Kenya lags behind on gender equality

Last year, Kenya posted remarkable results in the World Bank Doing Business 2020 report index.

The country, East Africa’s largest economy, finished at position 61 in ease of doing business index, out of the 190 economies surveyed.

Kenya was ranked among countries that delivered the highest number of reforms, making it the third most competitive economy in Africa after Mauritius (13th) and Rwanda (38).

However, the impressive ranking on ease of doing business is extremely opposite of the country’s continental ranking on gender equality.

According to the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report (GGGR) 2020, Kenya is ranked 109 out of the 153 African countries, scoring an index of 0.671.

ECONOMIC PARTICIPATION

GGGR measured four key dimensions among them economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival and political empowerment.

Despite the innumerable interventions geared towards achieving gender equality and empowerment of women, Kenya still lags behind.

The country no doubt, needs to borrow a leaf from Rwanda and South Africa, which have increased women’s representation in middle-level management roles by 27 per cent and 15 per cent respectively.

On political inclusion, Ethiopia (which has a female president), Rwanda, and South Africa have each achieved gender balance in their cabinets and parliaments.

In Kenya, women account for 23 per cent of the National Assembly and Senate, a figure that includes seats reserved exclusively for women representatives.

GENDER BILL

Political participation for Kenyan women is yet to meet the constitutional provision. The Gender Bill that was expected to ensure two-thirds gender rule remains a mirage despite three attempts to have it passed by Parliament.

Currently, out of the 349 MPs in the National Assembly, only 76 legislators are female.

According to the Constitution, the National Assembly should have at least 117 female MPs, which means the House has a deficit of 41 female legislators as is required by law.

The Senate is not doing any better. It has 21 female senators instead of the required 23.

Last month, the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) kicked-off a fresh process that seeks to compel President Uhuru Kenyatta to dissolve Parliament for failing to initiate implementation of constitutional provisions that would ensure gender balance in both levels of government.

PUBLIC OFFICERS

In a petition, the legal agency asked Chief Justice David Maraga to write to President Kenyatta to advise him on dissolving Parliament, on grounds that no laws have been crafted to enable implementation of Section 27 of the Constitution.

The section requires both levels of government to ensure neither gender has more than two thirds of public officers, whether elected or appointed.

A review of gender equality in the private sector done last year, focusing on companies listed at the Nairobi Securities Exchange showed that women account for 23 per cent of board members.

Public Service and Gender Cabinet Secretary Prof Margret Kobia, who spoke during the launch of Women Empowerment Index on Monday last week, noted that the measurements used in the GGGR 2020, leaves out key parameters where women are affected disproportionately.

She added that the global call to ‘leave no one behind’ under the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) ensures progress is not just an improvement in averages, but that gains are felt by disadvantaged groups.

SOCIAL EXCLUSION

“For women and girls, this means monitoring their health and educational outcomes; their representation in positions of power; their economic position; and, their vulnerability to violence, discrimination and social exclusion,” said Prof Kobia.

This, she added, , is through development of policies and legislative frameworks enabled by the Constitution that upholds a set of values and principles that enhance equality and inclusivity and outlaws discriminatory practices and actions.

She noted that attaining gender equality is a slow but sure process that includes changing cultural practices and value systems, which takes a lot more than changes in law or policy to incorporate adjustments at the individual, family, and community and even at national levels.

“The enabling institutional architecture for the realisation of the protection of women’s rights and the affirmative action measures are also firmly anchored on the various international and regional commitments and treaties that Kenya is a signatory to. These obligations are instrumental in tracking and monitoring changes in women's empowerment at both the national and county levels,” she said.

LACK OPPORTUNITIES

The CS gave some of the notable frameworks as being Sexual Offences Act (2006), National Policy for the Prevention and Response to Gender-Based Violence, 2015, Prevention against Domestic Violence Act (2015), National Policy on Eradication of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), 2019 and National Policy on Gender and Development (2019).

UN Country Resident Coordinator Siddahorth Chatterjee said gender inequality was costing Kenya and other countries in the Sub-Saharan region huge sums to the tune of 95 billion US dollars because of lack of opportunities for women.

Chatterjee observed when women are not fully empowered, involved in work and not in control of their reproductive health, then improvement reigns.

He added even if the country has made major strides in women empowerment, there is need to step-up the fight against Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), child marriages and Gender Based Violence (GBV) which is on the rice.

“Kenya is a beacon of hope in the region and should accelerate investment in women and girls. Vision 2030 and SDGs are key because they will help in the realization of gender equality,” he said.

STATISTICS

Gender Principal Secretary Prof Colleta Suda noted it is paramount for State and non-State actors to generate gender statistics to guide policy formulation, planning, budgeting and programming.

The PS said the State department for gender is currently struggling in getting timely and accurate information on GBV, child marriages, teenage pregnancies and FGM county by county.

“We need to have statistics that will inform our interventions. It is critical that as the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics gathers data, they give us information on some of the important indicators that show dis-empowerment among women,” said Prof Suda.

She added there is urgent need for current disaggregated data on teenage pregnancy, child marriage, FGM and GBV since the data the government is currently using was collected six years ago.

UN Women says globally, few countries allocate resources for gender statistics, yet gender differentiated data is important to help inform policy and decisions.

Without reliable data, national governments, development agencies and actors cannot accurately identify or address structural inequalities, or evaluate the impact of decisions and services provided to the population.

“Gender statistics can help us understand the factors behind the high incidents on gender-based violence in the country, including wife beating, femicide, female genital mutilation and child marriage, all of which have been heightened by the Covid-19 pandemic,” she said.