WUNRN
KENYA - WOMEN'S REPRESENTATION KEY
TO DEVELOPMENT
By Miriam Gathigah
However,
this large population of women is invisible in key decision-making processes,
particularly in governance - at both local and national level. Even though the
trend is slowly changing in
Of the 222
Members of Parliament, only 22 are women - with only 16 having been elected and
6 nominated. Since 2003 when the number of women stood at 18, there has been a
notable positive change in how various ministries conduct business.
The need for
an engendered process cannot be over-emphasised due to the fact that men and
women leaders have been known to have varying political interests, and
consequently different practical strategic needs. "At the policy level, we
have seen various gender responsive laws such as the Sexual Offences Act of
2006 introduced in parliament by a sitting female MP, Hon Njoki Ndung’u. There
is also the Children’s Act of 2002, Employment Act of 2007, Political Parties
Act of 2007.The significance of these pieces of legislation in seeking gender
equality and equity is important," explains Kakuvi Njoka, a Lawyer in
The
Employment Act, as well as the Political Parties Act, looks into key issues of
gender representation in the socio-economic and political arena. They are
geared towards promoting equal participation by both men and women and to
discourage practices that are gender discriminative.
"Both
Acts provide a minimum threshold of the number of women, since they are the
marginalised gender that should be considered in both employment and in
political parties. They therefore speak to the Presidential Decree that stated
that there should be at least 30 percent of women representation in all public
offices," Jane Malika, a gender activist in Nairobi, explains
"With
the introduction of the Women’s Fund, a micro finance kitty, more women are now
able to access loans from the government but after having been taken through
various levels of capacity building," explains Dan Maingi, an accountant
in Kiambu County, Central Kenya.
The
introduction of live coverage of Parliament has also shown a paradigm shift in
the direction that debates in Parliament have taken and other policies that
have resulted from these debates such as the Sessional Paper No 2 of 2006 on
Gender Equality and Development, National Land Policy, National Reproductive
and Health Policy, Gender Policy in Education of 2007 and the National Policy
for the Abandonment of Female Genital Mutilation (2008- 2012).
Through the
urging of female MPs, in 2007 the government committed itself to set aside
close to 125 thousand dollars to address a fundamental problem. It had been
noted that female pupils and students, particularly in rural areas where the
population is more afflicted with poverty, would be absent from school for five
days in a month due to a lack of sanitary towels. This translates to two months
of not attending school in one academic year.
A recent study
conducted by the African Population and Health Research Centre (APHRC) and the
Division of Reproductive Health, Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation shows
that sanitary towels are not always available and girls from slums suffer the
most.
This public
discussion of a topic that was previously taboo due to the conservative nature
of the society, has led to well-wishers making donations towards ensuring that
girls do not stay out of school due to a lack of sanitary towels.
Imperative
to note is also the process of Constitutional Review that recently saw
This can be
reflected in the organisation of the Committee of Experts mandated with the
task of drafting the Constitution, as well as some of the Clauses within the
document which include the Affirmative Action Clause which stipulates that at
least a third of either gender should be represented in various elective positions.
Although
having more women in leadership positions does not necessarily translate into
gender equality, women’s active participation in decision- making is essential.