A Participatory Action Research Report for Chama Women in Mathare, Kangemi, and Kawangware
The “Charge for Change” is a Participatory Action Research (PAR) report published in December 2025, commissioned by Badili Africa and funded by the Ford Foundation. It documents human rights realities across Mathare, Kangemi, and Kawangware informal settlements in Nairobi, with Chama women not as research subjects but as the researchers themselves.
The core argument is that Chamas have historically been dismissed as merely savings groups. This report dismantles that framing entirely. It argues, with data, that Chamas are political incubators, de facto safe spaces, early warning systems against state violence, and the grassroots parliament of the oppressed. The report calls for their formal recognition as community-based human rights defenders under Kenya’s civic space frameworks.
Read the full report in the link below:
