WUNRN
KENYA - GOVERNMENT FUNDS FREE
SANITARY PADS FOR SCHOOLGIRLS
Gender Responsive Budgeting at
Work in Kenya
NAIROBI, Jul 25, 2011 (IPS) - For
the first time ever, the finance minister has allocated almost four million
dollars from the current national budget to provide free sanitary pads to
schoolgirls.
This comes after persistent pressure
from women parliamentarians who took the issue of girls’ absenteeism from
school, due to lack of sanitary pads, to parliament. It was a campaign that
left their male counterparts speechless, for such matters are rarely spoken about
in public, let alone in parliament, in Kenya’s conservative society.
In their persistent lobbying, the women parliamentarians brought to the fore a
problem that could have continued to hinder the education of young girls.
Thirteen-year-old Dorothy Akinyi, a standard seven pupil from Kibera, which is
arguably the largest slum in Africa, stays at home every time she menstruates.
"Without sanitary pads life at school is difficult. We are subjected to
very embarrassing and humiliating incidences, especially from the boys. Tying a
pullover around your waist to hide the soiled patch behind your uniform in case
the tissue leaks is a dead giveaway. We choose to stay at home," explains
Akinyi. But the situation is bound to change for Akinyi and other girls like
her. But only if the money allocated for the sanitary wear is spent
efficiently.
"This is gender responsive budgeting at work. Being sensitive to the
distinctive needs of men and women, while allocating and spending public
funds," explains Jacinta Nyachae, executive director of Kenya Aids Law
Project and an advocate of human rights.
Her comments come just as Rwanda prepares to host a global high level meeting
on increasing accountability and developing effectiveness through gender
responsive budgeting in Kigali from 26 to 28 Jul. The meeting is held in
conjunction with the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the
Empowerment of Women and the European Union.
But girls are not the only ones to have benefitted from a gender sensitive
strategy. In a move that has seen women break socio-political economic
barriers, the planning and budgeting for the establishment of the ministry of
gender and children affairs remains government’s strongest show of its
commitment to address gender inequality.
"But gender planning and budgeting is not enough, the rampant corruption
across various government ministries is a clear indication that there’s need
for tracking and monitoring how these funds are used," explains a source
from the G-10 alliance, which is a coalition of women organisations fighting
for women’s rights.
The source adds: "The Women Enterprise Fund suffered allegations (that)
needy women (could not) accessing the fund. The same can be said of education
bursaries and money channelled through the Constituency Development Fund (CDF),
various audits into the CDF kitty have revealed massive corruption."
Corruption is an issue that Kenya is struggling to deal with. At the moment, 31
civil society activists have been remanded in a Nairobi cell after being
arrested in Jul. 18 during a long-drawn vigilance to have the minister of
education resign over massive corruption allegations.
Although the issue of transparency and accountability is yet to be mainstreamed
alongside the gender mainstreaming process, various attempts to lift the plight
of women have been partially successful. While the Women Enterprise Fund has
been accused of not reaching all the women who need the money, it has made a
difference to the lives of many.