Professional Documents
Culture Documents
1
T.O. Ojienda
e) To deliver services that addresses the specific needs and interests of women and
men in the community, which requires engendered economic development,
development planning and resources allocation.
f) To create awareness of women’s rights.
My government is going to tackle the following In three key factors in its aim
towards achieving substantive gender equality in economic development;
i) Availing sex disaggregated statistical data on economic performance, which
will facilitate assessment of men’s and women’s contribution to the impact on
the economy.
ii) Mainstreaming of gender issues into economic development policies, rather
than having gender-specific policies; and
iii) Implementation of measures that support all disadvantaged groups, not just
women, in having equal access to resources.
Based on the fact that in Kenya, women’s rights to inherit and own property have
been a subject of discussion on the continent on fact that Widows are faced with hard
times following the demise of their spouses. They are not able to exercise their rights
because customary laws have premium over statutory ones in many countries despite
international conventions and declarations. To this end my government will spear head
amendments to the constitution to empower women in their claims over marital property.
My government appreciates that equality between men and women is enshrined in the
Constitution of this republic. Legally, men and women have the freedom to do business
and share equal rights in the areas of property ownership, land tenure, entering into
contracts, inheritance, and civil transactions. However, as in many other countries, due to
both historical and cultural reasons, women entrepreneurs in Kenya tend to be
disproportionately disadvantaged when it comes to actually exercising their legal rights.
My office is recently handed to the A.G. a draft Law on Gender quality which
outlines the basic principles of gender quality, not only in general but in specific areas,
including business and professional development. Specifically, the law affirms that men
and women who start and develop businesses, cooperatives, and household economic
activities must receive equal opportunities and face the same conditions for accessing
funding, resources and markets, and tax incentive policies. The law also introduces a
number of affirmative measures aimed to narrow the gender gap, including training
opportunities for women. Most importantly, the law aims to establish an effective
mechanism for the enforcement of gender equality in society. Finally, the law provides
that all future legislation and policies be evaluated for potential gender impact before
being passed
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A. Lundstrom and Stevenson, L., On the Road to Entrepreneurship Policy, Swedish Foundation for Small
Business Research, 2002.
oriented regional development activities. State funds have been granted on the condition
that at least 50 per cent is financed by other regional or local funds. The Government
argues that, with this set-up, other investors - traditional participants - will learn to handle
projects that focus on women.
Lastly my government has come up with some proposed Institutional factors
related to the political system with examples with regard to voting being:
1. Registration procedures (cultural norms and values may prohibit women from
having a photograph taken for voter registration cards or from showing their face
to male officers in polling boots, prevent women from voting).
2. Voting procedures (if the elections are not secret women may be controlled by
their husbands), accessibility of polling stations (in general women are less free to
move around).
3. Civic education (women have got less education and are usually less informed
about the electoral process, the meaning of elections and the right to vote).
and with regard to nomination and election being;
1. In the selection criteria: the high level of education, the membership of certain
professions, as well as party activism and service, are easier to deal with for
men.
2. Women are not involved in systems as patronage and clientelism; systems that
bring people in decision-making positions.
3. Another important factor is the selection process and the electoral and
political system. Important criteria in systems dealing with individual
candidates (rather than party lists) are popularity with opinion leaders, right
family connections and sufficient funds. These criteria are more difficult to
obtain by women.
4. Preferential voting can be an advantage for women candidates.
5. Important is whether there are specific policies to increase women’s
participation (reserved seats, quotas).
6. The political climate is often characterized by aggressiveness, competitiveness
and discrimination or intimidation of women, discouraging many women to
enter politics or to continue once they have come involved in it.
Lastly I release to this cabinet a report study handed to me during theInter-
Parliamentary Union (IPU), Council of European Municipalities and Regions
8% 10 % (’94)
30 %
25 % 41 % (‘99)
1 %
24 % 52 % (’99)
30 % 18 % (’99)
16 % (’95) 25 % (’99)
10 % 6 % (’99)
9 % 3 % (’99)
(CEMR).