Youth, Women, Peace and Security
Peace and security are at the heart of WOVOP’s mission. This commitment traces back to our beginnings as the Student Talks program, where we witnessed firsthand how conflict, violence, and insecurity affect not only schools but also families, communities, and the future of young people.
Over the years, we have learned that sustainable peace can only be achieved when women and young people are meaningfully included in decision-making and peacebuilding efforts. Through this thematic area, WOVOP works to strengthen the leadership, participation, and resilience of women and youth in preventing conflict and building peaceful communities.
Our programs equip young people, particularly girls and young women, with the knowledge, skills, and confidence to lead processes in dialogue, mediation, conflict prevention, social cohesion, and community recovery. We also create opportunities for women and youth to engage in local, national, and regional peace and security processes, ensuring their voices help shape more inclusive and sustainable peace across Kisumu County and throughout Kenya.
We believe that when women and young people are supported to lead, communities become more resilient, inclusive, and better prepared to prevent and respond to conflict.
Sports for Peace
At WOVOP, we believe that sports are powerful platforms for building peace, strengthening social cohesion, and fostering resilient communities. Through shared experiences on the playing field, young people build trust, teamwork, respect, and relationships that extend far beyond the game.
Sports for Peace uses football and other sports to bring together women and young people from different communities, creating safe spaces to discuss peace, democracy, tolerance, and nonviolent conflict resolution. Our most recent project, the Soccer for Peace Project in Kisumu East, set out to address recurring political tensions and divisions among young people. It brought together four community football clubs, Chanuka FC, Thriller FC, Kianja FC, and Upperhill FC, for an annual tournament that combined sport with dialogue on peaceful coexistence, democratic participation, and rejecting violence.
We are transforming football pitches into spaces for learning, friendship, and dialogue. Sports for Peace demonstrates that communities can build trust and resilience through activities that young people already love.
What we are building next
- A Women’s Run Club, promoting physical and mental wellbeing while creating supportive peer networks.
- A Girls’ Self-Defence Programme, strengthening personal safety and confidence, particularly for girls and young women in rural communities.
- A Community Women’s Football Club, giving women of all ages opportunities to stay active, build solidarity, and use sport as a platform for leadership and peacebuilding.
Partner with us
This work grows through partners, peace practitioners, facilitators, and organizations who believe in investing in young women as leaders in peace and security.