AMBASSADOR EMMY KOSGEI VISIT TO WEE HUB

EMMY KOSGEI SIGNS AN AGREEMENT WITH THE HUB TO USE TAUNET NELEL SONG

The award winning, globally celebrated gospel artiste, Ambassador Emmy Kosgei on Monday signed an agreement with the University of Nairobi Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) Hub Leader Prof. Wanjiku Kabira, permitting the Hub to use her music “Taunet Nelel” as soundtrack to the Hub’s research video outputs.

The agreement was signed during a meeting held at the UoN WEE Hub offices at Kenya Science Campus chaired by Prof. Wanjiku Kabira. Kabira termed the agreement as the beginning of future partnerships geared towards the enhancement of visibility of its work output. “the Hub has adopted the use of popular –culture as an avenue for popularizing the work done by the WEE Hub as well as national Cohesion”. The use of popular culture enhances reception of complex research outputs when messages are packaged in a language that is palatable to all target audiences.

The UoN WEE Hub is a partnership between the University of Nairobi and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Domiciled at the African Women Studies and Research Centre (AWSRC) in the department of Sociology and Social Work, the Hub’s vision is to work towards the full realization of Women’s Economic Empowerment. The WEE Hub is a thought- leader in producing cutting-edge, innovative, rigorous, and accessible evidence through research for impacting policy formulation, implementation and up-scaling for full realization of women’s empowerment.

One of the platforms that the Hub will leverage on in the new partnership is the Pamoja concerts, that bring together about 50,000 people together to foster national cohesion, this platform will not only be used for the gospel shows but will be used to build conversations about women’s economic empowerment. “Pan Africanism nurtures growth in the continents, thus when an African wins everyone wins” Prof. Kabira said.

The Hub’s mandate is to identify what works or best practices through research evidence, which can be replicated for women’s economic empowerment” According to study findings, 51 percent of the Kenyan population are women participating in all sectors of the economy “the issue of inclusion or exclusion as well as equality will take close to 135years to get women in equal participation with men and we at the Hub believe that’s a long time, hence the interventions to ensure we accelerate the progress” Dr. Mbithi said to underscore how the work of the UoN WEE Hub will impact WEE in Kenya. Mbithi added that the Hub together with its partners and collaborators ensure that the statistics reflect a point of quality and stability and to get a wider reach of our interventions.

The Hub shall use the song “Taunet Nelel” in the Pathfinders’ video series that documents the strategies that women’s movement used in the constitution making process and for empowerment, the studies done under the broad thematic area of Women’s Movement and Self-mobilization for Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE). This is one way among many other dissemination platforms that the WE Hub intends to use “we shall produce working papers and policy briefs to help in the dissemination of knowledge gathered for policy advocacy and inclusion of women in all facets of the community” Prof. Wasamba reiterated.

The power of music in creating conversations and peace building cannot be underestimated, music has been used as a tool to unite people across the globe. Emmy has performed in the gospel industry for over twenty years and recorded seventy songs. The song “Taunet Nelel which the wee Hub has been permitted to use as soundtrack in its research video outputs is one of Emmy’s popular songs that has enjoyed airplay both locally and internationally, It has been received well in both the gospel and secular arena hence influencing people across the religious divide.

The meeting was attended by the Hub leadership; Director Research Dr. Mary Mbithi, Dr. Dorothy Njiraine and Professor Peter Wasamba a member of the Hub’s editorial board together with staff from the Hub and its communications unit.

Emmy Kosgei is also a cultural ambassador to Kenya, marketing Kenya in Africa and abroad where she holds shows and has received the head-of-state Commendation (HSC), a prestigious award. “I consider myself blessed to sing in vernacular because it has transcended the Kalenjin culture, which inculcated in me by my father who is very fluent in the language”

The exceptionally accomplished singer has a rich taste in music inspired by Keke, Rebecca Malope and Esther Wahome whom she refers to as her mentor. The singer credits musician Esther Wahome for encouraging her to perform songs in her native language, “Esther influenced me, I was a backup artist, modelling and dancing in her music group, she said combine this with good voice and I want you to record songs to inspire people in Africa and beyond” she added.