Hbs hosts a gender forum in Nairobi on bridging gender equality through innovation

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March 2019 Gender Forum Poster

On Tuesday 12 March 2019, from 4:30-6:30pm, the Heinrich Boll Stiftung (hbs) will host a gender forum in Nairobi at the Alliance Francaise titled,‘Bridging Gender Equality through Innovation'.

The highlight of the forum will be presentations from innovators who have developed apps, mobile and digital platforms to specifically challenge gender inequalities and realize gender rights by addressing some of the root causes to the various violations. 

Mageda Esolyo, the Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights Program manager at TICAH will talk about 'Aunty Jane Hotline', a toll free telephone hotline that provides non-judgemental, clear information about the choices available to women and girls in Kenya. Aunty Jane gives safe reliable information on sexual and reproductive health including information on postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) prevention, contraception, unwanted pregnancy and safe abortion. 

How do deaf youth access  sexual reproductive health information? The forum will showcase, Deaf eLimu Plus a web and mobile based application that enables deaf youth and hearing people to access sexual reproductive health information as well as words in Kenyan Sign Language.

Stephen Maina the Co-founder of Imara TV will speak about how they train and mentor young film enthusiasts to produce and  broadcast free entertainment videos on sexual reproductive health for youths.  Imara TV monetize the videos by carrying advertisements with 90 percent of the revenue going back to the youths who also serve as content creators. Imara TV has managed to reach over 300k youths across Kenya with 88k cumulative views.

SophieBot an artificial intelligent robot relays information to its users through conversations that are driven by text or voice chats. In the forum, SophieBot's developer, ​Irving Amukasa, will showcase the applications ability in sharing sexual and reproductive  health information to young people aged14-24 years. SophieBot is found on multi-plaforms including, facebook messenger, telegram, twitter and the main product being the android mobile app.

The gender forum,anchored around the 2019 theme for the international women’s day, 'Think equal,build smart,innovate for change', will provide a platform for candid conversation on the place of innovation in realizing gender equality. 

Follow #genderforum on Twitter.