Women are critical to advancing gender justice and equality.
But they continue to be vastly under-represented in decision-making in politics, businesses and in our communities.
Women representation in high-level leadership positions remains critically low in Kenya, even within international organisations that shape global dialogue.
The country is also lagging behind in embracing gender parity in political and corporate leadership. The Constitution, through affirmative action, seeks to elevate women to a pedestal that has hitherto been the preserve of men, but it has not been an easy ride.
Women are critical to advancing gender justice and equality, but continue to be vastly under-represented in decision-making in politics, businesses and in our communities.
This far, women constitute 28 per cent of Cabinet. They also account for only 23 per cent of the National Assembly and Senate elected leaders, a gender analysis by National Democratic Institute and the Federation of Women Lawyers-Kenya reveals.
CORPORATE SPHERE
A study on gender equality at the workplace by Nairobi Securities Exchange, Equileap and New Faces New Voices shows that in the corporate sphere, women represent only 22 per cent of management.
Despite Covid-19 dampening the overall outlook in 2020, Kenyan women have something to celebrate — we have more women who have overcome barriers to leadership and influence to the decision-making table.
We honour some who have made it to local, regional and international executive leadership positions in the last six months.
Sharon Obonyo - Acting Chief Executive Officer, National Water Harvesting and Storage Authority She was appointed by the authority’s board to take over from Eng Geoffrey Sang, who was interdicted over graft allegations. Until her appointment in April, Ms Obonyo was the authority’s chief legal officer. She previously served as a legal officer for the Geothermal Development Company.