By Judy Miriga-USA

Kenyan Diaspora Spokeswoman

Speaking for the majority voiceless women, and in highlighting Women’s concerns, It is about time the World take a closer look and step in to provide immediate Financial Assistance to the women and the Youth of Kisumu in Kenya in an inclusive Growing Market Strategic Development Program.

UNDP has recently released information on how businesses may include the global poor as potential customers and how the global poor might benefit from collaborating more closely with businesses in Creating Value for All in the Popular Participation Community Program.

This Community Development Program is in essence Regional or Jimbo Trading Initiatives. The Kisumu Women and Youths of Kenya have in the past been constantly left out of meaningful development funding or Pilot Scheme.

Coupling with the recently stolen flawed election that brought about destruction of houses and deaths of many, Kisumu and the rest of Nyanza fell deeper into serious poverty lacking the most essential goods to live a normal life.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has launched a blueprint to guide the private sector in Kenya. The sector is expected to partner with the poor through business initiatives aimed at poverty alleviation.

The Plan of Action ‘strategies for doing business with the poor’ has been developed in conjunction with the United Stated Agency for Development (USAID) and is aimed at boosting the involvement of less privileged members of society through innovations and how it can translate to income as well as boost Small or Start-up Entrepreneurship.Teaming up with Private Businesses can be success story when aimed to overcome the most common obstacles faced by the poor in today’s serious poverty.

The poor have the Talent or Skills which are ready tools necessary to team up with established businesses companies to expand traditional business practices by bringing on board the poor as partners towards economic recovery and expansion.Under the UNDP Private Sector Strategy, the Growing Inclusive Markets (GIM) program simple business venture will tackle the immediate condition of extreme lack of basic needs.

This will help along way in realizing the Millennium Development Goals faster within this popular participation. This is a facilitated platform to engage all participating actors in the Business Model so that the pursuits of profit and human progress can work to mutual advantage and spark Social and Economic CHANGE to an improved life.

There is urgency to raise awareness and provide information on how businesses, in collaboration with the government and Civil Society can contribute to human development and realization of the Ratified Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

The guidelines in the report seek to inspire and provoke the private sector into action, showing how businesses can get engaged through partnerships with the masses to achieve development.

For instance, in Teaming with the government and other sectors as players, micro-financing should be developed through Constituency Community to stimulate small trading undertakings which directly touch on many poor in areas such as:-
1) Water, Environment and Sanitation
2) Farm Produce and Nutrition Food to include honey
3) Village Clinics and dispensaries for Health
4) Promotion of Music for Entertainment and for Religious Praise and Warship
5) Education Exchange Programs and Distance Learning
6) Rural Computer Learning and Computer Kiosks
7) Construction and Road Maintenance8) Tourism
9) Fishing Industry
10) Transportation
11) Retail Business to both Women and Youth
12) Development Banks The poor can benefit immensely from doing business directly with Private Sector, and could be integrated in the cash flow economy which aims at wider distribution of wealth and income.

Public-Private Partnership alliance programme aims at business activities that simulates income for the poor for basic needs. The poor have a large untapped energy potential and resources for consumption and distribution as well as skills and talents for innovative production within the entrepreneurial activities.

The more business integrated including the poor as partners the more the economic growth, the more fulfilment of The Millennium Development Goals. Women as the Mainstream Players.

In order to overcome obstacles, women should be given opportunities to push for progress.African women’s fundamental contributions in food production systems needs to be Incorporated and supplemented.

Government Ministries must subsidize for their efforts in the contribution to domestic economic inputs and national economies are increasingly acknowledged from women’s inputs. At both grassroots and national levels they have not been documented as inclusion in the National Economy.

Women have in the past proved to have energetic efforts to organize, articulate their concerns and make their voices heard with little or no impact from the Leadership. They have also been used as voters by politicians but get very little reward.

They are now pressing for an expansion of women’s economic and social opportunities, and the advancement of women’s rights. I speak for the majority voiceless. We are now fired up to DEMAND TO BE HEARD because we have the the dynamism we have displayed in the economic, cultural and social lives of the communities through associations and informal networks are now channelling into creating new models of participation and leadership by improving our own positions.

This will eventually strengthen African society as a whole, as well as enhance continent’s broader development prospects. In the demand for private sector financing of entrepreneurship it has been due to several factors, including:

a) Lack of government financial resource allocation to women’s development Agendas

b) Government’s non-committal to Stimulant incentive aid to poor families

c) Government’s non-committal to Traditional and Cultural norms that are cruel to women and are seen as Human Rights Abuse like women inheritance, acquisition of lands etc.,

d) Lack of Improved methods of Entrepreneurship to meet Trading challenges

e) Lack of collateral to acquire funding

f) Lack of Government’s goodwill and political enabling environment

Despite the existence of a large number of potential UN and Non-Governmental programs or Pilot Projects, significant numbers of project deals and funds do not reach some Regions like Kisumu (Nyanza) which in many cases are marginalized and are now facing abject serious poverty and hunger, lacking in the most fundamental essentials one needs to live a reasonable life.

It is for the above reason why Networking for Entrepreneurship and Trading will be something about time the Women and the Community of Nyanza embark on

Globalization of Trading and merchandising through Private Sector initiative which will help acquire UN Millennium Development Goals within the time frame.

Consequently, We support and will continue to foster activities that will compliment Global networking entrepreneurship and business trading to the realization of UN Millennium Development Goals Agenda as well as UN UNDP Business Initiative in Creating Value for all.

NB:
Economic Poverty is the cause of all evil. Wife beating will be a thing of the past. Lets work together for a better peaceful future.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_j5CeHyzZKI&feature=related