GROOTS Kenya has once again made history! We are proud to announce that we have been recognized as the Overall Best NGO for Promoting Gender Equality at the prestigious Diversity and Inclusion Awards & Recognition (DIAR) Awards 2025. This award is a testament of our relentless commitment to empowering grassroots women and their communities, amplifying their voices, and ensuring gender equity in leadership, land rights, economic empowerment, and decision-making processes. It is particularly special since it comes as we celebrate 30 years of grassroots women empowerment.

A Win for the Grassroots Movement

For nearly three decades, GROOTS Kenya has been at the forefront of transforming communities through champion-led solutions to their identified societal challenges. Through tested models that include; Local to local dialogues, Champions for transformative action, community watch dogs and the champion led model, this recognition validates the work of thousands of grassroots women leaders, community champions, and partners who dedicate their efforts to challenging systemic inequalities and advocating for grassroots women’s rights at all levels. Indeed, grassroots women are a formidable force to be reckoned with, when it comes to real and lasting impact in grassroots transformation.

The DIAR Awards: Recognizing Excellence in Inclusion

The DIAR Awards celebrate organizations and individuals making a tangible impact in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) across different sectors in Kenya. Being named the best NGO in gender equality reflects the transformative impact of our programs, which include:

• Women’s Leadership & Governance – Equipping grassroots women with leadership skills and enabling them to take up decision-making roles in public and private sectors – from grassroots to national fora.
• Economic Empowerment – Driving financial inclusion and access to markets for grassroots women entrepreneurs, including young people.
• Land & Property Rights – Ensuring grassroots women’s access to, use, control and ownership, of land by addressing policy gaps and supporting community-led advocacy efforts.
• Gender-Based Violence (GBV) Response & Prevention – Strengthening community response mechanisms and linking GBV survivors to legal, medical, psychosocial and financial support services.
• Climate Resilience & Food Systems – Promoting grassroots women-led climate-smart agriculture and sustainable food production.

What This Win Means for the Future of Grassroots Women’s Leadership

This recognition fuels our mission to scale our impact, build stronger alliances, and continue advocating for policies and practices that meaningfully facilitate grassroots women to be at the center of Kenya’s development agenda. It also serves as a challenge—to do more, reach more, and push for greater gender-transformative policies that benefit all women, especially those in marginalized communities – to truly leave no one behind. The 2025 DIAR award is timely as GROOTS Kenya celebrates 30 years of impacting and transforming the lives of grassroots women in Kenya.

Collective Power

We extend our heartfelt gratitude to our grassroots champions, partners, stakeholders, and supporters who have and continue to walk this journey with us. This award belongs to every grassroot woman who has dared to challenge the status quo, every community leader who has driven transformative change, and every partner who believes in and supports our vision.

The journey towards gender justice is far from over, but together, we are unstoppable!

1^st Edition - The Standard Newspaper (19th March 2025) page 9

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