The UNESCO/UNITWIN Chair’s Programme at University of Nairobi was launched in 1997. The Chair is on Women and Sustainable Development It works to promote inter-university cooperation and networking to enhance institutional capacities through knowledge sharing and collaborative work.
The Programme also supports UNESCO’s key priority areas of competence – i.e. in education, science and Technology, culture and communication.
Over the past seventeen years, the Chair has:
- Worked with Women Groups in the areas of health, agriculture, income generation activities and protection of the environment.
- Developed literacy materials and radio programmes for community education in the areas of domestic hygiene, gender based violence, women and property rights, sustainable environment.
- Supported rehabilitation of Street Children, particularly in the major towns and urban slums.
- Done a comparative study of Cut Flower Industry in Kenya and wine growing in South Africa.
- Assisted in construction of Earth Dams in the Arid-Semi-Arid areas of Kenya. This programme has been developed to support rain water harvesting for household use and small scale irrigation.
- Promoted Human Rights and Governance with particular emphasis on political transition in Kenya.
- Promoted Indigenous Knowledge and the fusion of such knowledge and technological innovations.
- Promoted a sustainable Culture of Peace and the role Universities should play to make sure that peace efforts are based on solid research in conflict management.
- Worked on Implementation of Kenya Constitution 2010 and the Construction of Knowledge Societies. The project is aimed at creation of Communities who have the constitution as "guiding principle", and a way of life. It also critically looks at Devolution and the "State of the Counties".