The first meeting of the bi-annual national gender sector working group held in Nairobi has underscored critical milestones that the country has achieved in promoting gender equality.
Among them are policy and legislative interventions as well as strategies that foster inclusivity, ensuring that no one is left behind.
Acting Cabinet Secretary for Gender, Culture, the Arts and Heritage, Musalia Mudavadi in a statement described the policies as groundbreaking guidelines that will close the existing gender gaps between men and women in the society.
He noted that both the National Care Policy and National Policy on Women’s Economic Empowerment, currently in their final stages of development by the ministry, recognize the unique contributions that both men and women can make to ensure dignity of life and well-being of all Kenyans.
While the National Care Policy aims to recognize, reduce and redistribute unpaid care work, the National Policy on Women’s Economic Empowerment on the other hand seeks to provide equitable access to economic empowerment opportunities, both contributing to improved quality of life.
Mudavadi further highlighted the significant steps that have been made so far to promote women’s meaningful participation in leadership and decision-making in the country.
Through the report of the Multi-Sectoral Working Group on the realization of the not more than two-thirds gender principle, elaborate proposals for strengthening and achieving proportionate gender representation in elective and appointive positions have been outlined.
The sector working group has also scaled up the male engagement and inclusion strategy to counties to ensure grassroots involvement. The initiatives recognize men and boys both as allies and integral partners necessary to break the inequality barriers. So far, 21 counties have successfully launched male and engagement and inclusion sub-committees.
As the world gears to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary since the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, the convention also took stock of the progress that Kenya has made in the twelve critical areas of the declaration.