Tharaka Nithi County is setting a remarkable example in women’s empowerment through its innovative Cr猫che Programme at Chuka Market. This initiative provides safe childcare facilities, enabling mothers trading in the market to engage in business while their children are under a child caregiver within the market Cr猫che. The Cr猫che is alleviating the childcare burdens from the mothers and is fostering an inclusive community where women can achieve their full potential in income generation and thus supporting the local economy. For sustainability, the tax revenues collected from the market vendors is used to pay the salary of caregivers in the creche.
The Chuka Cr猫che Market Programme and a livelihood survey outcome supported by the聽聽lead to establishment of collaborative project with the County Government of Tharaka Nithi and other partners (The Kenya national Bureau of Statistics, Yale University Bangor University and University of West Indies) through a randomized controlled trial (RCT) childcare intervention experiment. The initiative was informed by a baseline survey findings on women鈥檚 livelihood survey in Tharaka Nithi and a rapid needs assessment for childcare services also conducted in the county in 2002 鈥� 2022, which established among other things that most mothers spent their better part of the day taking care of their children who have not reached the age of 4-years old prescribe by the ministry of education as the school going age. The aim of the RCT childcare intervention is twofold, first relieving mothers the burden of caring for with 3-year old children by enrolling them in pre-primary one (PP1) as play group, which in turn is hoped to firstly enhance the children鈥檚 holistic development and school readiness and secondly, enable the mothers to engage in economic activities which could boost their economic empowerment.
Tharaka Nithi County Government has been instrumental in the intervention by developing a Child Care and Protection Act, 2024 that among other mainstreaming approaches will lead to establishment of Child Care Centres and their Coordination. The county through a childcare policy allowed the RCT intervention to take place in the existing pre-primary 1 (PP1) infrastructures. The initiative serves as a model for other counties aiming to enhance women’s economic empowerment and child development. By adopting similar programmes, counties can create supportive environments that enable women to participate fully in economic activities, leading to broader societal benefits.
For a deeper insight into the Cr猫che Programme and its impact is featured in a special contribution to the United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) 7th Global Report on Local Democracy and Decentralization (GOLD VII) on the Economies of Equality and Care other the theme Towards 鈥淐aring Cities鈥澛犅燼lso watch the following videos:
