Women should not shoulder a world they can’t lead

There’s a quote that Melinda French Gates shared in the 2022 Goalkeepers Report: “We can’t just talk about empowering women without making sure they are actually gaining power in their families and communities.” Deep in rural western Kenya, in Cheptais village, women attending a workshop sang: “ who am I ? I am a woman. …

Gender Based Violence Impedes Gains on Sustainable Development Goals

The COVID-19 pandemic led to an increase in domestic violence against women.  The poor economic and social conditions in most countries coupled with the lockdown measures exacerbated abuse and control. Globally, it is estimated that one in three women has experienced physical or sexual assault in her life (WHO, 2013).  Besides being a fundamental human …

Spotlight on Gender Equality at COP27

The world is gathered from November 6- 18th 2022 in Egypt for the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference or Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC, more commonly referred to as COP27.  This is the 27th United Nations Climate Change conference since inception. Monday, 14th  during the Gender Day at the conference the Executive …

Kenyan executive still stagnant on women numbers

With a new government in place after August elections and reinstatement of the president’s win by the Supreme Court of Kenya, a new cabinet is on its way.  The president presented a list of 26 individuals as nominees for posts of cabinet secretaries, attorney general and advisors on various issues.  Of these: 1 is an …

2022 presents some small strides forward for Kenyan women in politics

Kenya has just concluded her general elections on 9th August as mandated by the constitution.  This year’s elections were interesting- from a gender perspective- as 3 out of the 4 presidential contestants had female running mates, who would become deputy presidents in the event of a win.  The contestant who didn’t pick a woman, instead, …

The Missing Third

According to World Economic Forum report 2017, a Kenyan woman is paid Kenya shillings 55 for every 100 paid to a man doing a similar job.  The 2021 Global Gender Index report (benchmarks progress towards gender parity and compares countries’ gender gaps across four dimensions: economic opportunities, education, health and political leadership) ranks Kenya at …