Kenya Situational Analysis

Situational Analysis On Women In Political Participation (WPP) In Kenya

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Acknowledgements Table Of Contents

First and foremost, the Women in Political Participation (WPP) Program Team wishes to thank the resource partners (International IDEA and Sweden Sverige) and implementing partners WLSA, Padare, Gender Link, FEMNET and IFAN for their support and cooperation during this exercise. Secondly, we highly appreciate the FAWE Regional Leadership Team led by Executive Director Martha Muhwezi and her deputy, Teresa Omondi, for their policy support and technical backstopping during this study. We equally acknowledge the technical, administrative and logistical support provided by the WPP Coordination Team at FAWE Regional Secretariat during the entire exercise. To this end, special commendations go to Racheal Ouko (Programme Officer WPP), Lilian Bett, Joan Too, and Rose Atieno. We also wish to thank Kelvin Omwansa, Michael Onguss, Elsie Moraa, Emily Buyaki, Juliet Kimotho, Julie Khamati (FAWE Regional Secretariat) and Terry Otieno (FAWE Kenya) for their effective participation in the review as study participants.

Executive Summary

Chapter One : Review Context 1

1.1 Project Background 1 1.2 Purpose, Objectives, and Questions

At the three levels, FAWE teams played their roles very well to ensure timely and successful completion of this undertaking.

We also note the working restrictions due to the COVID 19 pandemic. But most respondents braved these challenges to meet work demands and ultimately gave insights and experiences that informed this exercise’s success. Consequently, we are indebted to the various categories of respondents from Kenya, including parliamentarians, officials of independent institutions, NGOs/CSOs, political leaders, and activists, among other respondents whom the consultants spoke to seeking their perspective on the situation of WPP in their respective countries. We thank them most sincerely for their invaluable contributions. Finally, we wish to thank the research team from the CRI-EA led by Andiwo Obondoh with support from Odhiambo Ochieng’ and Irene Tindi, both Research Associates.

1.3 Review Audience and Stakeholders across Kenya

2 1.4 Review Methodology 3

1.4.1 Review Techniques or Data Collection Methods 3 1.4.2 Data Analysis 4 1.4.3 Sampling Procedures 4 1.4.4 Validation of Draft Report

5 1.5 Study Limitations/Risks and Mitigation Measures

Chapter Two :Review Results on Status and Trends 8

2.1 Regional Overview - Africa 8 2.2 The Situation in Kenya ............................................................................................. 10

Chapter Three : Review Results on the Role of Policy and Normative Frameworks in Promoting WPP in Africa 14 3.1 Domestication of ACDEG 14 and Maputo Protocol 14 3.2 Compliance, Legislative and Policy Actions in Response to ACDEG

16 3.3 Emerging Opportunities through the

20 Implementation of ACDEG 20

Chapter Four : Review

Results on Constraints

and Barriers to Strengthening WPP 22

4.1 Introduction and Regional Overview 22 4.2 Socio-Cultural Barriers ................................................................................................. 23 4.3 Economic and Financial Barriers .................................................................................. 25 4.4 Barriers Related to Tools, Capacities & Resources ..................................................... 26 4.5 Electoral Violence and Political Barriers 27 4.6 Legislative and Legal Barriers 30 4.7 Highlights on Institutional Barriers: 30 4.8 Summary of Barriers and Challenges in Kenya .......................................................... 31

Chapter Five: Review Results on Commendable Efforts

and Success Stories 38

5.1 Global and Regional Picture 38 5.2 Progress in Sub Saharan Africa ................................................................................... 39 5.3 Some Good Stories from Kenya.................................................................................... 41 5.5. Kenya’s Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) & SDG 5 ....................................................... 44

Chapter Six : Review Results on Benefits, Strategies and Tools for Women in Political Leadership and Decision Making 50

6.1 Benefits of Women’s Political Participation ................................................................. 50 6.2 Strategies Undertaken by Different Actors in Kenya 53 6.3 Cross-cutting Strategies for Promoting Women Political Participation 56 6.4 Available Tools and Resources for Promoting WPP 57

Chapter Seven : Conclusions for Learning and Adaptation 60

7.1 Conclusions 60 7.1.1 General and Overarching 60 7.1.2 Conclusions for Kenya 62 7.2 Lessons and Opportunities for Strengthening WPP 62 7.3 Learning and Adaptation for WPP ....................................................................... 63 7.4 Project SWOT from the Lens of WPP Team at FAWE ........................................... 64 7.5 Key Research and Learning Questions for WPP 64 7.6 Sustaining WPP Efforts and Results 65

Chapter Eight : Targeted and Actionable Recommendations 68

8.1 Recommendations for AU, ECOSOCC & RECs 68 8.2 Recommendations for Governments/Parliaments 69 8.4 Recommendations for Political Parties and Actors 71 8.5 Recommendations for Elections Management Bodies (IEBC & NEC) ................ 72 8.6 Recommendations for the Judiciary and Independent State Institutions ......... 72 8.7 Recommendations for Media and FBOs ............................................................. 73 8.8 Recommendations for Women Leaders in Leadership/ Political Positions 74 8.8 Recommendations for WPP Project and Partner CSOs 74

Selected List of References 77

Annexes 78

Acronyms

AAIK: Action Aid International Kenya

ACDEG: African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance

ACHPR: African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights

ACTIL: African Centre for Transformative and Inclusive Leadership

AG: Attorney General

AMWIK: Association of Media Women in Kenya

ANC: Amani National Congress

AU: African Union BBI: Building Bridges Initiative

CAR: Central African Republic

CCM: Chama Cha Mapinduzi

CCT: Christian Council of Tanzania

CEDAW: Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination Against Women

CHRAGG: Commission for Human Rights and Good Governance

CJPC: Catholic Justice and Peace Commission

CMD: Center for Multiparty Democracy

COVAW: Coalition on Violence Against Women

CRECO: Constitution and Reform Education Consortium

CRI-EA: Centre for Research and Innovations in East Africa

CSOs: Civil Society Organizations

CSW: Commission on the Status of Women

D.P : Democratic Party of Kenya

EAC: East African Community

ELOG: Election Observation Group

FAWE: Forum for African Women Educationalists

FBOs: Faith Based Organisations

FES: Friedrich Ebert Stiftung

FGDs: Focus Group Discussions

FIDA Kenya: Federation of Women Lawyers

FORD Kenya: Forum for the Restoration of Democracy – Kenya

GDP: Gross Domestic Product

GoK: Government of Kenya

ICCPR: International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

IDEA: International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance

IEBC: Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission

IED: Institute for Education in Democracy

IPU: Inter-Parliamentary Union

KANU: Kenya African National Union

KEWOPA: Kenya Women Parliamentary Association

KIIs: Key Informants Interviews

KNCHR: Kenya National Commission on Human Rights

MCA: Member of County Assembly

M.P : Member of Parliament

NARC Kenya: National Rainbow Coalition Kenya

NASA: National Super Alliance

NCCK: National Council of Churches of Kenya

NDI: National Democratic Institute

NGOs: Non-Governmental Organisations

PIL: Public Interest Litigation

PSC: Parliamentary Service Commission

SADC: South African Development Community

SDGs: Sustainable Development Goals

SUPKEM: Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims

SWOT: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats

ToR: Terms of Reference

UDHR: Universal Declaration on Human Rights

UN: United Nations USA: United States of America

WPP: Women in Political Participation

Executive Summary

Ms. Martha R.L. Muhwezi

In partnership with the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA), FAWE has implemented the Women in Political Participation (WPP) program for three years. The project aims to increase women’s political participation and representation in line with the Maputo Protocol of 2003, the Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa (SDGEA), and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The project is implemented in eight African countries: Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Eswatini, Cote d’Ivoire, Kenya, Senegal, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe. The project comes against the backdrop of the continued under-representation of women in political spaces and decision-making in political and public spheres. This marginalisation is irrespective of the numerous efforts to enhance the participation of women in politics in most African countries.

The overall objective of this situational analysis was to conduct an assessment of women political participation in Kenya. It identifies obstacles women face in their quest for participation and makes recommendations for reforms and remedial action. The review audience and stakeholders across Kenya included selected female parliamentarians, independent institutions, civil society organisations (CSOs), women political activists and selected women political leaders at national/sub-national levels) and the FAWE WPP team at the regional office, Kenya Chapter. Working closely with the WPP team at FAWE, the review team from the Centre for Research and Innovations in East Africa (CRI-EA) used a mixed-methods approach combining different techniques for both secondary and primary data collection. To provide a rich contextual background study, they critically analysed secondary sources of information. The sources comprised a comprehensive review of relevant literature and project documents. Methods for primary data collection entailed in-depth interviews with different stakeholders, including Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs). The discussions were guided by interview schedules and checklists crafted to ensure the collection of relevant information.

The section in which we discuss results and findings is divided into four components: status/trends, the role of policy/ normative frameworks, constraints/threats, efforts/success stories and benefits that accrue from women participation in politics and governance. Highlights of some of the significant findings are outlined hereunder. From the analysis, we conclude that despite a celebratory rise in women’s representation in political offices and top echelons of public service around Africa, women are still under-represented as voters and in leadership positions whether in elected office, the civil service, the private sector or academia. This sidelining occurs despite their proven abilities as leaders and agents of change and their right to participate equally in democratic governance.

Executive Director FAWE Africa

According to the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), only 23.6 per cent of parliamentarians in Africa are women, with Rwanda, Namibia, and South Africa having the highest proportion of women in Parliament at 61.3 per cent, 46.2 per cent, and 42.4 per cent, respectively (IPU, 2018). Women’s representation in executive or ministerial positions is even lower than in parliaments, where women held 19.7 per cent of ministerial posts in 2017 (IPU, 2017). The IPU reports have not singled out Kenya as the focus was on performers; this, however, negatively affects women’s ability to influence national decision-making, including program design and resource allocation. Despite notable progress, the marginalisation of women and persistent inequalities are among the challenges that continue to limit the full realisation of democracy (Mindzie et al., 2014). Barriers and threats to WPP are classified into five broad categories – socio-cultural, economic/financial, institutional, political, electoral violence and legislative/legal.

Although Kenya is considered a democratic country that holds periodic elections, the country’s performance on women’s representation has been dismal compared with her East African neighbours. Overall, Kenya is 10% below the East African Community’s (EAC) regional average of 20% representation of women in parliament. This low score is despite a progressive constitution that provides a two-thirds gender rule, which is yet to be implemented ten years down the line.

In both Kenya and Tanzania, like the rest of Africa, strategies to increase women’s participation in politics have been advanced through advocacy, special measures like affirmative action, conventions, protocols domesticating regional/international agreements for gender mainstreaming, but they are yet to prove effective in achieving gender parity in the highest government rankings (Chalaby 2017).

At the regional level, we note that Africa has built up an extensive body of instruments and policies to push forward the women’s rights agenda at the continental, regional, and national levels. These instruments include the Maputo Protocol, the Beijing Platform of Action, the SDG Africa Working Group, the End of the African Women’s Decade, the Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa (SDGEA), the Southern African Development Community’s Protocol on Gender and Development, and the East African Community’s Gender Equality and Development Act. Adopting these policy pronouncements set the agenda for the African Union (AU) member states and other stakeholders to promote gender parity in the democratic governance processes.

However, regardless of the expanded normative commitments by African states, women’s political rights continue to be undermined by inadequate implementation, institutional barriers, discriminatory social norms, as well as by violence and intimidation (Bofu-Tawamba, 2015). Enhancing women’s political empowerment is dependent on a complex interplay of socio-cultural, economic, and political factors. The Maputo Protocol and the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance (ACDEG) rightly recognise the interconnected nature of rights –putting economic, social, and political rights side by side. As noted in UN SDGs, women’s equal participation with men in power and decision-making is part of their fundamental right to participate in political life and at the core of gender equality and women’s empowerment. Full and equal participation of both women and men in political decision-making provides a balance. This harmony more accurately reflects the composition of society. It will enhance the legitimacy of political processes by making them more democratic and responsive to the concerns and perspectives of all segments of society. With the increased participation of women in politics, these are some of the benefits that can accrue.

Section seven on Conclusions for Learning and Adaptation discusses the outcome of this study in general. It outlines key lessons that can effectively guide, review and strengthen the WPP program. We argue that all partners implementing the WPP Program will be expected to adopt an adaptive programming approach which will allow learning and adaptation throughout implementation and work with all the key actors to generate, document and share key learnings periodically. For WPP to find solutions to some of the challenges highlighted in this report, use the lessons to inform interventions or sharpen approaches, the WPP team should consider making regular follow-ups to assess the relevance and effectiveness of WPP approaches continuously. Different ways of sustaining program efforts and results are discussed, focusing on socio-political and economic considerations and program design, strategies and partnership dimensions.

The report ends with targeted and actionable recommendations spelt out for seven actors, AU, ECOSOCC and RECs, Governments/Parliaments, Political Parties and Actors; Election Management Bodies, Independent State Institutions, Media and FBOs and the WPP Program Partners. Both conclusions and recommendations are disaggregated by country. Five different tools used for data collection have been annexed to this report at the end.

South Africa Namibia Rwanda

Chapter One : Review Context

1.1 Project Background

FAWE is a membership-based Pan-African non-governmental organisation (NGO) led by African women working for equality and equity in education across the continent. FAWE works in 33 countries in Africa, promoting gender equity and equality in education by fostering positive policies, practices and attitudes towards girls’ education. FAWE’s work influences government policies, builds public awareness, demonstrates the best educational approach through effective models and encourages governments and education institutions to adopt these models. FAWE also advocates for the participation of women in decision making positions in the community and the elimination of gender discrimination.

In partnership with the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA), FAWE has implemented the Women in Political Participation (WPP) project for three years. The project aims to increase the political participation and representation of women in Africa in line with the Maputo Protocol of 2003, various associated sub-regional protocols and standards, and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). FAWE will implement the project in eight African countries, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Eswatini, Cote d’Ivoire, Kenya, Senegal, Tanzania and Zimbabwe. The project comes against the backdrop of continued underrepresentation of women in political spaces and decision-making in political and public spheres irrespective of the numerous efforts to enhance participation of women in politics in most African countries.

This marginalisation, therefore, occasions the need to change the narrative, raise and sustain the awareness to change prevailing attitudes, examine obstacles to and proposals for reform and change, empower identified champions of change, and share comparative evidence that could propel action. Therefore, the situational analysis identifies obstacles faced by women to allow for a clear and precise identification of the types of challenges presented by different stakeholders in the quest for increased participation in different geographical and political contexts in Kenya and Tanzania. The study outputs such as analysis/discussions, conclusions and recommendations will assist the WPP team with better targeting of project interventions.

FAWE staff pose with Kenyan women leaders and aspiring leaders at the launch of the Intergenerational Mentorship Programme on March 8th 2021. Photo credit: FAWE RS

1.2 Purpose, Objectives, and Questions

The overall objective of this assignment was to conduct a situational analysis on women’s political participation in Kenya and develop country specific papers to inform implementation of the WPP project. Specifically:

i. Research and situational analyses to highlight contemporary issues of relevance to women’s political participation in Africa;

ii. Knowledge generated from the research and analyses to provide various categories of women actors with fresh evidence and perspectives for advancing the cause of participation in decision-making;

iii. Women’s Political Participation and the strategic use of research evidence to add to efforts at building a fairer society that places prime value on their role and contribution

To respond to the above research objectives, the team sought to answer the following questions:

i. What are some of the key contemporary issues affecting and are relevant to women’s political participation in Kenya?

ii. What available/new data & evidence can we generate to guide/inform women political participation?

iii. How can strategic use of data and evidence for decision making improve women’s role and place in politics?

iv. Are there any new/fresh perspectives we can provide to various categories of women actors for advancing the cause of participation in decision-making in Kenya?

v. How can improved women’s political participation support building of a fairer society that places prime value on women’s role and contribution?

vi. How can policy briefs and media articles on the status of women in political participation in Kenya be used for advocacy purposes?

1.3 Review Audience and Stakeholders across Kenya

The following are the review audience and stakeholders:

Parliament: Parliament as a law-making body is a key citadel in originating and maintaining the legal regime of women’s participation in politics. It is, therefore, a key stakeholder in ensuring gender parity in politics and public space in Kenya. We, therefore, targeted include selected Kenya female parliamentarians.

Independent Institutions: Independent institutions are key bodies in promoting and protecting the rights of women’s participation in politics . In this category, we interviewed the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR);

Civil Society Organisations (CSOs): CSOs, particularly women’s rights organisations, have consistently played a pivotal role in expanding the space for women in politics and representation. The following organisations were contacted and responded to the key informant interview schedule (KII) - Oxfam, National Democratic Institute (NDI), Center for Multiparty Democracy (CMD), Legal Resources Foundation (LRF), and Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims (SUPKEM).

Women Political Activists: Selected Women Political Leaders (National, County, and Sub County); Women Political Leaders (Regions, Districts, and Divisions) were contacted. The opinion of the following categories of leadership was sought; Party leaders, Female Members of Parliaments & County Assemblies.

FAWE Regional Secretariat: FAWE is working closely with its national chapter in Kenya to implement the project. The program also works with other national chapters and partners in Botswana, DRC, Zimbabwe, Cote d’Ivoire, Senegal, Eswatini, and other national chapters based in Africa, putting them at the forefront of women’s rights in Africa. The consultants, therefore, sought the views of the regional leadership, WPP team and FAWE coordinators in Kenya.

1.4 Review Methodology

Working closely with the WPP team at FAWE, the review team from CRI used a mixed-methods approach combining different techniques for both secondary and primary data collection. To provide a rich contextual background study, they critically analysed secondary sources of information. The sources comprised a comprehensive review of relevant literature and project documents. Methods for primary data entailed interviews with different stakeholders including, KIIs and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs). The interviews were conducted using interview schedules, FGD guides or a checklist of issues crafted to ensure the collection of relevant information.

1.4.1 Review Techniques or Data Collection Methods

Purposive sampling was used to identify the appropriate respondents in Kenya, particularly in getting data from the target groups. KIIs and FGDs were conducted with persons considered strategic in their participation in and appreciation of the WPP project. As such, the KIIs targeted both internal and external stakeholders. The following data collection methods were employed in this assessment;

The table below contains a complete breakdown of the review techniques for this exercise. It is important to note that the review adopted a purely qualitative approach.

Table I: Review Techniques

Technique/Step Focus Tools/means

1. Literature review & document analysis

Assessed state/level of women participation in politics in Kenya, successes, constraints, threats and opportunities for strengthening women participation..

Desk review informed by a document analysis guide.

Note: The relevant project documents e.g. project proposal and related reports were analysed for insights & perspectives.

2. Key Informant Interviews (KIIs)

Conducted targeted interviews with selected stakeholders for key informant interviews at county/ district, sub-national and national levels.

Zoom, Skype or phone calls. Persons who were considered knowledgeable about women’s rights were interviewed for insights on these areas.

3. Online reviews

Analysis of previous attempts or efforts in promoting women participation in politics.

Links, websites, podcasts, blogs and online reports.

4. Focused group discussions with selected experts and WPP team

Review, discuss and make recommendations on what needs to be done. These will also serve as spaces for experience sharing and lesson learning

Zoom, Google Meet or Skype;

Note I: Persons who were considered strategic to WPP were also approached for their insights regarding the macro level of issues within the project.

Note II: Discussions were held with staff to explore key project design and implementation. The team also examined the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT).

5. Data analysis

6. Reflections with WPP team at FAWE

Data coding, interpretation and analyses CRI team plus analytical tools

These will take the form of validation meetings to build consensus with WPP at FAWE and relevant partners or stakeholders.

Zoom, Google Meet, Skype

7. Reporting Inception, draft and final reports CRI team

1.4.2 Data Analysis

The consultants read through each of the FGD and KII transcripts to identify both the expected and emergent/unexpected themes. Two analytical approaches were triangulated: systematic code-throughcontent analysis and ethnographic summary. First, consultants used simple descriptive statistics such as frequency counts and percentages to display a level of consensus/dissent and response patterns across the focus groups and individual participants. Secondly, the descriptive data helped situate emergent themes in a more meaningful context, thus validating any inferences about the consensus level. Thirdly, the analysis provided an ethnographic summary through direct quotes illustrative of key themes selected from the transcripts and woven together with an accompanying narrative explanation. Selected stories of change are included to augment the collected data.

1.4.3 Sampling Procedures

Purposive sampling was used to identify the appropriate respondents, particularly in getting data from the target groups. KIIs and FGDs were conducted with persons considered strategic in their participation in and appreciation of the WPP program. As such, the KIIs targeted both internal and external stakeholders.

1.4.4 Validation of Draft Report

Importantly, the study findings were synthesized and compiled into a draft report shared with the FAWE team for review and later discussed in a validation workshop held on 9th and 11th March 2021 in Nairobi. The feedback from both reviews was incorporated to improve/strengthen the final report.

1.5 Study Limitations/Risks and Mitigation Measures

The research team took all reasonable measures to mitigate any potential risks to delivering the required outputs of this consultancy on time and strove to meet the expected quality standards. The consultants assumed that the risks to the success of the review ranged between low and medium. They are principally concerned with the ability of the team to gain access to the target population. Given that we engaged through participatory approaches and with project managers and implementers at FAWE, the research team could mitigate the risks. The team was also able to tap into CRI networks and partners across Kenya for good stakeholder engagement and additional reference materials, including videos from FIDA and CMD, as well as recent reports from Oxfam and Tanzania’s Policy Forum. In the outlay below, the team outline the limitations/risks, their impact and how they were mitigated.

Limitations/Risks Focus Tools/means

Risk 1:

Collecting data from stakeholders in Kenya was quite challenging owing to new and heightened political and legal restrictions requiring clearance before engaging citizens in this kind of research.

High: Because the political environment was so hostile and implications tougher, actors were reluctant to offer information or present themselves to be interviewed.

We explored and relied on FAWE, AIHD, and CRI networks and personal contacts. The research team used their connections & relationships with some stakeholders in mobilization and convincing participants to engage and share information freely.

The hostile political environment in Kenya greatly affected rate return as most invited participants did not respond.

Limitations/Risks Focus Tools/means

Risk 4: Feedback and approval of drafts by FAWE team may take longer than predicted.

Medium: our experience is that multiple stakeholders can be difficult to mobilise quickly for feedback.

Because of delays in receiving filled questionnaires back for those who opted for self-administration and delayed interviews, we sought a one-month extension, which helped us conclude the discussions and report writing. Though we had these delays, we ensured we were within the timelines of submitting required reports.

Risk 2: Reports and documents for desk research may not be readily available.

Low: Our previous experience shows that sometimes there could be a slow or poor response to such requests.

We solicited documents and data as early as possible, indicating the types of documents and data required, and worked with the WPP team at FAWE for proactive followup as necessary. As a result, we got all the necessary documents. We also used our contacts to acquire additional materials, as mentioned above.

Risk 5: COVID19 Restrictions

The study was conducted at a time of soaring numbers of COVID 19 cases.

Medium: This, therefore, underscored the need to observe physical distancing, prompting most of the interviews to be conducted virtually for both Kenya and Tanzania.

Further, some of the target respondents (especially elected women leaders) were not readily available for direct online interviews. As a result, the data collection took slightly longer than anticipated since the consultants had to use mailed questionnaires to reach as many respondents as possible. Unfortunately, most of the mailed questionnaires were not returned.

Risk 3:

CSO/NSA interviews senior staff and partners may not be available during chosen period/times.

Medium: Our experience is that senior actors have many other commitments and may not be available when needed.

We identified and contacted potential interviewees early enough to find suitable times for consultations, which allowed enough flexibility to accommodate existing commitments and schedules of senior partners or stakeholders.

Chapter Two : Review Results on Status and Trends

2.1 Regional Overview - Africa

According to UN Women, women’s leadership and political participation are restricted worldwide and in Africa, leading to under-representation of women as voters/candidates and in leadership positions, whether in elected office, the civil service, the private sector or academia. This sidelining occurs despite their proven abilities as leaders and agents of change and their right to participate equally in democratic governance. Gender equality advocates had further reason to celebrate when Catherine Samba-Panza was sworn in on 23 January 2014 as interim President of the Central African Republic (CAR), making her the fourth African female head of state. The first was Ruth Perry, who headed the Liberian transitional government for about a year from September 1996. The third was former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia, who was elected into office in 2006, while the fourth was Malawi’s first female President, Joyce Banda, in 2012. Regrettably, Ms Banda, the second woman to be seated as President, became the first to be unseated when she lost the elections. Some say it was a retaking of power by loyalists of the late President Bingu wa Mutharika (www.africa.unwomen.org).

Africa has witnessed a flattering rise in women’s political participation, as assessed by Kingsley Ighobor in the Africa Renewal Journal of April 2015. “One of the fascinating developments in African politics has been the increase in women’s political participation since the mid-1990s,” writes Aili Mari Tripp, a professor of gender and women’s studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the USA. Besides the four female heads of state (mentioned above), Ms Tripp bases her upbeat assessment on the increasing number of women parliamentarians on the continent.

Indeed, with 64 per cent of seats held by women, Rwanda has the highest number of women parliamentarians globally. Senegal, Seychelles and South Africa have more than 40 per cent each, and Mozambique, Angola, Tanzania and Uganda are not far off, with women occupying over 35 per cent of all parliamentary seats. Considering that women hold only 19 per cent of the USA Congress and 20 per cent of the Senate, Ms Tripp maintains that Africa has every right to be proud. In her exiting analysis, she did not capture that in the USA and Europe, women hold top positions beyond Parliament, in ministries, military and other top government departments, which is not the case in most African countries 2

As countries seek to implement SDG 5, “Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls,” governments must also strive to embed gender parity in constitutions and legal frameworks. They must fully comply with the law, eliminate all forms of violence against women and ensure that girls receive a quality education. However, Afrobarometer surveyed women’s political participation in 34 African countries. Afrobarometer are a research group that measures public perceptions of socio-economic and political issues in Africa, and they carried out this research. It notes that while countries such as Rwanda and South Africa may have numerically significant women parliamentary representation, some of the world’s worst performers are also on the continent. For example, women have only 6.2 per cent representation in Swaziland, 6.7 per cent in Nigeria and 8.4 per cent in Benin 3 .

Nevertheless, the good news is that most Africans (72 per cent) agree that women should have the same chance of being elected to political office as men (Afrobarometer 2019). The problem, again, is that this majority opinion on gender equality does not exist in some parts of the continent. While 74 per cent of respondents in East Africa believe in women’s equality and 73 per cent in Southern Africa, only 50 per cent in North Africa agree that women should have the same rights as men. Women’s leadership was rejected by 53 per cent of respondents in Sudan and by 50 per cent in Egypt 4. There are many reasons why women’s political participation is the key to good governance. Experts say women are key to the new breed of politicians who will offer Africa the opportunity to advance democracy in the continent.

Interestingly, the four female African leaders assumed office during crises or transitions. Ms Sirleaf was elected after a 13-year devastating civil war. Ms Banda was Vice President and took over after President Bingu wa Mutharika died in office. Ms Samba-Panza was sworn in amid rebellion and sectarian violence in the CAR. Ms Perry headed the interim government following ceasefire negotiations that ended almost two decades of war (UN Women 2019).

Ironically not everyone believes women leaders are remarkably different from their male counterparts. Some observers say that countries in Africa where women are leaders have not always been beacons of good governance. But the reasons for this are deep-rooted and may be beyond the leadership capabilities of such female leaders. Satang Nabanech, a women’s rights advocate and attorney from the Gambia, lists several social, cultural and economic barriers that inhibit women’s ability to make significant political changes. Ms Nabanech cites patriarchal politics or a belief that men must naturally make decisions and that the place for a woman is the home. In addition, most women often lack skills, education and experience to survive in politics, Ms Nabanech says, having been denied opportunities to go to school over the years. She also underscores the cost of politics, stressing that politics is expensive and many women lack the financial wherewithal to succeed.

“It is difficult for women to participate in political life when their major concern is survival, and they have no choice but to spend much of their time trying to fulfil the basic needs of families.” Violence in African politics is yet another factor that may also discourage participation. Generally, women feel “a sense of vulnerability to political intimidation and violence,” notes the Afrobarometer survey 5. In Guinea, for instance, 64 per cent of women say they are very concerned about political intimidation.

2.2 The Situation in Kenya

The ultimate aim of the WPP program is to protect the space of women in governance and safeguard constitutional gains on gender parity in Kenya and Tanzania. In Kenya, Article 27 of the constitution guarantees equality to all Kenyans irrespective of sex, age, race, etcetera. In Tanzania, the constitution provides “special seats,” with 30 % reserved for women appointed by political parties based on proportional representation. The Constitution of Kenya (2010) has placed the onus of realization of Article 27(8) of the Constitution on the national and county governments to ensure that not more than two-thirds of the members of elective and appointive bodies shall be of the same gender. The two levels of governance thus are key to the realization of gender parity in so far as WPP is concerned.

The 2019 Census report detailed that out of a total population of 47.6 Million Kenyans, 26.4 are women. This is approximately 55% of the population. However, the reality of women’s participation in the political process in the country hardly mirrors this demographic circumstance.

The country is largely a patriarchal society, and this explains the limited participation of women in the political space. Historically women have been relegated to the back burner in both private and public spaces through policies and laws that are blind to the years of marginalization of women. As a result, over the years since independence, women in Kenya have faced odds and challenges that not only make it impossible for them to participate in political processes in the country but also exclude them from the same. Although Kenya is considered a democratic country that holds periodic elections, the country’s performance on women’s representation has been dismal compared with her East African neighbours. This is attributed to sociocultural limitations to women’s participation in politics and political party formations which are largely maledominated. Both factors have greatly contributed to the suppression of women in the Kenyan political spheres, noting women’s minimal participation in politics during the first two regimes of former presidents Jomo Kenyatta (1963 -1978) and Daniel Arap Moi (1978 - 2002).

“For instance, in the 10th Parliament (2008-2013), women comprised only 9.8% of the parliament 6, compared with Rwanda’s 56%, Tanzania’s 36%, Uganda’s 35%, and Burundi’s 30%.

Overall, Kenya is 10% below the East African Community’s (EAC) regional average of 20% representation of women in parliament. The minimal numbers from 2007 were considered one of Kenya’s best performances since independence and before the 2013 elections. Courtesy of the Constitution of Kenya 2010, Kenya’s legal regime ushered in a fairly strong foundation for the principles of gender equity and equality that provides that no elective body shall have more than two-thirds of its members from the same gender 7 .

The progressive full realization of this constitutional provision to attain gender parity has been wrought with hurdles and challenges, and parliament has yet to pass legislation that would bring its own two houses – the National Assembly and the Senate – in line with the “two-thirds rule.” Be that as it may, on the 25th, April 2013, Kenya’s fourth President, Uhuru Kenyatta, made history when he nominated six women to the cabinet—the highest number the country has had since independence and a number that represented onethird of the total cabinet seats. The appointments were considered far-reaching and record-breaking because the women were appointed to dockets that were always considered a preserve of men, i.e. Amb Amina Mohamed (Foreign Affairs), Ann Waiguru (Devolution and Planning), Amb Raychelle Omamo (Defence), Phyllis Chepkosgey (East African affairs, Commerce and Tourism), Prof Judy Wakhungu (Environment Water and Natural Resources) and Charity Ngilu (Lands, Housing and Urban Development) 8

Although the 2017 elections were the second to be held since the 2010 Constitution’s promulgation, women still comprise less than 33% of parliament. This low level of representation is attributable to the cultural, financial, and political barriers that prevent women from vying for nonaffirmative action seats.

6. ibid

7. https://www.klrc.go.ke/index.php/constitution-of-kenya/112-chapter-four-the-bill-of-rights/part-2-rights-and-fundamental-freedoms/19327-equality-and-freedom-from-discrimination

8. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMl4A8JU5Cw

According to a report 9 published by NDI and the FIDA Kenya, the current parliament registered the highest number of women elected to serve as governors and senators, and 29% more women ran for office than in the previous election (2013), leading to the largest number of women ever seated at all levels of the Kenyan government in the history of the country since independence. Currently, women hold 172 of the 1,883 seats in Kenya, up from 145 after the 2013 elections. This represents commendable political gains made by women during the 2017 general elections. The actual representation of women still accounts for only 23% (up from 9.8% during the 2008-2013 parliament) of the National Assembly. This is still lower than 30%, considering that the 23% includes seats reserved exclusively for women representatives. This, therefore, still falls below the 2/3 threshold as required by the constitution.

Key among them is the Senate proposed to have a balanced 50:50 representation of elected men and women and offer equal power, especially to determine county allocations. The Bill proposes that the Senate be composed of 94 lawmakers, one man and one woman elected in each of the 47 counties. Further, political parties will provide the IEBC with a twothirds gender compliant and inclusive list, thus ensuring that not more than two-thirds of a party’s candidates are of the same gender. Nomination for special seats will also be required to adhere to equal gender representation. To deliver on the Bill of Rights and Chapter 6 of the Constitution of Kenya 2010, the BBI Bill further proposes the prioritization of health, housing, food, water, education, and social security and increased accountability in public finance management. The Bill has additional provisions to advance the protection of women/girls against sexual harassment (which often lead to teenage pregnancies and early marriages 13) and gender-based violence, including during elections.

Handshake

The August 2017 general elections saw a hotly contested presidential election nullified by the Supreme Court of Kenya, citing numerous irregularities and electoral malpractices 10. The Supreme Court ordered fresh presidential elections to be held in October the same year, but the then opposition coalition National Super Alliance (NASA) leader, the Right Hon Raila Odinga, withdrew from the contest, citing a lack of a level playing field for a fair election. The incumbent President was then pronounced the winner in a presidential contest where he virtually run alone. The opposition rejected the results and went ahead to swear their presidential candidate as the people’s president in January 2018. A post-election stalemate ensued with the opposition threatening secession from Kenya. It took an unlikely rapprochement billed ‘the handshake’ between the President and the opposition leader in March 2018 to calm down the tension in the country. The handshake culminated into a Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) that listed a nine-point agenda 11 that has guided the country to a constitutional moment to review the constitution of Kenya in 2010 with a possible plebiscite in 2021 before the 2022 general elections. The subsequent BBI reports have since culminated in Kenya’s Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2020 12. The bill, if it passes, heralds historic gains to women’s participation in politics.

8. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMl4A8JU5Cw

9. https://www.ndi.org/publications/gender-analysis-2017-kenya-general-elections

10. http://kenyalaw.org/caselaw/cases/view/140478/

11. https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2019-11-26-nine-key-issues-bbi-report-addresses/

12. https://e4abc214-6079-4128-bc62-d6e0d196f772.filesusr.com/ugd/2ac70e_d879f92067a64003832df8db5a9d23d9.pdf

Chapter Three :

Review Results on the Role of Policy and Normative Frameworks in Promoting WPP in Africa

3.1 Domestication of ACDEG 14 and Maputo Protocol

Global normative frameworks such as the 1979 CEDAW paved the way for developing legal frameworks that articulate, elaborate, and advocate for protecting women’s political rights by African states (Mukumu, 2015). Many argued that these global treaties do not effectively address issues particular to African women (Musa, 2007) and thus called for frameworks situated within the African context that expand the purview of women’s rights (Tadesse, 2015). In this regard, Africa has built up an extensive body of instruments and policies to push forward the women’s rights agenda at the continental, regional, and national levels. At the continental and regional ones, various policy decisions aimed at advancing women’s participation in decision-making structures have been adopted – including the Maputo Protocol, the Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa (SDGEA), the Southern African Development Community’s Protocol on Gender and Development, and the East African Community’s Gender Equality and Development Act. Adopting these policy pronouncements set the agenda for AU member states and other stakeholders to promote gender parity in democratic governance processes. However, regardless of the expanded normative commitments by African states, women’s political rights continue to be undermined by inadequate implementation, institutional barriers, discriminatory social norms, as well as by violence and intimidation (Bofu-Tawamba, 2015). These rights violations across Africa indicate the disconnect between policy and practice.

State parties are further called on to “recognise the crucial role of women in development and strengthening of democracy” (Article 29.1). In isolation, this could be seen as indicative of an instrumental rather than a rights-based approach. One could further question what recognition entails and what good it would do in advancing women’s rights. This is addressed, in part, by subsequent clauses. In Article 29.2, ACDEG stipulates that, beyond recognition, an enabling environment and “necessary conditions of full and active participation of women in decision-making processes and structures at all levels” must be created “as a fundamental element in the promotion and exercise of a democratic nature.” The Charter does not specify these conditions and leaves much room for interpretation. However, the Charter allows for flexibility rather than rigidity becomes important considering the highly diverse contexts in which this clause would be put into practice (Hannum, 2016).

Furthermore, suppose this clause is viewed alongside accepted normative standards on women’s rights. In that case, these “necessary conditions” can be interpreted as encompassing “affirmative action, enabling national legislation and other measures” – as specified in Article 9 of the Maputo Protocol. There is thus a need for these two instruments to be read collectively. Concerning the electoral process, state parties are urged to “take all possible measures to encourage the full and active participation of women and ensure gender parity in representation at all levels, including legislatures” (Article 29.3). In this regard, countries including Algeria and Rwanda have reserved a percentage of parliamentary seats for women. In contrast, Guinea, Lesotho, and Mauritania have set quotas for women on candidate lists 15. It is significant to note that ACDEG calls not for 30 per cent representation or even the more ambiguous, ‘increased representation’, but it calls for gender parity, just as it is specified similarly in the Maputo Protocol (Article 9, 1b).

Elections and Governance

Abdulmelik & Belay (2019): Advancing Women’s Political Rights in Africa

...“necessary conditions of full and active participation of women in decisionmaking processes and structures at all levels” must be created “as a fundamental element in the promotion and exercise of a democratic nature.”...

3.2 Compliance, Legislative and Policy Actions in Response to ACDEG

Since 2007, when ACDEG was adopted, Africa has made significant strides towards opening up spaces for women. Several AU member states have put in place national laws, policies, and institutions such as ministries, commissions, and directorates responsible for advancing gender equality. These laws and procedures include constitutional reforms/ amendments; the introduction of quota systems, gender equality, and women-friendly acts; and affirmative action measures. Facilitated by these policy initiatives, the continent has made substantial progress towards the increased participation of women in decision-making structures. Illustrative of this is Burkina Faso’s (Ayeni, 2016) and Niger’s constitutional provisions reserving a certain number of parliamentary seats for women. In Namibia and South Africa, political parties have adopted internal rules to ensure a certain percentage of women can vie for office (Bush, 2011; MEWC, 2016). The number of women taking up key positions as prime ministers, vice presidents, house speakers, chief justices, and cabinet ministers has increased incrementally (Belay, 2017). Several women now head powerful ministerial portfolios, such as finance in Nigeria and defence in Kenya and South Africa, among others (Osei-Afful, 2014). Even more importantly, perhaps, the number of women in Parliament has increased significantly. Although this is one of the markers of women in decision-making positions, it is one of the most common indicators and the easiest to find data.

Tables 1 and 2 below detail the percentage of women in Parliament in 2007, when the ACDEG was adopted. In 2012 it came into force. In 2019, it marked 12 years since its adoption. The two tables distinguish between those who are party to ACDEG and those who are not. While it is difficult to note any consistent trends from the tables regarding women’s parliamentary representation among the fifty-five African member states, some aspects are nevertheless noteworthy. Only five of the twelve African countries that have surpassed the goal of over 30 per cent representation in Parliament have ratified ACDEG. In addition, 13 of the 34 countries that have ratified ACDEG have fewer than 15 per cent female participation in their parliaments. Despite this, approximately twothirds of the countries that have ratified ACDEG have seen a considerable increase in their share of women parliamentarians over 12 years. The remaining 13 have witnessed a decline or stagnation therein. Out of the twenty-one countries that have not ratified ACDEG, on the other hand, seventeen have seen an increase in the number of women parliamentarians, while three have shown a decrease.

Moreover, while seven (33.3 per cent) have reached 30 per cent of women’s representation, six (28.5 per cent) have less than 15 per cent of their parliamentary seats occupied by females. These figures do not fully assess ACDEGs impact on the representation and participation of women in African politics. Reasons for this include the inability to relate the gains solely to the Charter. Moreover, it would be highly desirable to consider indicators other than parliamentary seats – including the existence/absence of women-friendly legislation/ measures implemented by state parties. These reasons indicate the need for further interrogation of the matter in question to ascertain better the relationship between the current political landscape for African women on the one hand and ACDEG and the instruments that preceded it – most importantly, the Maputo Protocol – on the other.

Of the 34 countries that have ratified ACDEG have fewer than 15% female participation in their parliaments.

7Of the 34 countries have reached more than 30% women representation in their parliaments.

6Of the 34 countries have less than 15% women representation in their parliaments.

Table IV: Women’s Parliamentary Representation in ACDEG State Parties

Country Date Deposited ACDEG

Average percentage of women in parliament 2007

Average Percentage of women in parliament 2012

Average percentage of women in parliament 2019

Quota system in place?

Algeria 10/01/2017 7.7 31.6 25.8 Yes

Benin 11/07/2012 10.8 8.4 7.2 No

Burkina Faso 06/07/2010 15.3 15.7 13.4 Yes

Cameroon 16/01/2012 13.9 13.9 31.1 Yes

CAR 06/03/2019 10.5 12.5 8.6 N/A

Chad 13/10/2011 5.2 14.9 14.9 No

Comoros 06/01/2017 3.0 3.0 6.1 Yes

Cote D’Ivoire 28/11/2013 8.9 10.4 11.0 Yes

Djibouti 22/01/2013 13.8 13.8 26.2 Yes

Ethiopia 06/01/2009 21.9 27.8 38.8 Yes

Gambia 04/02/2019 9.4 7.50 10.3 N/A

Ghana 19/10/2010 10.9 N/A 13.1 No

Guinea 11/07/2011 19.3 N/A 22.8 Yes

Guinea Bissau 04/01/2012 14.0 14.0 13.7 No

Lesotho 09/07/2010 23.5 26.7 23.3 Yes

Liberia 07/03/2017 12.5 11.0 12.3 No

Madagascar 13/04/2017 7.9 17.5 19.2 No

Malawi 24/10/2012 13.0 22.3 16.7 Yes

Mali 02/09/2013 10.2 10.2 8.8 Yes

Mauritania 28/07/2008 22.1 22.1 20.3 Yes

Mozambique 09/05/2018 34.8 39.20 39.6 No

Namibia 30/08/2016 26.9 24.4 46.2 Yes

Niger 08/11/2011 12.4 13.3 17.0 Yes

Nigeria 09/01/2012 7.0 6.7 5.6 No

Rwanda 14/07/2010 48.8 56.3 61.3 Yes

Saharawi Republic 27/01/2014 N/A N/A N/A No

Sao Tome and Principe 27/06/2019 7.3 18.20 14.5 N/A

Seychelles 28/09/2016 23.5 43.8 21.2 No

Sierra Leone 08/12/2009 13.2 12.4 12.3 No

South Africa 24/01/2011 33.0 42.3 42.7 Yes

South Sudan 13/04/2015 N/A 26.5 28.5 Yes

Sudan 16/09/2013 18.1 24.6 27.7 Yes

Togo 20/03/2012 11.1 11.1 16.5 Yes

Zambia 08/07/2011 15.2 11.5 18.0 No

Table V: Women’s Parliamentary Representation in African Countries that have not Ratified ACDEG Country

Average percentage of women in parliament 2007

Average percentage of women in parliament 2012

Average percentage of women in parliament 2019

Quota system in place?

Angola 15.0 38.20 30.0 Yes

Botswana 11.1 7.90 9.5 No

Burundi 30.5 30.50 36.4 Yes

Cape Verde 15.3 20.8 23.6 Yes Congo 8.5 7.30 11.3 N/A DRC 8.4 25.0 10.3 Yes

Egypt 2.0 N/A 14.9 Yes

Equatorial Guinea 18.0 10.0 20.0 No Eritrea 22.0 22.0 22.0 Yes Eswatini 10.8 13.6 7.2 Yes Gabon 12.5 15.8 17.9 N/A Kenya 7.3 9.80 21.8 Yes Libya 7.7 N/A 16.0 Yes Mauritius 17.1 18.8 11.6 No Morocco 10.8 17.00 20.5 Yes

Senegal 19.2 22.70 41.8 Yes Somalia 7.8 6.80 24.4 Yes Tanzania 30.4 36.00 36.9 Yes Tunisia 22.8 26.70 35.9 Yes Uganda 29.8 35.00 34.9 Yes Zimbabwe 16.7 15.00 31.9 Yes

Note: It is important to note that both Kenya and Tanzania had not ratified ACDEG according to IPU Report of 2019. This provides ground for WPP team to lobby both governments to reconsider and ratify the protocol.

Source: IPU Inter-Parliamentary Union Report (2007, 2012, and 2019) as quoted by Abdulmelik & Belay in Africa Spectrum Journal of 2019.

Source: IPU: Inter-Parliamentary Union Reports (2007, 2012, 2019) as quoted by Abdulmelik & Belay in Africa Spectrum Journal of 2019.

3.3 Emerging Opportunities through the Implementation of ACDEG

Despite numerous provisions about women’s political rights throughout ACDEG, the lack of implementation of these commitments renders them moot. Article 44 thus calls on state parties to meet their obligations by harmonising and conforming their national laws and regulations with the Charter. This will promote political will and popularise the ACDEG (Article 44.1). It further calls on the African Union Commission to develop benchmarks to assess compliance and encourage “the creation of favourable conditions for democratic governance” (Article 44.2). These benchmarks are yet to be developed. Regional Economic Communities (RECs) are tasked, meanwhile, with the implementation and monitoring of the Charter, as well as enhancing buyin to it via the “massive participation of stakeholders, particularly CSOs, in the process” (Article 44.2). The only consequences of non-compliance specifically outlined in ACDEG include suspension, sanctioning, and trial in court. This essentially means that there are no sanctions for non-compliance with the numerous issue areas that ACDEG covers and for possible violations or inactions on the part of the state party (Saungweme, 2007). These measures are limited to perpetrators rather than state parties and are confined to unconstitutional government changes outlined in Article 25.

Following the November 2016 APDH versus Cote D’Ivoire ruling of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, however, there is now a precedent for taking cases to court based on violations of the provisions of the Charter (ACHPR Judgment, 2016). In the case of Cote D’Ivoire, a non-governmental entity (APDH) could take the state to court due to the state’s declaration of Article 34(6) – which enables individuals and NGOs direct access to

the courts (Ayeni, 2016). Despite the low number, this remains an entry point for women’s rights activists and organisations to find legal recourse. But this is not limited to activists; AU organs or other member states can also take a case to court for any unsettled grievances within the precincts of this accord.

Similarly, the ACDEG state reporting process also provides an appropriate entry point to monitor and evaluate the level of compliance with the gender provisions of the Charter. The current AGA “Rules of Procedure,” to which the Guidelines for State Reporting are an annexe, provide a good basis for this. They give the African Governance Platform as well as the Secretariat a specific mandate to ensure the robust engagement and participation of the citizenry – particularly women, youth, and civil society –in its various initiatives and programs (Rules 4d, 7g, Rules of Procedure of African Governance Platform, 2016). This work has begun, evidenced by the development of youth and women engagement strategies and the subsequent programming that emerged from both.

In addition to the Rules of Procedure, the Guidelines for State Reporting provide further guidance and opportunities for women to engage throughout the process. These processes are compiling the report, reviewing it, and even providing technical support following that review. For example, the Guidelines insist that state parties implement a multi-stakeholder national institutional framework, coordinating monitoring, reporting, and following up on implementing recommendations that emerge from the process. The Guidelines also do stress the inclusion of non-state actors.

This emphasis ensures the group’s participatory and diverse makeup (Guidelines III/9, Guidelines for State Parties Reports under African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance (Annex 1 to Rules of Procedure, 2016). The Guidelines further assert that the report must comprise information on the involvement and participation of women’s groups and minorities in compiling it (Guidelines VI/A/13(f)). This gives impetus to their involvement in the consultation process

Moreover, the initial report – mandatory for state parties reporting for the first time – should provide baseline data on the operating environment of non-state actors and regulatory frameworks in place. Included also should be relevant instruments that the state party has ratified and reporting status for that instrument. Noteworthy is that the Maputo Protocol is included in the list of instruments to be reported on (Guidelines VI/A/13(c)). Furthermore, state parties are obliged to detail measures 156 Africa Spectrum 54(2) undertaken in line with the Charter –including providing disaggregated data and statistics on various areas, including the political participation of women (Guidelines VI/B/ 14(e)). These measures facilitate the provision of gendered data from the state party, enabling an assessment of their compliance with ACDEG’s gender provisions. Indeed, the Togo State Report listed the women’s rights organisations that were part of its consultation process, had specific paragraphs about both women’s rights normative frameworks and policies in place and identified the status of equity and gender equality in Togo.

Furthermore, gender-disaggregated data was used throughout the report (Togo Report 2017). Women, women’s rights organisations, and constituencies all have further opportunities to interact with the AGA Platform once the paper has been submitted. The process includes convening a pre-session for African non-state actors from the state party under review (Guidelines X/26). The guidelines specify that these African non-state actors must be members of the AU’s Economic, Social and Cultural Council (ECOSOCC), and this is limiting. However, it still provides a window of opportunity for those women’s rights organisations members of ECOSOCC to participate in the process and consult extensively as they do so. For those who are not, other possibilities to engage nevertheless still exist including via a dialogue with the state party under review that can include “representatives

of any relevant stakeholders,” who may be invited to “make oral and/or submit written statements” (Guidelines X/27). Working with other accredited civil society organisations (members of the ECOSOCC), the FAWE WPP team can lead this process for Kenya and Tanzania, if and when the countries submit their reports, but in the meantime should push for the two governments to rise to the occasion and make their submissions.

The guidelines also make provisions for the AGA Platform to engage further with “relevant stakeholders” following the review of the state report and the dialogue for “continued collaboration and if need be for technical support” (Guidelines XI/34). Many of the provisions that allow for the engagement of civil society and, more specifically, women’s rights organisations in the state reporting process are indeed at the discretion of both state parties and AGA Platform members. Nevertheless, the provisions currently in both the Rules of Procedure and its annexe provide a good grounding for the meaningful engagement of women and women’s rights groups visa`-vis, holding states accountable throughout the entire state reporting and review process. Considering that, as noted, only one state report has been received thus far, and no state report has yet been reviewed, this assertion can only be tested in future with empirical analysis – as it becomes available.

...It further calls on the African Union Commission to develop benchmarks to assess compliance, as well as promote “the creation of favourable conditions for democratic governance”...

Chapter Four :

Review Results on Constraints and Barriers to Strengthening WPP

4.1 Introduction and Regional Overview

According to UN Women, two main obstacles prevent women from participating fully in political life. These are structural barriers, whereby discriminatory laws and institutions still limit women’s ability to run for office, and capacity gaps, occur when women are less likely than men to have the education, contacts and resources needed to become effective leaders. Enhancing women’s political empowerment is dependent on a complex interplay of socio-cultural, economic, and political factors. The ACDEG emphasises the universality, interdependence, and indivisibility of human rights (Article 6); it also provides for free and compulsory basic education and literacy for all especially girls and women (Articles 43.1 and 43.2). State parties must ensure that measures to enhance women’s socio-economic status are part and parcel of efforts towards increased political participation. The introduction of day-care facilities in Parliament, equal pay for work of equal value, and progressive policies that ensure women’s access, control, and ownership of resources are cases in point. Article 13 of the Maputo Protocol lends credence to this assertion in mandating states to “adopt and enforce legislative and other measures to guarantee women equal opportunities.” Complementary to this, Article 8 of ACDEG calls on state parties to “adopt legislative and administrative measures to guarantee the rights of women.” The Maputo Protocol and ACDEG rightly recognise the interconnected nature of rights – putting economic, social, and political rights side by side. Furthermore, by explicitly including a provision on literacy and education, there seems to be a recognition that failing to tackle these issues would by default marginalise women from electoral processes (Hassim, 2003).

Sustainable and all-around developments of a society cannot be brought about without the full and unreserved participation of both women and men in the development process. Such a balanced development should also call for eliminating discrimination and protecting against violence meted on women. Since 1985 both Kenya and Tanzania have been implementing CEDAW (Convention on Elimination of all types of Discrimination against Women), an international agreement where countries have agreed to end all forms of discrimination against women. The Convention provides the basis for realising equality between women and men by ensuring women’s equal access to political and public life opportunities, including the right to vote and stand for election and education, health and employment.

4.2 Socio-Cultural Barriers

Like most African countries, Kenya is historically patriarchal, and therefore previously, women were not meaningfully involved in political discussions. According to Hora (2004) most patriarchal societies, females are regarded as the inferior of the species. Because of this, women are denied access to both honoured and utilitarian roles open only to males. Such roles as administration and disposal of property and leadership roles in societal affairs, including religion and governance, belong to males. Most gender norms are learned at home as transmitted

from parents to their children. Cultural factors are learned through a socialization process that begins at home and then extends to communities and is translated into political norms and practices. There has since been a dramatic change, and now it is common for women to be actively engaged in politics. As observed by Editar Achieng’ during the in-depth interviews, women face cultural barriers to their participation in politics and can be disadvantaged by negative stereotypes across East Africa.

Centre – Nairobi, Kenya, January 2020”

Students from Daystar University, Kenya pose for a photo at the launch of the Intergenerational Mentorship Programme

Photo Credits: FAWE RS

‘‘Since the beginning of time, women have always been stereotyped and treated unfavourably and differently from men. Stereotypes in political spaces are even worse because women are being denied equal chances as their counterparts’ men to be part of political development. Women should adopt feminist ideologies that do not apologize or acquiesce to any retrogressive culture to remedy this. Kenya should also continuously empower its communities to embrace change and acknowledge that women play a vital role in world leadership and development’’, Editar Ochieng, Executive Officer, Feminist

They may also face sexual harassment attacks on their reputation, morality, or qualifications. Kenya, just like Tanzania, being African and patriarchal societies, women are expected to work and support their families at home while political leadership is viewed as a preserve of the male folk. Over the years, attempts at gender parity in political leadership have had to confront these entrenched cultural, religious and stereotypical gender biases that bar women from rising into political leadership. These include balancing politics with the other caring and domestic roles which tend to fall upon women. Voters and parties tend to prefer candidates with a traditional family set up (married

with children), or else there is stigma or suspicion attached to single women. The same standards are not placed on male candidates. The pressure to balance politics with domestic responsibilities proves very difficult for women. Therefore, women running for political office are compelled to choose between their families and quest for political leadership. Religious and cultural organizations have been accused of deepening negative cultural norms and stereotypes in Kenya, as Abdalla Kamwana of SUPKEM argues here below.

4.3 Economic and Financial Barriers

Women candidates cite financial resources as one the most difficult aspects of their campaigns. Therefore, economic pressure often occasions women to drop out of running political races and thus affects WPP. To address this challenge, some political parties in Kenya have taken steps to reduce nomination or waive the fees altogether for special interest groups (including women) in an affirmative action to enable special interest groups’ participation. Thus while ODM’s position in respect of graduated fees is not specified in its constitution and nomination rules, Jubilee and FORD-K require special interest groups to pay only 50% of the fee, while NARC-K charges a mere 15% of the fees. However, most parties assume that women who contest political seats have adequate means and deserve no special consideration. To address this challenge, Hon Florence Mutua, Member of Parliament for Busia, recommends that economic empowerment for women should start at the individual and household levels.

“Most religious bodies and organizations are conservatives confined in the belief that women come from the ribs of men and are mere helpers. Helpers are therefore assumed to be incapable of leadership. They are often regarded as bearing offspring and a source of a husband’s happiness and success. These beliefs expect women to be calm, submissive, and meek, thus culturally and socially placing women at a disadvantage. These entrenched thoughts have endured over generations and therefore call for civic education to change the societal mindset, especially within the religious realm, to appreciate the roles of women through widening of the scope on the religious teachings that women are capable of a greater role in society beyond being helpers.”, Abdalla M. Kamwana, SUPKEM Coordinator and Head of Civic Education & Governance – Nairobi, Kenya, December 2020”.

‘‘On several occasions, Kenya has stared at constitutional crises (refer to the recent constitutional interpretation case before former Chief Justice David Maraga) and, in some instances, lost a lot of money for failure to enact the twothirds gender rule. We hope that through the BBI process, we will have more substantive support for advancing gender parity in politics and other levels of governance. On their part, we also need to encourage INGOs to support critical and tangible interventions beyond the capacity building (including financial support to women candidates). Finally, political parties must have fair policies irrespective of gender, educate their members on roles of women, campaign for the reduction of biased cultural practices and create room for women in top leadership positions within their ranks’’, Janet Muthoni Ouko, 2017 Candidate for Nairobi County Women Representative and current CEC in charge of Education at Nairobi County Government.

4.4 Barriers Related to Tools, Capacities & Resources

Reflecting on barriers related to tools, capacities and resources, respondents ranked solidarity among women or failure by women to support fellow women leaders (89%) as the first major obstacle or threat to women political participation, as portrayed in figure II below. This was followed by education & literacy among women (78%), financial resources at (67%), and capacity strengthening tools (manuals, guidelines as well as access to reliable information on gender issues (both at 44%).

Figure II: Barriers Related to Tools, Capacities and Resources

Women backing or being in solidarity with each other i.e. Solidarity among women

Education and literacy among women Financial resources and financial skills among women

(manuals and guidelines) on gender equality and women’s political participation

Reliable information/ research on gender equality issues, including a lack of sexdisaggregated data

4.5 Electoral Violence and Political Barriers

As Jacqueline Ingutiah of the Kenya National Commission of Human Rights argues, cases abound where women candidates are often threatened with violence or advised by elders, clan members, male rivals, and family members to pull out of a political race because it is viewed as unbecoming for a woman to contest a political seat.

A recent survey by Oxfam released in October 2020 16 corroborates and confirms this finding. Two-thirds of the surveyed respondents in this study (i.e. both male and female) agreed with the statement that ‘women make better leaders than men and should be elected rather than men.’ Approximately 7 in every 10 surveyed female respondents agreed with the statement. Despite the affirmation from both men and women, most women are still not elected, implying that the negative perceptions and social norms are stronger than the assertion exhibited in the agreement with the statement. Majority of the surveyed respondents - across both genders - supported the election of women for the various elective positions including; Member of County Assembly (MCA), Member of Parliament (MP), Governor, and the Presidency. Of the political positions, the presidential seat had the lowest proportion of those who confirmed that they would elect a woman. This can be attributed to the negative views that people hold against women’s leadership capabilities (especially for higher offices), which in turn influence their judgment on the ballot.

16. Survey on evidence-based research & analysis to understand the perceptions, norms and systems influencing formal voting patterns and its impact on women’s participation in political leadership

“The dominant patriarchal system inhibits women’s participation in active political processes at different levels. Patriarchy influences gender relations by its nature relegates women’s position in society. Stereotypes such as women are weak, too emotional, or sell-outs are perpetuated by patriarchy. Most religious dogma also insubordinate women. This has seen few women occupying leadership/ strategic leadership positions in religious institutions. Patriarchal influence/ lack of proper enforcement of laws that inhibit discriminatory practices”, Jacqueline Ingutiah, Advocate and Regional Coordinator for Western Kenya, Kenya National Commission for Human Rights (KNCHR), Kisumu, December 2020

Participants make a presentation at the WPP situational analysis and policy brief validation meeting held in March 2021

Photo credits: FAWE RS/Emily Buyaki

Gender-based electoral violence experienced by women remains one of the primary barriers to their participation in politics, especially physical, verbal, and online attacks that demean women by exploiting their sexuality. Party election boards and relevant security agencies have failed to cushion women through electoral and online violence laws, making them vulnerable to harassment, intimidation, threats, hate speech, stereotyping, and physical attacks from opponents and supporters. The abuse, threats, and violence directed against women in politics is increasingly why women do not want to enter politics or why they are leaving it. Varied forms of election-related violence against women are numerous, including physical, psychological, sexual, economic, derogatory language, threats/coercion, and semiotic violence. Election violence is a coercive and deliberate strategy used by political actors—incumbents as well as opposition parties—to advance their interests or achieve specific political goals concerning an electoral contest (Adolfo, Kovacs, Nyström, & Utas, 2012). Consequently, many politicians resort to illicit electoral strategies and use militant youth wings, militias, or the state security forces to either win the election or strengthen their post-election bargaining position. Electoral violence is one problem that has been identified as a stumbling block to the robust participation of women in the political process and governance.

Violence against women is used as a targeted and destructive tool throughout the electoral cycle. The goal is to dissuade women from participating as election administrators, voters, and candidates. Violence against women in elections could be overt or subtle; beyond the violence that does physical harm, there is violence manifesting in terms of gender-based hate speech, with the sinister aim of deterring women from presenting themselves as candidates or voting during elections (Para-Mallam 2015, Zakari 2015). Failure to address these electoral barriers creates an atmosphere that makes women have a negative attitude towards political activities. (Behrendt-Kigozi 2012) notes that political violence and the social stigma that politics is a dirty game adds another stumbling block for women willing to enter politics. More women are either frustrated or blocked by institutional constraints, which include barriers such as political systems that operate through rigid schedules that do not take into consideration women’s domestic responsibilities and the type of electoral quotas used (if any) (Kangas, Haider, Fraser, & Browne, 2015). Adopting new electoral or party rules during or after elections may facilitate women’s entry into politics. Lack of adequate support structures to rectify existing codified institutions to include women in political leadership and achieve gender equality in global politics, leads to reduced women’s participation in politics (Morobane, 2014).

“ Women have to demystify the gender roles narrative that has confined them to subordinate roles in leadership. Women should save, plan well, and invest in selecting trusted agents. Remain safe and be security conscious by assembling favourable support systems like friends and neighbours. To succeed as a women representative and survive as a politician in the male-dominated field of politics, I engaged my persuasion and negotiating skills. I researched the demography of my county electorate and pushed an objective agenda. I had also attended many pieces of training, which were very useful in my political pursuits. There should be clear consequences for individuals who perpetuate disrespectful action against women and expose them to insecure situations to institutionalise women’s participation in politics. This will deter others who might want to engage in the same to discourage women from engaging in politics. Women who are victims of such should also be encouraged and supported to speak up against such actions ’‘Female politicians who, in the face of these challenges and barriers, excel and win”.

Political parties do not want to implement reforms because they fear losing political support and political power. They, therefore, oppose changes that are likely to make them cede power. Perhaps this might be because they would be serving political parties that are patriarchal and practice dirty politics. A number of them appear to be blindly following political leaders with very little knowledge of what is going on, in the end disadvantaging many women and other vulnerable groups.

Sharing her success story/testimony and commenting on the need to support more women to rise in political leadership, Hon Cate Waruguru, Women Representative, Laikipia County, made the following observations, offering some useful advisories for women in active politics and those aspiring to join competitive or elective politics.

4.6 Legislative and Legal Barriers

In the case of Kenya, Article 27 (8) of the Constitution’s Bill of Rights says: “The State shall take legislative and other measures to implement the principle that no more than two-thirds of the members of elective or appointive bodies shall be of the same gender.” The national assembly is obligated to enact the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill 2018, also known as the Gender Bill, to realize this provision. But more than ten years down the line, this obligation remains unfulfilled. In 2019, parliament did not even have the required two-thirds of members present in the house — the requisite quorum for a constitutional amendment — to vote on the bill. This points to a lack of the political will to operationalize the 2/3 gender rule. As

mentioned above, Tanzania, on the contrary, has passed a piece of legislation requiring no less than 30% of women in elective positions. Comparatively, in South Sudan, the figures for women in politics are higher, with 28.9% in elected positions, Uganda has 34%, Tanzania and Burundi 36%, and Rwanda 61%. At the national level, Kenya’s legal framework for women’s political representation and participation are detailed in numerous documents and directives (Gender Policy (2011), Government of Kenya (GoK), State Department of Gender and Youth Affairs; Constitution of Kenya Articles 10, 27 (8), 54 (2), 100 & 177 (1) (b); The Supreme Court Advisory Opinion, No. 2 of 2012; The Political Parties Act (2011); Section 52(2)).

4.7 Highlights on Institutional Barriers:

In the final analysis, study participants picked political parties (89%) as the biggest stumbling blocks or barriers to women political participation, as shown in figure III below. The participants said that parties hardly promote women in their ranks or give women a fair chance and adequate support when seeking leadership positions through political parties. Second in this category of major blockers was the media (56%) being blamed for consistently giving

women either biased coverage or a blackout altogether. This was followed by weak gender equality policies and legal regimes (44%) for promoting legal and sometimes structured discrimination against women. Other factors include gender blind institutions, systems and structures in government, parliament, and political parties, and disabling environments for agencies working on women issues, both tying at 33%.

Women in leadership are branded as tough headed, and most of the public views politics as a dirty game; therefore, participation in politics is seen as going against religious beliefs. Confirming some of these findings, Ruth Oloo (Women Rights Strategist at Oxfam) noted that most African homes have categorized women and assigned them roles that do not encourage women to take up leadership roles at different levels/stages. As a result, women do not feel like they can take leadership positions right from their homes. We also lack relevant opportunities to enhance leadership skills and strengthen their capacities. Not enough women to mentor young women to take leadership positions and demands from the few have hindered the allocation of time to effectively carry out mentorship programs. Mentors can play big roles of

mentorship to the young upcoming generations, inspiring them to get into the leadership space without struggles, especially when the role model is from their community.

There is the fear of losing the identity that comes through belonging to a religious group. The predominant maledriven society already guards the political space. Mostly, political party meetings are held at odd hours in the night, which are unsafe hours, and hinder women’s participation in politics. Women are needed to sacrifice more, and fundraising for campaigns is also a big obstacle from a lack of money, and access to social SACCOs.

She concluded her interview by saying;

‘‘Governments are good at having gender equality on paper but do not seem to focus on full implementation. The population of women should be taken advantage of, women are more in Kenya, and if they support each other, it will be easy to place women in leadership roles, and women leaders can relate to the needs of fellow women, a factor that will benefit women more, by extension men and whole communities’’.

4.8 Summary of Barriers and Challenges in Kenya

A summary of responses from various respondents sheds more light on the reasons for persistent gender disparities in women’s political participation in Kenya. The respondents also suggest solutions that would increase the involvement of women in politics.

Asked to comment on the extent to which the following pose challenges or obstacles for policymakers and practitioners to increase women in political participation and representation in Kenya, study participants offered the following:

Gender equality policies/legal regulatory framework (constitution/ election law) promotig women’s participation i.e the 2/3 gender rule

Barrier #1: Cultural norms and stereotypes about women in society

Issues & Comments

Suggested Solutions & Actions

a. Women should always be unapologetic about claiming their space in political leadership and representation;

Barrier #3: Discriminatory or sexist working culture in Government/Parliament/Sub-national legislature

a. Women are still underrepresented in vital sectors of human & social interaction and employment.

a. Appoint women to key positions hitherto thought to be the preserve of men.

a. Women are still treated as inferior to men in most cultural settings in Kenya.

b. Communities still harbour a series of stereotypes against women that women are obliged to follow.

c. Cultures still have a tremendous influence on how women are perceived in various settings.

b. Kenya should continuously empower its communities to embrace change and acknowledge that women play a vital role in leadership and development;

c. Institutions should work to ensure that stakeholders across governments, businesses, media, and several other organizations achieve substantive commitments to eliminate systemic barriers, oppressive cultural norms, and gender stereotypes that hinder women’s capacity to participate politically, economically, and socially.

Barrier #2: Religious beliefs/interpretation about women in society

a. Religion still hinders women from acquiring leadership positions. For example, in the Catholic Church and Islam, women cannot be priests and imams.

b. The structure of most religious institutions is firmly grounded to undermine women’s leadership.

c. Most women have been brainwashed to believe that they can only seek leadership roles through prayers instead of being accorded a platform to vie for leadership positions.

d. Religious groups pretend they don’t associate with politicians and frame politics in an evil way, making most laywomen disassociate from politics.

a. Enlighten religious institutions to encourage women rather than discourage them from leadership positions.

b. Include church leaders in women’s empowerment programs.

b. Women participating in politics are judged harshly by society.

c. Women are still judged based on childbearing and marriage.

d. Most communities in Kenya still do not recognize women as leaders since they have never even won a presidential election.

b. Women should be engaged in political activities, be represented in governance by their fellow women, and budgets & plans should also be sensitive to their needs.

c. Partnerships between parliament and civil society should exist to provide gendertransformative policies to ensure gender inclusiveness in political offices.

d. Continue awareness creation on the value of women’s leadership.

a. In the face of these challenges, female politicians who excel in winning office continue living under the danger and experience of physical abuse.

b. Women leaders are intimidated by abuse and bullying in gender-specific forms, mostly by their male counterparts, and allegations made by women politicians are openly ignored or mocked;

c. Not only are women who vie for political seats targeted, but their women supporters are also targeted based on their gender. Most of them are threatened or abused, both physically and sexually, to deter them from supporting women leaders.

a. Engage the local authorities to address the issue of women leaders being harassed. This could be vital to ensure that women candidates are given security during the election period;

b. Exhaust the criminal justice system to bring to justice offenders who harass women;

c. Engage community-based leaders, national government, and NGOs to fight against discriminating women by providing local civic education and motivating more women to participate in various contests for elective positions.

Barriers #4: Women’s perception of the lack of safety and respect for women in the political sphere.

Barrier #5: Institutional challenges to political parties promoting women in their ranks

a. In the National Assembly and Senate, women account for only 23%. In Kenya, women now occupy 172 of the 1,883 elected seats. Despite these advances, it is evident that discrimination remains a significant barrier to women who seek political office.

b. The underrepresentation of women in the political sphere has been inevitable because of women’s low proportional representation in the political and governance systems.

a. Align political party policies to approved policies/legislations that support women.

b. Motivate women through empowerment programs to participate in elections without fear to boost the number of elected women to pass the 2/3 gender rule.

c. Engage more women through civic education to be part of women’s political sphere as early as possible when they are young to participate in elections and push for enacting 2/3 rule and other gender-sensitive forums in parliament or senate.

Barrier #6: Enabling environment for civil society working on women issues

a. There is a profound lack of awareness within some organizations about the need and value of women leadership, especially village barazas;

b. Lack of committed, sufficient, and sustained human and financial resources for gender equality initiatives and the development, implementation, and evaluation of women’s rights strategies.

a. Initiatives to build supportive frameworks can be necessary at different levels. Therefore, it is essential to engage several actors and key stakeholders early enough to make them effective.

b. Creating awareness by training both genders in the community and organizational levels on the values of gender equality and upholding human rights to protect the rights of girl-child and women, which have been consistently violated.

Barrier #7: Gender blind institutions (governments, parliaments, political parties) and processes (elections, judicial appointments)

a. Parliament and Senate remain among the major gender blind institutions by failing to enact the 2/3 gender rule despite the Judiciary’s advice.

b. Most political parties still have not fought against gender equity since most women are always neglected in the parties’ top hierarchy.

c. Although the number of women in the election process is rising, they still face other politicians’ oppression, especially men.

a. The key to curbing issues of gender blind institutions is by giving eligible women top positions to show their leadership skills, promoting gender-sensitive programs, and supporting young women to climb the ladder.

b. Lobbying women to support political parties that seriously consider women’s roles and issues in their agenda.

c. The Judiciary is steadily and cautiously becoming open to the ideals of gender equality and non-discrimination. Therefore working hand in hand with the Judiciary will be helpful to ensure every institution adopts gender equality and non-discriminatory policies.

Barrier #8: Biased media coverage of women

a. Women’s view of leadership in most media coverage is unfavourable.

b. Gender inequality, family issues, sexuality and appearance, misinformation and scandal, and sexual identity definitions and labels are the key structures used to depict women leaders. This representation results in sub-conscious isolation as protection against negative media attention from media interaction.

a. Engaging the media stakeholders in ensuring unbiased coverage of women in media, coming up with programs that promote women empowerment, and failing to cover programs promoting discriminatory rules against women;

b. Advocating for policies that streamline the role of media in ensuring gender equity.

Barrier #9: Women backing or being in solidarity with each other i.e. solidarity among women

a. Women have always been at the forefront of solidarity with one another. However, some still judge others in terms of their role in society, dress code, or other cultural norms;

b. Some women are responsible for disempowering other women in a range of things such as feminist work.Not many caucuses of women.

a. Mentorship programs will be vital to ensure young girls are mentored early enough towards women empowerment, policies, and strategy to ensure gender equity and discontinue the majority of them from falling into the trap of patriarchal ideologies.

Barrier #10: Financial resources and financial skills among women

a. Most women are unpaid for their work, yet women have been exempted from engaging in the financial system for centuries by being excluded from inheriting property, owning land, having loans, going to school, and owning businesses. For a woman fighting for economic freedom, isolation from the financial system is a major drawback.

Barrier #11: Education and literacy among women

a. Provide the budgeting and financial planning skills required to survive within their means, and to handle their finances.

b. Provide education, financial support, peer networks, and business training.

Barrier

#12: Related to Tools (manuals and guidelines) on gender equality and women’s political participation

a. Most of these tools are available online, some facilitators engaged in gender equality, and women’s political participation have access to some devices. However, not everyone has the opportunity/capacity to access the internet, download the manuals, and print them out. One reason might be financial resources, internet issues, and lack of computers since the manuals are softcopy.

a. Facilitators should be trained to develop unique empowering learning techniques and materials relevant to lifelong learning systems and prospects for development.

b. Providing manuals in print and softcopy formats for easy accessibility even for those in rural & urban villages.

c. Ensuring access to the internet so facilitators can easily download and distribute the manuals.

Barrier #13: Reliable information/research on gender equality issues, including a lack of sex-disaggregated data

a. Most of the research is not tailored to solve community-based problems that might be unique. Therefore, more research should solve community or county-based issues affecting women.

a. Education and literacy rates among women are still a menace, particularly during this Covid 19 pandemic.

b. Most girls are still not given access to quality secondary and primary education for various reasons, such as cultural norms against girlchild education, early pregnancies, and early child marriages.

a. Empower women through literacy programs within local communities by providing access to adult literacy programs for women who never had a chance to go to school to equip them with basic knowledge and skills.

b. Ensure girls who never got the opportunity to go to college/university have access to financial training programs such as tailoring, computer skills, catering, and many more to be selfemployed or work in related industries.

c. Initiatives successfully engage women in learning by providing literacy classes specific to their needs and gaining support for women’s education from the broader community, including family members.

b. Most research tends to be biased when it comes to solving gender-equality issues since women are not involved in such research; therefore, it will be difficult to solve problems related to feminism if feminists are not allowed to participate in such research.

a. Researchers should focus on incorporating feminist research methodologies while conducting a study to ensure gender-disaggregated data and gender equity and improve power imbalance.

b. Involving women scholars in different studies or researches will also be important.

Chapter Five: Review Results on Commendable Efforts and Success Stories

5.1 Global and Regional Picture

Worldwide, efforts to enhance women’s political participation have shown remarkable progress in the past two decades. At the UN Beijing conference on women in 1995, delegates called on governments to have women represent 30% of their governments. To achieve the Beijing target, some African governments have used different quotas to increase women’s participation in government. For example, Burkina Faso and Uganda have constitutional provisions reserving a certain number of parliamentary seats for women; Kenya has special seats for women representatives in parliament, while political parties in South Africa and Mozambique have adopted internal rules to ensure a certain percentage of women can vie for office. Some pundits, however, attack quotas as ineffective. The pros and cons of quotas seem more like a debate over the means to an end, but there seems to be very little dispute on end itself. There is less of an argument over the desirability of having more women in politics. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, the former chairperson of the African Union (AU), once said that although the gap between men and women in political participation remains wide, “in 46 countries across the world, women account for more than a quarter of all members of parliament, and she was proud to add that 14 of these countries are in Africa”.

Writing in Africa Renewal Journal of April-July 2019, Zipporah Musau 17 contends that in the fight for gender equality, women worldwide have advanced in small and large ways, yet for women in Africa, progress is measured in micro-steps, and the struggle has a long way to go. The not-so-good news is that the increase has been stubbornly slow, barely 1% in 2018 compared with the previous year. However, the good news is that women’s representation in political decisionmaking has been on the rise globally. In 2018 the number of women ministers worldwide reached an all-time high at 20.7% (812 out of 3922).

Among the top African countries with a high percentage of women in ministerial positions are Rwanda (51.9%), South Africa (48.6%), Ethiopia (47.6%), Seychelles (45.5%), Uganda (36.7%), and Mali (34.4%). The lowest percentage in Africa was in Morocco (5.6%), with only one female minister in a cabinet of 18. Other countries with fewer than 10% women ministers include Nigeria (8%), Mauritius (8.7%), and Sudan (9.5%). Notably, Rwanda, the world leader in the number of women in parliament, saw a slight reduction in their number, from 64% in 2017 to 61.3% in 2018. Other African countries with high percentages of women MPs include Namibia (46.2%), South Africa (42.7%), and Senegal (41.8%), according to the report 18. Countries achieving the 30% benchmark appear to have adopted a form of affirmative action. For example, Rwanda has constitutional provisions reserving 30% of seats for women in its bicameral legislature. At the same time, South Africa’s Municipal Structures Act of 1998 requires political parties to “ensure that 50% of the candidates on the party list are women” and that “women must be equitably represented in a ward committee.” Although there is no penalty for non-compliance in South Africa, the country’s ruling African National Congress voluntarily allocates 50% of parliamentary seats to women (UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) Report 2019).

17. Zipporah Musau (July 2019): Africa Women in Politics: Miles to go before Parity is achieved, in the Africa Renewal Journal;

18. Report by the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) at the UN headquarters in New York in March 2019

5.2 Progress in Sub Saharan Africa

In sub-Saharan Africa, the number of women seated in parliament grew in 2018, with an average regional share at 23.7%, according to the just-released 2019 edition of the biennial Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Map of Women in Politics 19. The IPU is made up of more than 170 nations worldwide, and tracks the number of women elected to parliaments globally every year. IPU then produces an analysis that helps to monitor progress, setbacks, and trends. Djibouti, which in the year 2000 had zero women in parliament, saw the most dramatic gains globally among lower and single chambers.

The share of women in parliament rose in 2018 from 10.8% to 26.2% (a 15.4-point increase), a total of 15 women, states the report, which was launched during the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) at the UN headquarters in New York in March 2019. Looking at these trends around women’s political participation, Africa could well be on the right track despite the numerous challenges.

It is equally instructive to note that women’s empowerment advocates in Africa are making their voices heard, with the full backing of international organizations such as the UN

and the AU. Ethiopia, on its part, saw the largest increase in women’s political representation in the executive branch, from 10 per cent women ministers in 2017 to 47.6 per cent in 2019. The report highlights another striking gain on ministerial positions—more women in Africa are now in charge of portfolios traditionally held by men than in 2017. There are 30 per cent more women ministers of defence, 52.9 per cent more women ministers of finance, and 13.6 per cent more women ministers of foreign affairs. The usual practice is to appoint women to “soft issue” portfolios, such as social security, gender, children and family affairs. “We still have a steep road ahead, but the growing proportion of women ministers is encouraging. Especially where we see a rise in the number of countries with gender-balanced ministerial cabinets,” said Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, UN Women Executive Director, at the launch of the report.

Available data shows that African women remain grossly underrepresented in formal political structures and processes (Iwilade, 2011). According to the InterParliamentary Union (IPU), only 23.6 per cent of parliamentarians in Africa are women, with Rwanda,

19. Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Report 2019 as quoted in the Africa Renewal Journal of April-July 2019

Left to right) H.E Adelina Mwau, Deputy Governor Makueni County; H.E Dr. Yulita Mitei, Deputy Governor Nandi County; H.E Majala Mlaghui, Deputy Governor Taita Taveta County and H.E The Late Susan Kikwai (Kericho County)

Photo credits: FAWE RS

Namibia, and South Africa having the highest proportion of women in parliament at 61.3 per cent, 46.2 per cent, and 42.4 per cent, respectively (IPU, 2018). Women’s representation in executive or ministerial positions is even lower than in parliaments, where women held 19.7 per cent of ministerial posts in 2017 (IPU, 2017). This negatively affects women’s ability to influence national decisionmaking, including programme design and resource allocation. Despite notable progress, the marginalization of women and persistent inequalities are challenges that continue to limit the full realization of democracy (Mindzie et al., 2014).

The Leadership Programme aims to develop a strong group of transformative women and male leaders and strengthen national and regional institutional capacities to promote gender equality, women empowerment, and leadership. In response to some of the unique challenges, UN Women is already working to support regional genderresponsive measures to promote women’s leadership and participation in politics, government, business, and civil society and influence regional and national legal frameworks and policies to increase women’s leadership and political participation. In partnership with Kenya’s Kenyatta University, UN Women has established the

Africa Centre for Transformative and Inclusive Leadership (ACTIL). UN Women will provide leadership training, mentoring, and coaching to leaders in politics, business, government, and civil society through the Centre.

Through the Elections Resource Unit of the Centre, a platform will be created to provide policy, networking, and technical advice and support for serving aspiring women political leaders. The Unit will feature a platform for documenting and generating new knowledge on what works for women politicians and intelligence on nurturing gender-responsive and transformational political systems. The role of national and regional gender machinery as change agents will be enhanced to influence policies and practices across sectors strategically. The programme will also strengthen the African Queens and Women Cultural Leaders’ Network to address cultural practices discriminating against women. Alliance building and an institutional approach will help to ensure commitment, sustainability, and impact. There is no better opportunity for benchmarking in WPP by FAWE than this space and platform already functional under the auspices of UN Women.

5.3 Some Good Stories from Kenya

Increase in the number of women seated in parliament grew in 2018, within the Sub Sahara region to

23.7% SHARE

In Kenya’s case, two-thirds Gender Rule is one of the most fundamental women’s gains secured under the Constitution of Kenya 2010 as an opportunity to guarantee effective representation of women through a two-thirds principle on gender representation which asserts that ‘not more than two-thirds of the members of appointive and elective bodies shall be of the same gender.’

The principle has been reiterated in two significant parts of the Constitution the Bill of Rights and the general principles of the electoral system Article 27(8) states:

‘‘In addition to the measures contemplated in clause (6), the State shall take legislative and other measures to implement the principle that not more than twothirds of the members of elective or appointive bodies shall be of the same gender. Article 81 states: The electoral system shall comply with the following principles— (b) not more than two-thirds of the members of elective public bodies shall be of the same gender’’.

FAWE Africa Executive Director Ms. Martha Muhwezi gives the keynote speech at the launch of the WPP Intergenerational Mentorship Programme on March 8th 2021.

Photo credits: FAWE RS

Therefore, the principle is a significant gain to achieving WPP through elections and appointments in Kenya. However, this principle was only realized at the County Assembly level. It has suffered setbacks in partial implementation at the national assembly due to unclear mechanisms for learning the same in the Senate and the National Assembly. Irrespective of these setbacks in full realization of the two-thirds gender principle, the following is a summary of the gains that WPP has had under the Constitution 2010;

i. Equality and non-discrimination in gender relations and service delivery: Article 27(2) of the constitution provides a strong ground prohibiting discriminatory practices based on a wide array of socio-economic and political diversities. It has become the point of reference for a lot of advocacy on women’s rights;

ii. Empowerment of Women through affirmative Action: Article 81 (B) of the constitution provides a framework for affirmative action on elective and appointive positions, stating that not more than 2/3rd of such positions shall be composed of one gender;

iii. Domestication of International and regional treaties: Article 2 (6) of the Constitution states that all treaties will become part of the Kenyan law once ratified. Kenya is a signatory to various international, regional and subregional instruments, namely: the Universal Declaration on Human Rights (UDHR) 20 the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)21, the Convention on the Political Rights of Women, the UN Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) 22 the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance (ACDEG)23 that aims to promote representative governance and promote and protect the full realization of rights, the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action 24, the African Union Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (Maputo Protocol) 25 and the Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa 26

The Constitution of Kenya domesticates these commitments to safeguard human rights and fundamental freedoms and entrenches the concept in article 81 (b): “Not more than two-thirds of the members of elective or appointive bodies shall be of the same gender”. This provides room for enhanced protection of women’s rights through international and regional treaties. Under international human rights law, the state is liable to put up measures to ensure that such instruments are respected. It is, however, imperative to note that even where instruments have been signed and ratified, the Government of Kenya is yet to fully meet its obligation as duty bearer by putting in place policies or laws that give impetus to women’s participation in political life and aggressively address discrimination;

a. Outlawing of discriminatory laws against women: Article 2(4), the constitution prohibits any forms of human rights abuse that would result from traditional and cultural practices to the extent that such practices will be inconsistent with the constitution. Such include negative practices in some communities which previously denied women full access to their rights and enjoyment of their dignity. The constitution is declared to be supreme above such practices at the extent of such inconsistency;

iv. Progress towards Affirmative Action: Affirmative action was realized during the 2013 election when women were elected as women county representatives and others nominated into the senate and national assembly through affirmative action. The executive arm of government has also tried to ensure gender balance at the cabinet level, but not yet in parastatal boards, public service, etcetera. This is still lagging. Within the National and County governments, it is considered by gender experts that it is only at the Counties’ level that a keen step by county governments met the 2/3rds gender rule to nominate women to fill the gap that was experienced from the electoral process. The table below gives the picture of the extent to which women succeeded in getting spaces for political leadership through elective politics in the 2013 and 2017 general elections;

VIII: List of Women in Political Leadership in Kenya (2013/2017 Elections)

Level of Governance 2017 Elected Women Nominated 2013 Comment

Governors 8 3 0 9 Gender rule not met

Dep. Governor 7 Gender rule not met

Senate 23 3 18 19 Gender rule not met

MNAs 141 23 5 165 Gender rule not met

MCAs 1,161 96 650 623 Gender rule not met WNAs 267 47 0 155 Gender rule not met

As portrayed in the table above, though there is progress towards WPP, women remain a disadvantaged lot as far as elective politics is concerned. Leadership is still under the tight grip of the menfolk.

v. Women in the judiciary. The judiciary has also tried to walk the talk by bridging the gender gap, though this has not perfectly been met. Presently, the Supreme Court has 2/7 female judges (the Chief Justice has retired and the acting Chief Justice is a woman), slightly below the threshold. It was, however, a good gesture when the supreme court gave an advisory opinion to the president to dissolve parliament for failing to provide a stable ground for the realization of the 2/3 gender rule;

vi. Protection of women against retrogressive cultural practices (Customary Laws): Since the promulgation of the constitution, the creation of NGEC as a state institution that specifically works on leveraging gender equality was seen as an important milestone. The institution has made laudable progress in providing policy leadership and the development of standards to ensure that gender disparities are reduced or eliminated. The Government has also amended the Domestic Violence legislation to ensure a reduction in inter-gender domestic violence, a phenomenon that women have suffered so much from historically. The Act aims to protect spouses, children, and dependent persons in domestic violence cases.

5.5. Kenya’s Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) & SDG 5

The structure changed drastically in the 2013 and 2017 elections in terms of political representation. More women were elected in the executive and legislature at county and national levels. Kenya has also witnessed a progressive judiciary credited for making landmark rulings promoting gender equality and protecting women’s reproductive, economic and social rights.

Several implementation mechanisms were also put in place to further the constitution’s promise of equality and inclusion. In sync, the country had also been implementing agenda 2030, sustainable development goals, a set of 17 goals adopted by nations committing to the realization of human rights of all, achieving gender equality, and empowering women and girls, among other things.

During a short period, Kenya was engulfed with political uncertainty and the state’s inability to guarantee citizens’ rights until the events of March 10, 2018, when the ‘handshake’ between two Kenyan leaders committed to ending the state of political uncertainty happened.

The ‘handshake’ gave birth to the Building Bridges Initiative team, whose key mandate was underpinned by a nine-point agenda . On the 26th of October, 2020, the report “Building Bridges to a united Kenya: from a nation of blood ties to a nation of ideals” was unveiled. This unveiling came against the backdrop that women and other marginalized persons had not achieved the promises contained in the Constitution of Kenya 2010. The Chief Justice of Kenya had also issued an advisory on 22nd September 2020 that underscored this broken covenant. The BBI process intends to make amendments to the 2010 Constitution with a good number of changes relating to provisions on women, youth, and PLWDs. These amendments revolve around six out of the nine agenda items: Rights and responsibilities, Divisive Elections; Inclusivity; Shared prosperity, Devolution, and Safety and Security.

Some of the key highlights in areas of interest to WPP are summarized in brief as follows;

Rights and responsibilities: In sum, the BBI task force report reaffirms the Bill of Rights that contains specific gains concerning rights of women, youth, and PLWDs and goes further to expand it by including protection of personal data. There is also a proposal for the entrenchment of article 43 on social and economic rights in government policy. The report seeks to strengthen and advance human rights in the emerging area of data which is important given the rising risk of cyber-crime and cyber security. While it affirms the rights of women, youth, and PLWD, the provisions on citizen responsibilities suggest some recognition of unpaid care work. However, the utility of other provisions in the charter of citizenship responsibilities is lost, especially when compared against the current Article 10, which lays out concrete values necessary for a system of governance to achieve the political vision set out in the constitution.

28. Kenya SDGs Forum, November 2020 Report

FAWE Africa Executive Director Ms Martha Muhwezi gives the keynote speech at the launch of the WPP Intergenerational Mentorship Programme on March 8th, 2021.

Photo credits: FAWE RS

Divisive elections: BBI task force maintains that the existing first-past-the-post (FPTP) system is a leading cause of the highly divisive elections, which produced an unfavourable proportional representation system. Currently, the CoK 2010 provides for a National Assembly consisting of 290 elected members from single constituencies, 47 County Women Representatives, and 12 special selected members representing special interest groups (SIGs), thus totalling 349 elected members. As a remedy, the BBI proposes that the current proportional representation and special seats in the national assembly be replaced by a mixedmember proportional representation (MMPR) system while considering the two-thirds gender rule and other constitutional requirements. As a result, the composition of parliament will include 290 members from single constituencies elected through FPTP and 70 members elected through MMPR, and thus in total, Parliament will have 360 elected members. Additionally, there are suggested provisions to have Cabinet ministers selected from outside the national assembly as ex-officio members. Although the overall picture is encouraging, introducing an MMPR system at face value does not seem to cure the two-third representation of either gender in the National Assembly. The MMPR system may create new challenges, especially since political parties are expected to implement through party lists while their structures remain unreformed and patriarchal. Further, the proviso for selecting ex-officio members does not specify whether selection should conform to the two-third gender rule.

Women are among the major beneficiaries of the Building Bridges Initiative report launched by President Uhuru Kenyatta and ODM leader Raila Odinga in 2020. Though the 47-woman representative positions have been scrapped and replaced with an equal number in the Senate, a closer analysis of the report indicates a big win for women compared to the current set-up. If proposals in the 214-page BBI report are passed, the country could attain the elusive two-thirds gender requirement. The report proposes that the country elects 94 senators, each county electing one man and one woman. The report seeks to delete Article 98 1 (a),

which pegged the number of senators to 47. The team further proposes the scrapping of the seats of the 16 members nominated by political parties. In another step to cure the gender imbalance in the National Assembly, the team is recommending a 360-member House, where the people will elect 290 in the constituencies, and parties will fill another 70. The additional 70 seats will be allocated based on actual votes cast per county and distributed among youths, people with disabilities, and women. The women have a chance of up to 35 out of the 70 additional seats.

Women leaders have been pushing for an alternating gender in the prominent elective positions in the county and national government. This will push up their numbers in the bicameral Parliament as they also stand a chance to grab a good number of the 290 constituency seats elected on a first-past-the-post basis. The BBI report further proposes that governors and their deputies must be persons of the opposite sex in the future. In the last election (2017), only a handful of governors appointed deputies from the opposite gender. They include governors Salim Mvurya (Kwale), Granton Samboja (Taita Taveta), Samuel Tunai (Narok), Paul Chepkwony (Kericho), the late Joyce Laboso (Bomet), Charity Ngilu (Kitui), Kivutha Kibwana (Makueni), Stephen Sang (Nandi), Francis Kimemia (Nyandarua) and Anne Waiguru (Kirinyaga) 29

Equity & Inclusion: BBI task force recognized that women had not achieved the promises contained in the Constitution of Kenya 2010. As a remedy, the BBI proposes a raft of recommendations to cure some of the issues promoting inequality and exclusivity in representation. The BBI task force contains proposals for achieving gender parity in the Senate by introducing 47 seats for women to bring the total to 94 senators representing either gender that will bring parity between men and women. In the National Assembly, the task force recommends abolition of the replacement of the proportional system with an MMPR to achieve a two-thirds gender rule constitutional requirement.

This process does away with the current 47 women representatives, 12 nominated members of the national assembly, and 18 senators.

Similarly, the County’s top leadership is henceforth expected to comprise of either gender in its top leadership. The introduction of an MMPR system does not seem to cure the two-third representations in the National Assembly. The inconsistency in creating gender parity is also evident in positions within the National Executive identified as President, Deputy President, Prime Minister, and Two Deputy Prime Ministers, including Cabinet Ministers. This is further evident when examined from the parliamentary and senate house and departmental committees’ leadership positions. The BBI report proposes enabling institutional architecture to realise and protect women’s, youth, and PLWD and gender equality principles on shared prosperity.

Towards Agenda 2030, BBI contains several recommendations, and given the foregoing, many opportunities for advancing and strengthening SDG 5 may emerge as outlined in the BBI report 30 and should be harnessed by both state and non-state actors;

29. As reported by Luke Awich in the Star Newspapers of October 22 2020

30. Kenya SDGs Forum, Ibid

In line with SDG 5 targets #1, #2 & #3: Ending all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere; Eliminating all forms of violence against all women and girls in public and private spheres, including trafficking and sexual and other types of exploitation; And, eliminating all harmful practices, such as child, early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation.

1. Call for the expansion of beneficiaries of the victims’ protection funds to include survivors of post-election and ethnic gender-based violence.

2. Review all cybercrime and cyber security laws to align and reinforce data protection measures.

3. Generate a costing study for prioritizing combatting Gender-Based and Sexual violence to advocate for resourcing specific policy & prevention measures.

4. Participate in discussions at the county level on rites of passage for males and females that conform to the constitution.

In line with SDG 5 target #5: Ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic, and public life.

1. Support efforts to strengthen political parties’ grassroots structures, formulate gender equality statements, gender policies and procedures that will allow adequate and quality political participation of women, youth, and PLWDs.

2. Engage with the Political Parties Liaison Committee (PPLC) to support the Office of the Registrar of Political parties (ORPP) to ensure enforcement and compliance to the Political Parties Act and the amendments related to election nominations and campaign financing.

3. Galvanize efforts among CSO’s and Women leaders to introduce constitutional or legislative measures ringfencing 70 MMPR seats for Women, Youth, and PLWDS or lobby political parties to nominate women to vie for seats in populous regions to get elected directly.

4. Voice the need for two-thirds gender rule to equally apply in the selection and appointment of Cabinet members appointed from outside the national assembly.

In line with SDG 5 target #7: Undertake reforms to give women equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to ownership and control over land and other forms of property, financial services, inheritance, and natural resources, following national laws.

1. Mobilize civil society and women’s rights organizations to lobby for introducing the statute to ring-fencing National Government Affirmative Action Funds (NGAAF).

In line with SDG 5 target #8: Enhance the use of enabling technology, particularly information and communications technology, to promote women’s empowerment.

1. Promote efforts and innovations that enhance greater data protection measures in policy and legislation.

In line with SDG 5 target #9: adopt and strengthen sound policies and enforceable legislation to promote gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls at all levels.

1. Mobilize civil society and women’s rights organizations to lobby for introducing statutes for ring-fencing National Government Affirmative Action Funds.

2. Build a civil society accountability mechanism to ensure that devolved funds are tracked and spent on priority issues identified by women, youth, and PLWDs.

3. Sensitize county governments and citizens on genderresponsive budgeting and social accountability mechanisms.

4. Promote realization of SDG 5 at the county level by ensuring that 30% of the development vote is allocated to gender departments at the county level.

5. Capacity building of ward representatives on applying gender principles to public policy and legislation.

Chapter Six :

Review Results on Benefits, Strategies and Tools for Women in Political Leadership and Decision Making

6.1 Benefits of Women’s Political Participation

As noted in United Nations SDGs, women’s equal participation with men in power and decision-making is part of their fundamental right to participate in political life and at the core of gender equality and women’s empowerment. Strategies to increase women’s participation in politics have been advanced through conventions, protocols, and international agreements for gender mainstreaming, but they are yet to prove effective in achieving gender parity in the highest government rankings (Chalaby 2017). Half of the world’s population are women, but today women only hold 23% of all seats in parliaments and senates globally (Radu 2018), implying that women continue to be disproportionately underrepresented in governance and at all levels of decision-making. Full and equal participation of both women and men in political decision-making provides a balance that more accurately reflects the composition of society and may as such enhance the legitimacy of political processes by making them more democratic and responsive to the concerns and perspectives of all segments of society. Other benefits include;

Milestone to gender equality: Girls and women have a right to engage in civil society, vote in elections, be elected to government office, serve on boards, and make their voices heard in any process that will ultimately affect them, their families, and their communities.

Investing in girls’ and women’s right to political participation is necessary to achieve global gender equality and democratic governance 31

Collaborative & inclusive leadership: Active participation of women in politics brings collaborative and inclusive leadership styles into a political environment that has more frequently been characterized by division and oneupmanship. These approaches, by their very nature, deprioritize the well-being of communities and thoughtful, informed debate. There is value in women’s involvement in political leadership since they reshape the nature of politics in a manner that brings to the fore issues and problems previously perceived as ‘non-priorities,’ such as gender-based violence, reproductive health, healthcare, welfare, and education. Therefore, more women leaders seem to make for more equal and caring societies.

Diversity of experiences & skills: The physical presence of greater numbers of women in Parliament has meant that the voices for gender equality have grown stronger. Firstly, the synergy effects have resulted in diverse experiences and skills, leading to greater efficiency. Secondly, the Women’s Parliamentary Caucuses have become stronger links to civil society, especially when advocating for the enactment of gender-sensitive laws. Thirdly, TWPG enables parliamentarians through seminars, workshops, and other forums to dialogue on different issues relating to women, children, special interest groups, and other

social and economic development issues. Fourthly, the increased numbers of women in Parliament translate into leadership positions (Angellah Kariuki, 2012). Women provide a different perspective to leadership based on their experiences due to gendered roles. These experiences are useful in informing policies and ensuring all members of society are catered for. Their approach to problem-solving and working with others also promotes greater cohesion and support for public policies and decisions.

Evidence of democratization: Two studies by Yoon (2011; 2013) look at the impact of special seats on women’s political participation and democratization in Tanzania, with the 2013 study concluding that the increase in the number of female members of parliament (MPs) through the system has positively influenced the country’s transition towards democracy, by broadening the parliamentary discourse and contributing to the enactment of laws for women. According to Ms MlamboNgcuka, former Minister and Deputy President in South Africa, more women in politics leads to more inclusive decisions and can change people’s image of what a leader looks like.

People-centred issues with a focus on women & children: Available evidence shows that sustainable human development – whether reducing child and maternal mortality; improving access to education for women and girls; combating HIV, TB, malaria, and other diseases; or improving the environment – works much better in more equal societies. Gender equality commissions and women’s cross-party caucuses in Parliament have often helped to promote gender equality. Not only can they promote public policy that effectively responds to women’s demands and interests, but they can also positively affect the consolidation and progress of women’s political leadership.

Womendeliver.org/investments in political and financial capabilities of women

Non-violent approach to problems: Women in positions of authority tend to: resolve national crises without resorting to violence, advocate for social issues that benefit all, and allocate budgets to health and education. Paving the way for more women in the political, business, and civic arena is an investment in more just, equitable, and peaceful societies.

Better placed to fight gender discrimination: When female policymakers have influence, they positively impact the lives and well-being of women, girls, and society in general. One important factor that restricts women’s rights in parts of Africa is the entrenched nature of gender discrimination in social institutions. We mean norms, traditions, and codes of conduct rooted in culture, religion, and customs by social institutions. These institutions can be long-lasting and difficult to remove, yet their removal will create more egalitarian societies where women may have the freedom and resources to reach their full potential. Policymakers are key actors who can implement and enforce laws against any form of gender discrimination. Female policymakers are better positioned to understand the hurdles associated with gender discrimination in social institutions and may be better able to fight against them.

Promotes inclusivity & active participation: It enhances inclusivity and contributes to more inclusive, sensitive, equitable, and democratic engagement and governance in civil society and political parties. It involves women in decision-making, legislation, policy-making, and budgeting that should be sensitive to women’s needs. Changes the perception of women on leadership capabilities and historical narratives of women being bystanders in the political processes.

Source of inspiration for girls & young women: Study participants observed that challenges facing women are special and thus need their representation. They also noted that women in top leadership positions serve as a great source of inspiration to girls and young women aspiring for top leadership positions. For example, Tanzania’s President has become an icon for many. First of all, she is knowledgeable, experienced, and stable in leadership. She brings in some balance by always directing the current leadership to observe the rule of law and adhere to the existing constitution.

Other benefits: Women constitute almost more than half the population thus need to be represented by one of their own. Challenges facing women are special and thus need their representation. To change the historical narrative of women being bystanders in the political processes. It involves women in decision-making, legislation, policy-making, and budgeting that should be sensitive to women’s needs.

6.2 Strategies Undertaken by Different Actors in Kenya

Table IX

Respondents were asked to provide examples of different strategies or initiatives they may know of that key actors have taken in Kenya which have positively impacted on promoting women’s participation and representation,

Actor #1: Government

i. Building Bridges Initiative (BBI 2021).

ii. Constitution of Kenya 2010 aiming to fight gender parity.

iii. Kenya hosting the 12th Commonwealth Women Affairs Ministers’ Meeting (12WAMM).

iv. Hiring more women cabinet secretaries, administrative secretaries, and permanent secretaries.

v. Lowering university and college cut-off points for female students.

vi. Free maternity services put in place for women.

vii. Various programs that include gender mainstreaming, affirmative action, and gender-responsive budgeting. viii. Setting aside special catalytic funds dedicated to women, persons with disabilities, and the youth for development programmes.

Comment 1: commendable strides, but more effort is still needed.

Actor #2: Parliament

i. Marriage Act 2014.

ii. Matrimonial Properties Act 2013.

iii. Land Act 2016.

iv. Draft National Policy on Gender and Development.

v. Banning FGM in 2011.

vi. The constitution reserves 47 seats for women in the National Assembly and 16 seats for women in the Senate, courtesy of Article 98.

Comment 1: Parliament has failed to pass the current 2/3 gender rule more than three times to ensure nondiscriminatory gender equity.

Actor #3: CSOs - NGOs/INGOs/FBOs

i. A number of NGOs have women as their National Directors and in other senior positions; for instance, TAHA Compassion, World Vision and MS TCDC are being led by women.

ii. Advocacy and awareness creation for more space for women politicians.

iii. Provide support including funding to women politicians and targeted civic education.

iv. There are CSOs that recognize and value women leaders and give support to women candidates.

v. Increase number of women leaders in religious organizations.

Comment 1: More encouragement of women in senior levels should be done.

Comment 2: Women in leadership should also seek to motivate and inspire their fellow women to seek/compete for senior level leadership positions.

Actor #4: Political Parties

i. Some political parties’ practices, policies, and ideals have a profound impact on women’s political involvement and representation by implementing transformative policies on gender.

Comment 1: Currently, women still face stiff oppression, intimidation, and discrimination in most political parties. It is very hard for them to push for social equity and gender equality within their respective political parties. Nonetheless, some have opted to form their parties or stand independent candidates.Comment 2: Main parties such as CCM should do the same and others as well.

Actor #5: Media

i. Most local media groups have geographic viewpoints and strategies which can enhance recognition of inclusion and gender equality for equitable growth.

ii. Most are focusing on gender and sustainability interactions.

iii. Provide support including funding to women politicians and targeted civic education.

iv. Working inside and outside the media houses at county and national levels to ensure the representation of news is non-biased for women and to promote women’s empowerment efforts.

v. Exposing and exchanging accurate information on women, children, and the rest of society’s feminist issues. In this way, women’s and children’s viewpoints and concerns are better reflected in the mass media.

Comment 1: Media freedom in Kenya is still a challenge; therefore, their work to ensure women empowerment and leadership in a society enrooted towards a patriarchal system is not that effective; consequently, they need community and government support.

Comment 2: Media should also provide training, tools, and resources for Kenyan women journalists to operate equally with their male counterparts.

Actor #6: Religious Institutions

i. Very few religious organizations have engaged women to vie for leadership roles in the churches and support girl-child empowerment as well as pointing out the challenges women face in the society.

ii. Most religions undermine the strength and ability of women to take part in leadership positions both in the community and church. Very few religious organizations support feminist ideologies. Most religious leaders still do not help women empowerment making it hard to support faith-based women.

Comment 1: Most religious organizations are still lagging in the fight against women abuse and discrimination.

i. More women elected and nominated members of parliament; ii. Three (one deceased) elected women governors; iii. More women appointed deputy governors; iv. More women appointed in the cabinet as Cabinet Secretaries and holding positions such as Defense, Foreign Affairs, etc v. Designing of long-term election support programs like currently being done by Kenya’s Election Donor Group led by UNDP, FCDO, USAID & DANIDA to run before, during, and past the election period vi. More women were nominated and elected as Members of County Assemblies. vii. Passing gender-responsive bills and taking advantage of existing structures to implement relevant laws and policies.

viii. Restructuring various bodies within government to ensure that they are gender-responsive.

ix. Some donors and NGOs, e.g. FES, NDI, FCDO, are already funding capacity-building activities for women candidates and other women in politics, but more still needs to be done, particularly direct funding for women in candidates.

Examples of success stories that demonstrate how government and non-government institutions have worked towards overcoming barriers to women political participation and representation at national and local levels;

6.3 Cross-cutting Strategies for Promoting Women Political Participation

When prodded on which strategies should the Local & national governments, as well as CSOs (NGOs/ INGOs/ FBOs), apply to effectively promote political participation of women and increase representation in Kenya & Tanzania, respondents shared the following:

i. Form leadership clubs for women at local level.

ii. Develop women coaching and mentorship programs to assist women gain political knowledge and skills required.

iii. Provide scholarships to support women to study political science.

iv. Capacity build women leaders in debate, public speaking and presentation.

v. Extend the special seat affirmative action to political parties, other government institutions, private and public offices.

vi. Awareness creation about women’s roles in leadership.

vii. Lobbying men parliamentarians to support gender mainstreaming through motions or bills and avoid any double speak in terms of their view on women in leadership.

i. Promote policies and enact laws to increase the participation of women in politics.

ii. Develop and showcase successful women leaders as role models.

iii. Develop (mentor/train) leadership skills in young women/girls.

iv. Address negative cultural practices and stereotypes targeting women.

v. Respect and implement gender-based policies and rights of women.

vi. Access women politicians to funding to facilitate their campaigns.

vii. Ensure a level playing field devoid of challenges/ security issues/violence on women.

viii. Promote awareness programs that contribute to changing community attitudes towards women leadership.

6.4 Available Tools and Resources for Promoting WPP

Many civil society organizations and state-led initiatives work to help women acquire the necessary tools to participate in all aspects of the political process. They engage women as leaders, activists, and informed citizens in legislatures, political parties, and civil society. These programs create an environment where women can advocate on policy matters, run for political office, be elected, govern effectively, and participate meaningfully in every facet of civic and political life 32. Some have produced documents that outline practical recommendations for political parties to broaden their appeal by addressing women’s roles as voters, candidates, party activists, and elected officials. For instance, NDI has partnered with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), UN Women, the Inter-Parliamentary Union, and the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance to establish the International Knowledge Network of Women in Politics (iKNOW Politics) website33.

The Knowledge Network of Women in Politics (iKNOW Politics) website is an online workspace that addresses the needs of elected officials, candidates, political party leaders, members, researchers, and practitioners interested in advancing women in politics.

In the past three decades, NDI has trained tens of thousands of women to run for political office and supported the efforts of more than 2,000 women’s organizations. Yet even qualified women face institutional barriers, particularly in parliamentary systems. To be elected, they must first be nominated and placed on a party list, a process normally dominated by their male counterparts. To help political parties further women’s participation within their ranks, NDI partnered with the UNDP to produce Empowering Women for Stronger Political Parties: A Good Practices Guide to Promote Women’s Political Participation 34

32. NDI(2013: Increasing Women’s Political Participation through Effective Training Programs 33. http://iknowpolitics.org 34. http://www.ndi.org/node/18346

Deputy Governor Taita Taveta County mentors Daystar University student at the launch of the WPP Intergenerational Mentoship Programme

Photo credits: FAWE RS

Based on 20 case studies, this guide provides concrete steps for political parties to advance women in political life.

The WIPL programme seeks to increase women’s political representation and thus influence the decision-making process. While others like NDI, KAF & FES have programs assisting political parties to develop and implement policies that support the equitable inclusion of women in influential positions and numbers might include training on leadership or campaign skills; or work with elected and government officials to strengthen legislatures, amplify women’s policy priorities, and improve responsiveness at the local level.

Asked to share their opinion on which tools, strategies, and resources would be most helpful to support work and efforts to promote women’s political participation in Kenya & Tanzania, the participants rated affirmative action the highest at 34.8%, followed by civic education & civic engagement at 26.1%, as shown in figure IV below. The other factors mentioned as important are education/capacity building and financial support at 21.7 and 17.4, respectively.

Organized around the electoral cycle, it offers strategies to use at different times and across various party roles to increase women’s political involvement. Beyond candidate training, NDI employs a wide range of methods to increase women’s participation in all aspects of the political process, using its convening power to bring together diverse groups and perspectives.

Other civil society groups and INGOs like Oxfam are working with activists from civil society to help inform women of their civic rights and motivate them to participate in political processes while providing training on advocacy and coalition building. Oxfam is implementing the Women in Political Leadership (WIPL) programme to empower women to gain power over their lives and realize their economic lives.

NDI released one of the most celebrated resources on Democracy and the Challenge of Change: A Guide to Increasing Women’s Political Participation, a guide to help democracy practitioners develop and carry out effective programs to bring more women into government and politics35. The guide, which focuses on citizen participation, elections, political parties, and governance, presents the case for increasing women’s participation and provides information on best practices and strategies to help realize that goal. The handbook also offers case studies, checklists, and additional reading for each area highlighted and a general list of factors or approaches to consider when designing a program.

In a region where many women continue to struggle to have their voices heard, some are finding technology to be an effective tool for circumventing some of the challenges women face that inhibit their full participation in governance. Women in many parts of Kenya are marginalized and forbidden from engaging in political processes in some communities. Technological tools, such as SMS, provide a more discreet and secure mechanism for women from rural and patriarchal societies to voice their concerns and engage in county issues. To solicit more citizen input than traditional town-hall meetings allowed, International Republican Institute (IRI) launched an SMS platform in which citizens text a code to receive a short survey on a particular issue being debated by the local government .36

In your opinion, which tools and resources would be helpful to support your work and efforts to promote women’s political participation in Kenya? In response to this question, participants during in-depth interviews and focus group discussions outlined the following tools and resources for actors to consider in building the capacity of women in political leadership.

i. Awareness creation at all levels – at home targeting parents and in schools for girls to aspire for leadership position.

ii. Awareness to community members to change traditional customs that hinder women participation in leadership positions.

iii. Professional skills in resource mobilization.

i. More forums for advocacy and socio-political dialogues.

ii. Support to undertake civic education.

iii. Mentoring programs for girls and young women.

iv. To allow and support independent candidates to vie in elections.

iv. Special skills in networking and conducting campaign.

v. More & direct funding.

v. More investment in education of girls and women. 35.

Chapter Seven : Conclusions for Learning and Adaptation

7.1 Conclusions

Conclusions have emerged from this study for the attention of the WPP team. They include but are not limited to the following:

7.1.1 General and Overarching

a. The level of development in a society and women’s political representation correlates because more developed countries tend to have more women representatives. This connectivity means that societal modernisation and cultural change is realised courtesy of economic development encourages democratisation in a society. The consequential entry of women into politics can be traced back to advancement in education, overtime reduction of stereotypes and cultural barriers against women’s participation in politics.

b. A great paradigm shift in political and social institutions, mainly religious organizations and political parties, will aid women in politics and ensure that ‘politics allows for care’. Everything including political meetings and political institutions like parliaments must take steps to accommodate for women’s caring responsibilities to provide a gender balance in care and domestic duties, i.e. provision of crèches and spaces for breastfeeding, flexibility in timings to enable women to split their times at home and in the political terrain meetings and networks;

c. There is a dire need for substantive representation of women in decision-making positions in Africa, especially in the formulation of GEWE related policies and the mainstreaming of gender into existing policies, as well as plans and programs aimed at explicitly advancing gender equality agenda and the SDGs across the continent.

d. Substantive presence of women is also needed as key decision-makers in policy formulation to achieve gender equality in development, sustainable peace, and good governance within the African sub-region. CSOs, parliament, relevant government ministries, independent institutions, the judiciary, electoral management bodies and the Attorney General (AG) are actors whose active collaboration will augment the significant advancement of women in politics.

e. There is a further need to proactively and visibly engage women’s organizations in political and decision-making processes at all levels to champion transformations from within and lobby for reforms and advice on best strategies for empowerment of women and strengthening women leadership.

f. Women’s participation and representation in political and decision-making bodies in Africa should not only be a numerical enhancement of presence, but their empowerment for political leadership and accountability at all levels should be considered fundamental.

g. State actors must be obligated to establish legal frameworks for attaining GEWE related policies and goals at national levels. Non-state actors such as trade unions, political parties, interest groups, professional associations, and the businesses/ private sector should also be involved in policy formulation and decision-making processes.

h. There should also be an evolution or strengthening of trans-national women social movements and engagement with GEWE processes. In this case, the WPP team at FAWE should champion and support a robust campaign that brings together women’s organizations and like-minded civil societies across EAC.

i. In addition to political decision-making, there is a great need for women to influence policies and strategies geared toward their increased access to economic opportunities, assets and instruments (e.g. tenders, business calls, loans, grants and financial securities). This inclusivity in private and public sectors for enhanced economic power should subsequently lead to their improved capacity for effective participation in elective politics.

7.1.2

Conclusions for Kenya

a. In Kenya, Article 27 on the two-thirds gender rule in the Constitution of Kenya 2010 provides an anchor in law that secures an enabling legal regime for women’s participation in politics. However, it is worth noting that the twothirds gender principle lacks an implementation framework, which makes its enforcement a challenge. Be that as it may, slight progress has been made in increasing women’s representation and participation in politics in Kenya. This is attributable to the gradual change in the electorates’ perceptions that women can equally make better leaders. The Constitution Amendment Bill 2020 provides an avenue for more women to claim space in electoral politics .

b. One step to this achievement in Kenya will be fully enacting the two-thirds gender rule that has been elusive for more than ten years, including appointment or “nomination” of female members to special seats to ensure that elected bodies reach at least 33% women. The failure to achieve the two-thirds gender principle in both houses in Kenya (the Senate and the National Assembly) prompted the Chief Justice’s advisory issued in September 2020 advising the President to dissolve the senate and national assembly for their failure to enact the gender rule . But it is expected that BBI will most likely address this challenge when fully enacted.

7.2 Lessons and Opportunities for Strengthening WPP

Some key lessons drawn from this study and which can be used to inform and guide review and strengthening of the WPP program include:

v. As witnessed in Rwanda, every level of political leadership tends to be engendered. Women are more likely to become cabinet ministers or leaders at executive power levels when more women are in the legislature and at higher levels of the power echelons. Higher levels of women in leadership also correlate with more women being educated in society in general (Bego, 2014). Therefore, if society is already more feminised, women are more likely to lead.

7.3 Learning and Adaptation for WPP

WPP and its implementing partners will be expected to adopt an adaptive programming approach that will allow learning and adaptation throughout implementation. WPP should work with all the key actors to generate, document and share key learnings during the quarterly, biannual or annual stakeholders’ meetings. During these reviews, the stakeholders will reflect on the changing political landscape and national contexts and adapt as necessary. To find solutions to some of the challenges highlighted in this report, use the lessons to inform interventions or sharpen approaches, the WPP team should consider making regular follow-ups to continuously assess the relevance and effectiveness of WPP approaches by:

i. Tracking implementation fidelity by monitoring work plan implementation status to establish whether activities are implemented as scheduled and designed.

ii. Assessing the potential for sustainability, e.g. extent to which WPP interventions or results are embedded in political parties and government structures and systems.

i. Women political leadership has reshaped the frameworks of politics and international relations. This reshaping is because women leaders prioritise policies that benefit women, such as equal rights and violence against women and girls, and policies that benefit the most vulnerable in society through healthcare, education and welfare initiatives. Women leaders thus seem to make for more equal and caring communities.

ii. In societies with high cultural barriers to women leadership (like Kenya and Tanzania), quotas or affirmative action can help get more women into politics. These measures then mean that progressively having more women in politics may change social attitudes for more acceptance of women leaders. Johnson et al. (2003) and Burnet (2011) points to the cases in Uganda and Rwanda where women are viewed with more respect and have become more prominent in the public sphere since the quotas have been introduced;

iii. The effective use of mass and social media to advance women’s courses in political leadership can enhance the image of women politicians, promote their ideas and reach, educate and mobilize those who are more difficult to reach. Therefore, the media should ensure that they give fair and equal coverage to male and female candidates and not advance cultural stereotypes that have been barriers to women leadership over the years.

iv. Working in CSOs or working within the community is important in honing and developing the skills, building constituencies and encouraging women to enter politics (Cornwall and Goetz, 2005; ODI, 2015). These local community-level activities are more closely linked to women’s experiences and expertise. The barriers to women leadership at this level are minimal (networking and campaign financing) than at the national level. As witnessed in Rwanda, every level of political leadership tends to be engendered in the sense that women are more likely to become cabinet ministers or leaders at executive levels of power when there are more women elected or nominated into leadership.

iii. Checking for the ‘WPP project effect’ on improving WPP in the two countries. There will be a need for a structured annual assessment of achievements/challenges and to measure progress.

iv. Identifying women champions across the two countries and following the up case studies to build stories of change that are documented every year for the duration of the programme (3 years).

v. Continuing to document emerging lessons from implementation, focusing on what is working and why? What is not working and why?

vi. Continue to document emerging lessons from implementation, focusing on what is working and why? What is not working and why?

vii. Reviewing how local partners are learning from WPP interventions and how these lessons are being applied to improve spaces for women through advocacy and policy influence. In quarter reports, the team will need to capture notes on or seek to address the following questions; - have they adapted any approaches or activities from what they have learnt? Has that worked, or is further adaptation needed?”

Figure IV: Learning and adoption approach

7.4 Project SWOT from the Lens of WPP Team at FAWE

Though the rate of return or responses to this aspect of the assessment was not adequate, we summarised the few forms which came back as follows. This feedback encompasses the personal views of the WPP team at FAWE about how they see/assess their capacity and readiness to deliver this project.

Strengths

• Access to relevant decision makers and existing stakeholders and various CSO networks;

• Availability of adequate human and material resources;

• Availability of technical expertise and skills within the organization;

• Wide experience and comprehensive information about gender mainstreaming and integration;

• Technology advancement to administer questionnaire online through Skype, Zoom, Monkey Survey or phone calls.

Opportunities

• Good communication with project stakeholders;

• Enabling environment for FAWEK and civil society working on women issues;

• Democratization and establishment of more political parties;

• Supportive state regulations;

• Developing links and collaborations with other NGOs.

• The BBI process in Kenya.

• Post-election activities in Tanzania and pre-election period in Kenya e.g. civic & voter education by IEBC

Weakness

• Limited funds to facilitate project implementation;

• Lack of some relevant contacts to reach the target audience and stakeholders;

• Unavailability of key documents for desk research;

• Senior staff and partners may not be available for country consultations;

• Difficulty in mobilizing stakeholders for feedback and approval;

• Persistent traditional perceptions of women as inferior to men

Threats

• Multiple stakeholders can be difficult to mobilize quickly for feedback since they are engaged in many other activities;

• Gender blind institutions and processes including governments, parliaments, political parties, elections and judicial appointments;

• Biased media coverage of projects targeting women;

• Political and legal restrictions requiring clearance before engaging citizens in any kind of research;

• Hostile social and political environment.

7.5 Key Research and Learning Questions for WPP

Though this report addresses all the questions, given the dynamic nature of politics and political processes, WPP should consider seeking new information in response to these annually through annual assessments and political economy analysis. The generation of new data and evidence will inform programme approaches and strategies.

What are some of the key contemporary issues affecting and relevant to women’s political participation in Kenya & Tanzania.

How can strategic use of data and evidence for decision making improve women’s role and place in politics?

Are there any new/fresh perspectives we can provide to various categories of women actors for advancing the cause of participation in decision-making in Kenya & Tanzania?

How can improved Women Political Participation support building of a fairer society that places prime value on women’s role and contribution?

What available/new data & evidence can we generate to guide/inform women political participation?

7.6 Sustaining WPP Efforts and Results

a) Socio-political and economic sustainability dimensions

Socio-cultural respect

Social Sustainability

Stakeholder & Community participation

WPP is a socially acceptable programme, thus is built on the understanding of local traditions, priorities, and core values across the two countries. WPP and its implementing partners should push political parties and relevant government agencies to show how they are applying proactive measures meant to address all forms of structural and systemic discrimination and inequality against women within the organizations;

WPP should seek to facilitate processes that foster empowerment and ownership by women leaders, key stakeholders, and community members through direct participation in the project and political decision-making on issues affecting women and their communities.

Political cohesion

WPP should seek to increase the alignment of its interventions with host country priorities and coordinate its efforts with national authorities in Kenya & Tanzania to increase buy-in, ownership, and efficient delivery of necessary reforms;

Economic Sustainability

WPP team should work on inbuilt sustainability mechanisms to ensure that additional/sufficient local resources and capacity exist to continue key aspects of the project in the absence of outside help, particular after the three funded years;

Gender & conflict sensitivity analysis

Gender responsiveness

WPP approaches and activities should be designed to ensure gender and social inclusion throughout design and implementation. WPP team and its implementing partners will be expected to demonstrate an in-depth understanding of how gender inequalities may exacerbate social and political exclusion within political parties and relevant state agencies and how gender intersects with other social cleavages (e.g. ethnicity, religion, class, age, geographic location) during elections and other political processes;

Knowledge transfer Mentorship & coaching

Technical support

WPP team, partners, and experts are expected to mentor political activists, leaders, and candidates for various posts. This mentorship approach is expected to ensure that these mentees not only improve their capabilities but also take up new roles in promoting active women participation in their parties and other agencies of interest.

Conflict sensitive programming

WPP should adopt the ‘Do no harm approach’ and support local capacities for conflict resolution and management within political parties in favour of women. There should be a constant and careful analysis of different types of conflicts likely to affect the program positively or negatively. The WPP team will be required to critically examine how WPP interventions interact with various disputes and adopt context-appropriate conflict-sensitive approaches to navigate problematic issues during implementation.

b) Program design, knowledge transfer and results dimensions

Focus on design & results

Sustainable program design

WPP’s core sustainability agenda should be inbuilt in its program design. Retooling and reskilling staff and partners to apply innovative techniques in promoting WPP and ensure that more women get more involved in the political process. Additionally, working through women’s organizations and country-based experts will ensure that core principles and approaches of WPP will continue to be applied after funding ends.

Sustaining interventions & results:

Since locals will lead WPP interventions and activities within FAWE and other partners, it is guaranteed that the innovations or new practices meant to improve WPP will continue beyond the project period.

Economic Sustainability

WPP is expected to work with experienced partners and experts, working closely with local political institutions to run/facilitate different training initiatives and provide technical support to build capacity through transfer of skills/knowledge, sharing experiences, and new ways of working with these local partners. This practice will undoubtedly equip them to continue supporting WPP even after the program ends.

c) Partnership dimensions

WPP partnership approach

Political engagements

Policy, technical & resource partnerships

Working with others to deliver WPP objectives

WPP should have a high commitment to working directly with women leaders, women organisations and political institutions as primary partners, as part of its sustainability strategy.

WPP program will identify and work with both implementing & mobilizing partners for effective delivery of the interventions across the two countries. These provide linkages with local structures and partners, create synergies with political systems, harmonize WPP efforts with other relevant initiatives, and strengthen engagement with partners for sustainability.

Economic Sustainability

Policy partnerships

WPP will work very closely with relevant government agencies and political parties to generate requisite political goodwill and assurance of support and jointly pursue necessary reforms.

Technical partnerships

Resource partnerships

WPP to work with universities, research institutes, think tanks, and other potential learning partners.

WPP should reach out and seek alternative funding sources from local/ national, regional, and international agencies .

Chapter Eight :

Targeted and Actionable Recommendations

8.1 Recommendations for AU, ECOSOCC & RECs

a. Promotion & protection of women’s rights: In the final analysis, ACDEG provides numerous opportunities for advancement and protection of women’s political rights – particularly when seen in conjunction with the plethora of other women’s rights instruments in existence in Africa and globally. The provisions within the Charter reiterate the necessity of women’s participation, representation, and leadership in African governance and decisionmaking spaces. Coupled with its state reporting process, ACDEG creates a solid basis to push for the meaningful rather than tokenistic engagement of women and women’s rights groups vis-a`-vis, ensuring accountability regarding the numerous provisions that speak to women and girls.

b. Full implementation of relevant ACDEG provisions: AU member states must undertake practical steps to implement ACDEG and other AU shared values and instruments that speak to women’s empowerment. These steps must be holistic, considering the interconnected and interrelated nature of rights across social, political, and economic spheres. Furthermore, creating impactful change will require state actors to address the structural barriers to women’s political participation and harmonize these shared values with norms and practices at the national and local levels. The steps should be reported periodically to facilitate monitoring and share similar lessons.

c. Provide technical support to member states: Apex continental and regional bodies – namely, AU and RECs – should play a central role in ensuring the effective implementation of ACDEG by providing technical support to member states; popularizing the Charter among member states, gender activists, and civil society as well as women’s rights organizations; and rewarding reporting and compliance, to accelerate implementation and monitoring.

d. Create/strengthen spaces for structured engagement with CSOs: It is clear that the utility of the Charter for advocacy purposes has not been fully exploited. Women’s rights activists, practitioners, organizations, and gender advocates must be given space and supported to capitalize on the numerous and substantive provisions of ACDEG outlined in this report. Effective implementation of ACDEG’s provisions on women’s political rights requires all relevant stakeholders to work together at multiple levels, pool necessary resources, and promote the universal ratification, domestication, and implementation of the Charter. Only then can the potential and promise of ACDEG be fully realized.

8.2 Recommendations for Governments/Parliaments

Cross-cutting Recommendations

a. Legislation that improves the legal and policy regime as an enabler to women political leadership: Governments and parliaments should ensure constant and progressive legislation that reduces the barriers to women’s entry into politics. As Kenya and Tanzania strive to implement SDG 5, “Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls,” the governments must also seek to embed gender parity in constitutions and legal frameworks. They must fully comply with the regional and international normative human rights standards to eliminate all forms of violence against women, introduce funding opportunities to support women candidates at all levels and ensure that girls receive a high-quality education.

b. Governments should support, empower and engage women through awareness campaigns: Women need to be educated and be informed that political participation is not limited to election campaigns and mobilisation. They also need to know that for political participation to be inclusive, there should be equal participation by both women and men.

c. Increased public funding for women in politics: Governments should provide more funds to independent female political politicians and political parties with a considerable and accepted number of female political candidates. This funding will allow political parties to involve more women in political office.

d. Governments should promote the economic emancipation of women: When women are economically emancipated, they will be able to make their decisions independently, which may pave the way for them to enter politics without being restricted by their male counterparts (who may be breadwinners or husbands at home).

e. Other expectations from governments: Support women’s leadership in the workplace through greater inclusion in executive positions and on corporate boards. Women’s leadership should be supported in the workplace through greater inclusion in executive positions and on corporate boards. Eliminate structural and legal obstacles that hinder all girls’ and women’s participation in politics and decision-making, and hold those obstructing them accountable. Introduce temporary quota systems and gender-sensitive leadership pathways to help bring women into political spheres.

f. Combat online harassment of women: Online harassment and prejudice against women through technology immensely contribute to women shying away from participation in politics and representation. The government should therefore criminalise online gender-based violence.

g. Mentorship and Coaching programs: The need for the creation/strengthening of platforms through which women can support each other and develop strong/ viable women networks. More mentorship programs are put in place to assist women in gaining more political knowledge and skills. Build linkages with strong pro-women organizations locally and internationally.

h. Monitoring and Evaluation frameworks: M and E structures to be put in place to monitor women participation and make the basis for informed decision making and strategic planning.

i. Resource Mobilization: Most women lack the financial muscle to compete with their men counterparts in planning for the election process, such as campaigns, media engagement and marketing, among others. Women need increased access to financial support. The women need capacity building on resource mobilization and financial planning and management.

8.3

Recommendations Specific to Kenya

a. Laws to regulate campaign funding: : Parliament should legislate laws that regulate campaign funding and facilitate the enforcement of electoral malpractices. This will establish meaningful measures to protect women candidates from violence and institute a reporting system for victims of election-related violence and proper and prompt investigation and prosecution of reported cases. The laws should also ensure parties provide funds and subsidies for women candidates and/or ensure they are funded and subsidized to the same degree as men candidates;

b. Affirmative action policies: Laws that require political parties to submit affirmative action policies and reports periodically ought to be a constitutional requirement for political parties to be inclusive;

c. There is a need for governments to engage political parties to ensure that they include more women on their candidates’ list: Political parties should become the institutional vehicle through which women’s participation in politics is enhanced, especially in facilitating their involvement within party structures and over election periods;

d. Address structural issues that hinder women from entering civil and political leadership: Through interventions that improve women’s access to economic resources, i.e. income generation initiatives and remove legal and social impediments to women’s participation in politics. For instance, the education system should provide opportunities for girls and young women to complete secondary education and transition to tertiary-level studies, and the health system will need to ensure women’s access to essential health and reproductive services, including comprehensive family planning services;

e. Put in place programmes and mechanisms that build awareness of the benefits women bring to leadership roles, advocate for the equal representation of women and men in political participation and leadership, and establish leadership and mentoring programmes that support aspiring young women leaders.

f. Gender Guidelines such as CEDAW on restructuring women special seats are not effective in its current application to oversee women participation. There is therefore , a need for realignment and repurposing of CEDAW guidelines to be effective. Align women special seats representation to national, regional and international treaties and legal frameworks for effectiveness.

8.4 Recommendations for Political Parties and Actors

a. Fair political party rules: Political parties are key to stifling or advancing the cause of women leadership in Kenya and Tanzania. Therefore, the parties should ensure their party constitutions, nomination rules, other guidelines, and policies provide for specific affirmative action measures that increase women’s participation within their parties.

b. Women active roles in political parties: Political parties should also enable women to take active roles in the governing of the parties through measures such as ensuring gender parity in the parties’ high-level decision marking organs such as the governing body and the positions such as Chairperson and Secretary-General.

c. Women access to justice within the parties: To ensure women can access justice within the parties, the political parties should ensure gender parity in their composition of dispute resolution bodies.

d. Political parties’ accountability for the safety of women leaders: The political parties must be made accountable for the protection of their women leaders. Further, the state must ensure that the law protects any woman in the election process.

e. Political parties’ affirmative action measures: Parties ought to institute internal firm affirmative action measures that enable increased candidacy of women in elections. These efforts may include purposely and deliberately nominating women to run for elective seats in party strongholds and adopting quotas to allow a minimum number of women to run for elective seats.

f. Train women candidates: Women candidates face cyberspace bullying and harassment. Political parties should train women candidates on media and social media use.

g. Women are still underrepresented in most political parties. There is a need to advocate for a policy that offers practical guidance on steps and actions for political parties to ensure the enforcement of the Constitutional principle on gender equality in politics and the role of power and decision-making at all levels, particularly the two-thirds rule on gender.

8.5 Recommendations for Elections Management Bodies (IEBC & NEC)

a. Reform or develop policies to promote women participation: Elections management bodies in Kenya and Tanzania hold a great deal of authority over electoral processes and their inclusiveness. They, therefore, ought to review or develop policies to ensure the participation in elections by women;

b. Regulate & oversee party nominations: Elections management bodies in Kenya and Tanzania should exercise their authority to regulate and manage all political party nominations, including developing regulations creating mandatory provisions stipulating the exact manner of supervision to ensure democratic nomination exercises that is fair to women;

c. Ensure compliance to electoral code of conduct: During electoral periods - be they general elections, by-elections, or referenda - electoral bodies should ensure strict monitoring in compliance with the Electoral Code of Conduct. Where violations occur, elections management bodies in Kenya and Tanzania must impose sanctions as defined in the law on offending individuals and parties to curb the culture of impunity and violence against women;

d. Voter education & sensitization of women: Conduct timely voter education in all elections and ensure that the education programmes target women and other special interest groups.

b. Ensure that all political cases by women candidates and activists are fairly considered and expeditiously dispensed with for women to get justice from the courts.

c. Orient all judicial officers, magistrates, and judges on relevant electoral laws, election regulations, and codes of conduct.

8.7 Recommendations for Media and FBOs

a. Highlight gender issues: The media shapes opinion in the public sphere due to its ability to reach millions in the shortest time possible. The media, therefore, have a social responsibility to boost the participation of women in the public sphere. It is, therefore, necessary that the media highlights gender issues that inform the public on the status of women in Kenya and Tanzania, their rights, their challenges, and their achievements.

b. Balanced reporting: A balanced reporting by the media on the issues that concern men and women will also go a long way in addressing the stereotyping mentality that has been visited on women by the patriarchal society that Kenya and Tanzania are. The media should also amplify gender responsiveness by portraying how current issues markedly or disproportionally affect women.

8.6 Recommendations for the Judiciary and Independent State Institutions

a. Monitoring compliance at national level and ensuring implementation of relevant declarations e.g. e.g. (i) establishing gender-balanced governmental bodies, committees, public administration, and judiciary, through specific targets and a positive action policy; integrating women into elective positions in political parties; promoting and protecting women’s political rights; and reconciling work and family responsibilities for both men and women (Declaration, 1995a); and (ii) conducting leadership and gender awareness training; developing transparent criteria for decision-making positions; and creating a mentoring system (Declaration, 1995b).

c. Advance the cause of women: Noting that women have had historical marginalization, there is a need to boost women’s leadership by offering them a fair advantage through positive profiling of women leaders. The media should be more sympathetic to the cause of women by emphasizing the positive works of women, avoiding the repetition of negative stereotypes.

d. Religious institutions to proactively champion the cause of women leadership: There is a need for religious institutions to adopt a more progressive narrative by first opening their institutional hierarchy to women leadership.

e. Promote visibility and positive profiling of women, including female politicians and decision-makers in the media and houses of worship, and create a safe and enabling political environment in which they may participate in public life at all levels.

f. Promote increased media coverage: Illuminate existing and planned women empowerment and electoral assistance initiatives within the EAC sub-region, focusing on those that include gender mainstreaming and/or gender-targeting components by governments, donors, NGOs, and other actors. Highlight good practices, successful mechanisms, and effective strategies to achieve gender equality in political participation across East Africa. Women to get more airtime for their political activities. Women to participate in media debates and political programs.

g. Capacity building for targeted coverage: News anchors should be trained on gender sensitivity to treat women using the same yardsticks as men when highlighting stories. Media to share positive stories of women in leadership. The media should stop concentrating on those leaders already in the limelight and highlight other women leaders to propel them to the spotlight and political positions.

8.8 Recommendations for Women Leaders in Leadership/ Political Positions

a. Women leaders should support women leadership programmes to bring on board and train more women on leadership. Political empowerment is not a one-off process but takes a while before results are realised.;

b. b. Women leaders should originate and support gendersensitive issues and prioritise health, education and other key development indicators. This way, they remain highly responsive to the needs of their constituents’.

8.8 Recommendations for

c. Women leaders should form a broad-based network across party lines to advance women leadership. They should see each other as comrades irrespective of their party affiliations.

d. Women leaders should see male leaders not as adversaries but as colleagues to lobby to support women leadership.

WPP

a. Refer to Chapter 7 on Conclusions for Learning & Adaptation: this section contains many takeaways for WPP and practical suggestions that the WPP team can consider to strengthen program design and strategies for delivering results.

b. Advocacy and civic awareness: Active advocacy efforts and vigilance on electoral reforms on gender inclusion and lobbying for the passage and enactment of relevant laws to actualize WPP. Also, ensure active monitoring of compliance with constitutional and other legislative women’s gains.

c. Training, coaching and mentorship: Provide a platform for training and mentorship for upcoming women politicians through periodic sharing of experiences and best practices, especially by renowned women leaders in Kenya and Tanzania. The activities also include skills-building of women in preparation for leadership positions, i.e. presentation and public speaking. Encourage women to participate in local meetings, i.e. chief’s barazas and air their views in these fora. Invest in training programs for young people, women, and men on political systems, women’s right to participation, and decision-making roles.

Project and Partner CSOs

d. Institutionalise gender responsiveness and inclusion: Strengthen closer ties with duty bearers to undertake institutional strengthening programmes that ensure institutions’ abilities to be genderresponsive and inclusive and enhance the capacity of women legislators to be gender-responsive in law-making, lobbying, and consensus-building.

e. Public Interest Litigation (PIL): Maintain a consistent and active pursuit of actions and remedies against threats to or violation of the WPP gains through necessary measures, including PIL and advocacy.

f. Improved inter agency collaborations: It would be important for FAWE and other civil society members to improve on the partnerships among themselves and with the County Governments to better infuse women’s rights into policy processes at the sub-national level of governance.

g. Intensify coherent advocacy efforts; There is a need for more synergy and vibrant engagement amongst CSOs as a key element to assure harmony and consistency in implementation and advocacy for gender-responsive policy and legal frameworks (as witnessed in the two-third Gender Bill discourse).

h. Encourage more male participation on gender related assignments and issues at all levels as a way of leveraging gender on the national and sub-national political agenda.

i. Work with community groups, religious and traditional leaders as champions for social transformation should be intensified and strengthened. Work hand in hand with religious leaders to address religious biases and stereotypes against women’s political participation that deter the meaningful involvement of women in political leadership and democratic activities, such as voting. Promote community and sports programs that foster leadership skills for girls and women and promote gender equality.

j. Need for a standard monitoring framework: Kenya and Tanzania need a reliable framework to guide the implementation of the gains for women. Most of these gains risk remaining political rhetoric that hardly goes beyond the pages of the constitution. Without a clear monitoring framework, it becomes difficult to implement the gains and even to hold institutions and individuals accountable in state institutions in cases of non-compliance.

k. Advocate for more women pathways to leadership: Advocate for creating political parties that have clear women pathways into leadership with timed affirmative actions tied to education and capacity building in several stages and structures. Further, consider an institutionalised gender-responsive budgeting, social accountability of women-oriented services, etc

l. Intensify engagement in the BBI process (Kenya): The BBI process is a constitutional moment that calls for vigilance and active attention to consolidate women’s gains on WPP and advocate for more space for women in both appointive and elective positions in Kenya.

m. Fund grassroots organizations that build the capacity of girls and women to participate both individually and collectively in social, economic, political, and public life.

n. Support scale up & replication of success stories or best practices: Identify entry points for introducing, scaling up, or replicating local, national or regional gender equality initiatives in electoral assistance, public appointments and other forms of promotional measures, where possible through innovative programming solutions.

o. Work with political parties: Most political parties are like ‘boys clubs’ with minimal women participation. WPP project should work with political parties and party women leagues to effect affirmative action policies and strategies that would help increase women’s representation and involvement in politics and party leadership’s rank and file. This collaboration will ensure that political parties put a case for active and increased women’s participation in political parties’ leadership.

p. Partner with actors such as Article 19 Eastern Africa and AMWIK to train women leaders on online safety measures: Online harassment is becoming a hindrance and a scare to women‘s participation in politics. WPP should partner with the mentioned actors to conduct personal security training for women leaders, such as using encryption tools for secure communication on both online platforms and mobile phones. In addition, training should also focus on enabling women to understand the security implications of their actions and mitigate risks they may face on online platforms. Also, work with other organisations and social networking companies such as Facebook who are now seeking partner organizations in Kenya, Tanzania and across the continent to inform their work and help to implement solutions to online harassment and attacks of women.

Selected List of References

q. Lobby for more funding and technical support for women in politics: It’s hard to afford the money to belong to a political party, especially when you are young. It also takes more work to fundraise to support the female political ambitions of the female activists. There is, therefore, a need to fund women in leadership programs and avoid only focusing on this area when it’s close to elections which makes things be done in a rush which hinders the attainment of tangible results. Donors should also support NGOs to design programs that nurture more women to gain interest in political debates. Design women in a leadership program to help those interested in leadership roles and encourage and prepare women to vote for women. There is a need to see the need for women in leadership roles. Holding people accountable to reduce fear of participation by women and reducing GBV during the electioneering period is key.

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Annexes

Annex I: KII/FGD Guide for Parliamentarians, Independent Institutions and Political Activists – Kenya

Introduction and Purpose

In partnership with The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA), FAWE has been implementing the Women in Political Participation (WPP) project for three years. The project aims to increase the political participation and representation of women in Africa in line with the Maputo Protocol of 2003, various associated sub-regional protocols and standards, and the SDGs. The project will be implemented in 8 African countries: Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Eswatini, Cote d’Ivoire, Kenya, Senegal, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe. The project comes against the backdrop of continued underrepresentation of women in political spaces and decision-making in political and public spheres irrespective of the numerous efforts to enhance participation of women in politics in most African countries. Given this, Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE) has commissioned the Centre for Research and Innovations in East Africa (CRI-EA) to conduct a situational analysis on women’s political participation in Kenya and Tanzania the implementation of the WPP project.

This guide aims to gather information from stakeholders to identify obstacles faced by women to allow for a clear and precise identification of the type of challenges presented at different stages in different geographical contexts in which the project activities will be undertaken. All participants’ comments will be treated with respect and confidentiality and used solely for this study. Where it will be necessary to quote discussants on points raised by them, their consent will be sought first, or the quotes will be blinded (made anonymous). This process/discussion is estimated to take about one hour, and your participation in this process is entirely voluntary, and you reserve the right to respond to the questions to the extent of your ability.

Thank you for your participation!

Interview Questions 1.

Comments Solutions

Social-Cultural Barriers

Institutional

Enabling environment for civil society working on women issues

Legal discrimination of women

Women backing or being in solidarity with each other i.e. Solidarity among women

Financial resources and financial skills among women

Gender blind institutions (governments, parliaments, political parties) and processes (elections, judicial appointments)

Political parties promoting women in their ranks

Education and literacy among women

Tools (manuals and guidelines) on gender equality and women’s political participation

Biased media coverage of women

Barriers related to Tools, Capacities and Resources

Reliable information/research on gender equality issues, including a lack of sexdisaggregated data

a. What are the other challenges or obstacles women face in representation and political participation in Kenya? What are the other additional challenges or obstacles women face in representation and political participation in Kenya?

2. What are some of the benefits of promoting political participation of women in Kenya?

3. Which strategies should the County Governments/CSOs/ NGOs/ INGOs/ FBOs apply to effectively promote political participation of women and increase representation in Kenya?

4. Can you provide examples of different strategies or initiatives you know of that key actors have taken in Kenya that have positively impacted on promoting women’s participation and representation?

5. In your opinion which tools and resources would be helpful to support your work and efforts to promote women’s political participation in Kenya?

6. Examples of success stories that demonstrate how you overcame barriers to women political participation and representation at national and local levels?

Annex II: KII/FGD Guide for NGOs/CSOs/ Local (Regional) Governments – Kenya

Introduction and Purpose

In partnership with The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA), FAWE has been implementing the Women in Political Participation (WPP) project for three years. The project aims to increase the political participation and representation of women in Africa in line with the Maputo Protocol of 2003, various associated sub-regional protocols and standards, and the SDGs. The project will be implemented in 8 African countries: Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Eswatini, Cote d’Ivoire, Kenya, Senegal, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe. The project comes against the backdrop of continued underrepresentation of women in political spaces and decision-making in political and public spheres irrespective of the numerous efforts to enhance participation of women in politics in most African countries. Given this, Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE) has commissioned the Centre for Research and Innovations in East Africa (CRI-EA) to conduct a situational analysis on women’s political participation in Kenya and Tanzania the implementation of the WPP project.

This guide aims to gather information from stakeholders to identify obstacles faced by women to allow for a clear and precise identification of the type of challenges presented at different stages in different geographical contexts in which the project activities will be undertaken. All participants’ comments will be treated with respect and confidentiality. Perspectives of the discussants will be used solely for this situational analysis. Where there will be a necessity to quote discussants on points raised by them, the participant’s consent will be sought first, or the quotes will be blinded (made anonymous). This process or discussion is estimated to take about one hour.

Your participation in this process is entirely voluntary, and you reserve the right to respond to the questions to the extent of your ability. Thank

CSOs/NGOs/INGOs

Interview Questions

1. Comment on the extent to which the following pose challenges or obstacles for policy makers and practitioners to increase women in political participation and representation in Kenya.

Comments Solutions

Social-Cultural Barriers

Legal

discrimination of women

Enabling

environment for civil society working on women issues

Cultural

norms and stereotypes about women in society

Religious beliefs/interpretation about women in society

Gender blind institutions (governments, parliaments, political parties) and processes (elections, judicial appointments)

Discriminatory or sexist working culture in Government/ Parliament/Sub-national legislature

Women’s perception of the lack of safety and respect for women in the political sphere.

Institutional Barriers

Gender equality policies/ legal regulatory framework (constitution/election law) promoting women’s participation i.e. the 2/3 gender rule

Political parties promoting women in their ranks

Biased media coverage of women

Barriers related to Tools, Capacities and Resources

a. What are the other challenges or obstacles women face in representation and political participation in Kenya

2. What are some of the benefits of promoting political participation of women in Kenya?

3. Which strategies should the County Governments/CSOs/ NGOs/ INGOs/ FBOs apply to effectively promote women’s political participation and increase representation in Kenya?

4. Can you provide examples of different strategies or initiatives you know of that key actors have taken in Kenya that have positively impacted promoting women’s participation and representation?

Women backing or being in solidarity with each other i.e. Solidarity among women

Financial resources and financial skills among women

Education and literacy among women

Tools (manuals and guidelines) on gender equality and women’s political participation

Reliable information/research on gender equality issues, including a lack of sexdisaggregated data

5. In your opinion, which tools and resources would be helpful to support your work and efforts to promote women’s political participation in Kenya?

6. In your opinion, how are the current women in politics helpful in creating the environment for other women to participate in politics?

7. Examples of success stories that demonstrate how you overcame barriers to women’s political participation and representation at national and local levels?

Annex III: SWOT Analysis Guide for WPP Team in FAWE

Target Persons: Project Staff @ FAWE – RO, Kenya & Tanzania.

This session aims to analyze key Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats in the internal and external environment of the project (WPP); and the extent to which such will enable or affect the realization of project objectives. Rank the degree to which the factor either enabled or affected the realization of project objectives on a scale of 1 -5. (1 = Least Effect; 5 = Great Effect).

Annex IV : FGD Guide for FAWE Team

Introduction and Purpose

This guide aims to gather information from the FAWE team and relevant stakeholders to identify obstacles faced by women to allow for a clear and precise identification of the type of challenges presented at different stages in different geographical contexts in which the project activities will be undertaken. This process/discussion is estimated to take about 30 minutes to one hour and your participation in this process is entirely voluntary. All participants’ comments will be treated with respect and confidentiality and used solely for this study.

Thank you for creating time to participate

Interview Questions

1. Comment on the extent to which the following pose challenges or obstacles for policy makers and practitioners to increase women in political participation and representation in Kenya

a. Social-Cultural Barriers

b. Institutional Barriers

c. Barriers related to Tools, Capacities and Resources

2. What are the other additional challenges or obstacles women face in representation and political participation in Kenya?

3. What are some of the benefits of promoting political participation of women in Kenya?

4. Which strategies should the County Governments/CSOs/ NGOs/ INGOs/ FBOs apply to effectively promote political participation of women and increase representation in Kenya?

5. Can you provide examples of different strategies or initiatives you know of that key actors have taken in Kenya that have positively impacted on promoting women’s participation and representation?

Government Parliament CSOs/NGOs/INGOs

Political Parties Media

Parliament

FAWE House, Chania Avenue, off Wood Avenue, Kilimani P.O. Box 21394 - Ngong Road, Nairobi 00505, Kenya.

Tel: (254-020) 3873131/ 3873359 Fax: (254-020) 3874150

Email: fawe@fawe.org www.fawe.org