Current Projects and Programmes at JOOF

LEADERSHIP AND GOVERNANCE

Gender Equality And Women's Participation In Leadership

Introduction

In most African Countries women disproportionately bear the burden of poverty. This is mainly because of the gender-based division of labour, which has traditionally kept women in the private sphere, leaving the public sphere exclusively for men. This type of division of labour is not only prescribed by culture and tradition but is also provided by the law.

In 1995 at the UN Fourth world Conference on Women in Beijing, China specific target were set to ensure women were recognized and that government would make a concerted effort to put in place strategies to get more women on board with a view to gaining equal access to and full participation in power and decision making structures.

Despite traditionally low status of women in the Kenyan society, legislation has been passed which outlaws discrimination on the basis of sex and a number of policies that perpetuate inequalities have been amended. In law, women and men in Kenya have equal access to political participation, health and education services, and employment and property ownership.

The 1981 Law of 'Succession Act gave women and men equal right to inherit, own and dispose of property. During the constitutional review, women led organizations were actively involved in lobbying the government to enact proposals that would greatly advance women's rights as well as a provision for a third representation of women in all levels of government. However in spite of this inroads, numerous obstacles have ensured that women continue to lag behind.

Patriarchal structures, political party structures, electoral systems and societal attitudes that still consider women to be unequal to men has disempowered them barring them from political and other leadership structures.

Socio-Cultural Factors:

Psychological Barriers

Economic Constraints and Lack of Training

Women comprise more than half of the world's population and therefore cannot be considered as a minority. In Kenya, women make up slightly over 56% of the population. Women are involved in all political parties in Kenya yet also though they make up of 51% of the voters, their political presence is almost negligible.

Although women's enrolment in primary and secondary education is encouraging, areas such as higher education, political participation and non-agricultural sector employment continue to be out of reach for most Kenyan women (GOK and UN, 2003). On taking office President Kibaki appointed six women to his government, three ministers and three Assistant Ministers …..Women in parliament. There are only…..women out of 70 District Commissioners, and between 10 and 20% hold elective positions in local authorities. In the corporate/private sector, ..%hold managerial positions.

The exclusion of women from positions of power and decision-making processes has left women worse off. Promoting enabling strategies and participatory democracy therefore demands that women's participation as leaders and their contributions as takers/users are necessary and a prerequisite for sustainable growth.

Kenya is witnessing the expansion of male leadership unfortunately accompanied by unacceptable relegation of women. This glaring contradiction is unacceptable and needs to be corrected through urgent and positive affirmative action. Even through democratic pluralism, democratic institutions and fundamental civil liberties have expanded we still recognize that far to many people, particularly women are still vulnerable.

Poverty, unemployment and social disintegration too often result in isolation, marginalization and violence. The challenge will be how to manage these processes that encourage more women participation so as to enhance their benefits and mitigate any negative effects on people.

Moving Forward
Political empowerment for women continues to be a major challenge in developing countries. The need for a critical mass of women in leadership positions has been necessitated by the fact that national policies completely ignore the impact of such laws on the lives of women, men and their families.

Participation of women can make a change at social, economical and political levels because their views and concerns reflect the concerns of the society as a whole. Studies indicate that orphan care, health, schools and cultural affairs are gain importance as the number of women in local political bodies increases. Our Minister for Health, has been lobbying for universal health care through the National Health Insurance Scheme, while in the Water Ministry, public-private management of water to ensure its is accessible to all continues to take root.

In countries with high poverty levels, the number of women actively involved at leadership positions is decreasing. However thanks to the affirmative action, Kenya has been able to improve the ratio of women by implementing the 30% minimum requirement.

Recognizing that empowering people particularly women, to strengthen their own capacities is a main objective of development and its principal resource, the goal of this project is to empower more women to take up leadership roles in order to transform structures, practices and cultures of governing institutions.