International Development Grant
Ms President
Project Number: CA-3-P006528001
Status: Closed
Country/Region:
Maximum Contribution: $240,000.00
Start Date: December 20, 2018
End Date: December 31, 2020
Duration: 2.0 years
Project Description
This project aims to empower and raise the voice of Kenyan women to become leaders in building and governing a more peaceful and equitable Kenya through the use of media for social change. The project works to produce a 26-episode reality television series called Ms President where women are selected to act as presidential candidates and engage on issues such as women’s rights and the empowerment of women adolescent girls and girls in politics peacebuilding reconciliation and social cohesion. In parallel the project facilitates media practitioners’ ability to change media content to portray women as leaders in their communities and to challenge discriminatory social norms that continue to depict women as inferior to men. It also strengthens the capacity of the selected women presidential candidates in the reality television series to have more effective messaging and to act as influential political leaders and change agents for gender equality in Kenya. In addition the initiative partners with civil society and women’s rights organizations post-production and use the television series as a way to increase dialogue among civil society actors local and national conflict resolution and peace-building groups as well as government officials about women’s leadership roles in peacebuilding in three counties in Kenya affected by insecurity and violent extremism.
Expected Results
The expected outcomes for this project include: (1) increased leadership positions for women who have participated in the show; and (2) increased effectiveness of civil society actors notably the media in promoting and supporting women leadership in their communities in peacebuilding and in preventing violent extremism.
Progress & Results Achieved
Results achieved as of the end of the project (December 2020) include: (1) Media Focus Africa screened 26 episodes of the television (TV) show which attracted an estimated average of 3.5 million viewers per week; (2) broadcasted on Kenya’s main TV channel the show significantly increased the leadership and influence of the top five Kenyan women contestants. They built a campaign team campaigned in different parts of Kenya’s capital and participated in a live televised debate before the final episode where the audience (147 099 people) voluntarily voted for their choice of Ms President using text messages; (3) 67% of women and young women contestants in the reality television series expressed an increase in their self-confidence in public speaking in their sense of empowerment and in being more effective agents of change in their communities; (4) 597 contestants and audience members (of which 51% women) reported having taken political and civic leadership positions in their community and other counties in Kenya after the end of the series; and (5) after the show production and broadcast three local civil society organizations used the show to implement community focus group discussions in counties affected by conflict and violence to promote women’s leadership roles in peacebuilding and inclusive governance.
Key Information
Executing Agency:
Media Focus on Africa
Reporting Organization:
Global Affairs Canada
Program:
WGM Africa
Last Modified:
September 19, 2025
Development Classifications
DAC Sector:
Aid Type: Project-type interventions
Collaboration: Bilateral
Finance Type: Aid grant excluding debt reorganisation
Selection Mechanism:
Unsolicited Proposal