Our History
The Institute for Faith and Gender Empowerment (IFAGE) was initially registered as Ekklesia Foundation for Gender Education in 2013 until 2019, when the name
was changed to: “Institute for Faith and Gender Empowerment” by the board of directors/management in-line with new realities in the community and the need to scale up its impact.
The idea behind IFAGE on faith and gender justice was conceived by the Reverend Domnic Misolo, a young Anglican priest from Kenya, after reading Christians for Biblical Equality (CBE) academic journals during his theological/seminary education at St. Paul’s University in Kenya.
This personal and in-depth research on the topic of gender completely changed his attitude and worldview regarding women and the role of a faith community in advancing justice and equality for both men and women in any society.
The main objective was, and still is, to address gender-gaps in the African context and to challenge structures and systems of patriarchy, poverty, and attitudes in the society which fuel violence against women and girls.
Since then, IFAGE has been at the fore-front challenging retrogressive social, religious, and political structures in the society through advocating for gender justice, equality, and women’s empowerment.
Awareness about these topics has been raised through annual conferences, training, leadership development, and education support for needy female students. The majority of these needy female students have been survivors of sexual violence, among other things. More avenues for dialogue and advocacy with community leadership and faith actors have arisen.
The Reverend Misolo, who asked to be relieved by the bishop from full time responsibility as a church priest, has dedicated his life and ministry to empower communities in Africa with knowledge and skills regarding gender justice and equality.
Read more on how the Rev. Misolo was led on the path of gender justice and equality.