Tailoring, beauty classes take Kenyan women out of poverty cycle

International Women's Day, which falls on March 8, is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating women's equality.

In Kenya, the unemployment rate among women is twice that of men, standing at 40.3 percent for women against 18.5 percent for men, according to the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey released by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics in 2023.

For women in Kayole-Soweto informal settlement, one of the many slums in Nairobi, Kenya, the unemployment rate could be much higher. A training center that offers tailoring and beauty classes supported by UCESCO Africa, a non-governmental organization based in Nairobi, is one of the many projects in the region to empower women to sustain themselves and their families.