Joy Kakenya Barta In Narok’s First Newspaper

Joy Kakenya Barta recently had a story published in Narok County’s first newspaper, Narok Pas Paper. She sits on their board of management and will continue to write for them in the future. Her focus is on women’s rights both in her community and abroad.

Here is an expert from the article:

Respecting the basic rights of women, especially in rural areas in Asia and Africa, is by far the most effective means of fighting hunger and poverty in a sustainable way. This ranges from the fundamental right to bodily integrity to the freedom to choose whether to marry and if/when to have children.Whether women can exercise their right to learn to read and write, to own land, to have access to water, livestock and machinery or whether they are allowed to open a personal bank account or take a loan can be a decisive factor in women’s chances of being able to provide for themselves and their families.If women have the opportunity to self-organize and take part in decision making, often the whole community will benefit compared to men, women and girls are still more severely affected by poverty,hunger and disease. When food is scarce, female family members often get the smallest portions. In the labour market, women are literally paid starvation wages. Mothers also suffer most due to lack of medical care and balanced diets. The responsibility for the survival of their children commonly demands additional sacrifices from them.
In Africa and large parts of Asia,women in rural areas bear responsibility for taking care of children and elderly. They also constitute the majority of the agricultural labour force in small-scale and subsistence farming. Since official statistics do not capture unpaid work, be it in the garden, in the field or in the household, they insufficiently represent women’s actual share in agricultural work. Women in Africa and Asia who live in rural areas are often doubly affected by discrimination.