, lives in the village of Letea, approximately 20km from Kakuma’s refugee camp.

“We [Turkana women] are some of the furthest left behind. Our men don’t encourage women and girls’ education. Instead, they expect us to marry early which suits them because we remain are under control,” she explains.

With no formal education of her own, Elizabeth is committed to that of her children’s. She is a businesswoman who sells staple goods such as oil and flour because she does not what her children “to be illiterate and live a backwards life. I want them to be empowered and I want them to be peacemakers and form a civil society.”

Elizabeth has recently begun attending workshops by UN Women’s partner, Rural Women Peace Link (RWPL). Discussions and training on peace and security are empowering Elizabeth and others to share their experiences and devise solutions. Liliane Bwire, project coordinator for RWPL explains that “pastoral conflicts in this region have been present for decades. With little infrastructure, there is little state presence and the ability of criminals to cross sovereign borders makes it difficult for prosecution.  Community peacebuilding is therefore critical, and that requires women’s participation.”

The conflict poses additional risks to women and girls as they become targets too. As gendered stereotypes expect them to fetch water, they must make the choice between collecting from the river or make a 6km trip to the nearest borehole - exposing them to the reality of sexual and gender-based violence.  

For Elizabeth, this conflict is driven by poverty and stunts her community’s development and undermines the spread of education:

“When there is no peace, there is no development – that means no investment, teachers will not come – who will go to school where there is insecurity? We need to establish a common market that will support Turkana and Jie community [from Uganda]. We need to establish shared health facilities, education facilities, and a shared water point. I also want to establish a connection with the women on the [Ugandan side] and encourage them that they can make a real change.”

Through the Government of Japan’s support, UN Women is strengthening the capacities of women in humanitarian settings with a focus on peace and security and awareness raising on Kenya’s Second National Action Plan (KNAP II) on the women, peace and security agenda. This training empowers women to participate in peace initiatives at both community and county levels. Since 2021, 1459 female peace builders have received training on KNAP II.