A collage of Sheila Tamnai and Rose Chepkoech Today, the United Nations Member
States, including Kenya, mark the thirtieth anniversary of the Fourth World
Conference on Women and the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform
for Action (BPfA).
This milestone offers an important opportunity to reflect on the significant progress made toward gender equality and to acknowledge the work that still lies ahead.
Signed in 1995, the Beijing Declaration set a global agenda for advancing women's rights and empowerment.
As the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW69) convenes today in New York, Kenya’s participation offers an important moment to reflect on the progress made and the challenges that remain in the journey towards gender equality.
Gender inequality was deeply rooted in Kenyan society before the Beijing Conference.
The Kenyan society was majorly patriarchal, where women were largely excluded from political spaces and required their husbands’ consent to obtain identification documents, access loans, or make decisions about critical issues that mattered to them like family planning.
Harmful cultural practices, such as female genital mutilation (FGM), were prevalent.
The Beijing Declaration was a transformative moment.
In 1995, Kenya, alongside other nations, committed to advancing gender equality by focusing on 12 critical areas; women and poverty, education and training for women, women's health, violence against women, women and armed conflict and women and the economy.
Other areas of concern included; women in power and decision-making, institutional mechanisms for the advancement of women, human rights for women, women and the media, women and the environment and the girl child.
This framework has since shaped Kenya's policies and legal reforms through the years and has in response, conducted a comprehensive review in the past five years (2020 - 2024).
The review, was led by the National Gender Machinery (NGM) under the Ministry of Gender, Culture, the Arts and Heritage with support from a National Multi-Sectoral Planning Committee.
It provides a platform to reflect on the achievements, lessons learned, challenges and opportunities, as well as, identification of concrete actions needed to accelerate the implementation of the BPfA and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
During the period key policies and legislation frameworks were developed: Children’s Act (2022), Prevention Against Domestic Violence Rules (2020), National Guidelines for School Re-Entry in Early Learning and Basic Education (2020), Persons with Disabilities Amendment Bill (2023), Kenya Community Health Policy (2020-2030), Social Protection Policy (2024), and Sessional Papers No. 2 and No. 3 of 2019 on Gender and Development and the Elimination of FGM, respectively.
These reforms paved way for notable progress in gender equality in areas like health, financial inclusion, education, leadership and combating GBV and FGM.
Previously, the disease burden, especially pregnancy-related complications from high rates of home deliveries, affected women, leading to high maternal mortality rate in Kenya.
However, through significant policy reforms, such as the decentralization of healthcare and the transition of the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) to "Taifa Care," where every Kenyan is covered, the country is moving closer to achieving universal Health Coverage.
Community health volunteer programmes have extended health education to the grassroots, helping women to adopt healthy practices such as family planning.
As a result, deliveries in health facilities increased from 1.24 million in 2021 to 1.25 million in 2022, accounting for 82% of total deliveries in the country.
“Under Taifa Care through Afya Bora kwa Wote program, women are no longer being charged for delivery and access for other forms of healthcare services in Levels 1, 2 and 3 of public hospitals, with other programs like Lishe Bora giving them first priority in food security.
These are part of the myriad initiatives and actions the government has taken to boost the welfare of women to put them at par with their male counterparts,” said Ms. Mwanaisha Chidzuga during a women forum to assess the progress made since Beijing Declaration and platform for Action report during the eminent and grassroots women's engagement at Lilian Towers in Nairobi City County.
This shift, she adds, has greatly contributed to a reduction in maternal mortality.
Financial and economic empowerment for women has been enhanced through government affirmative action programs like the Women Enterprise Fund, Youth Development Enterprise Fund, Uwezo Fund, and the Access to Government Procurement Opportunities.
Since its establishment in 2007, the Women Enterprise Fund has disbursed US$ 150 million to women entrepreneurs, trained 2 million women in entrepreneurship skills, and registered 257 women-owned SACCOs (Savings and Credit Cooperative Organizations) making them have a sustained livelihood.
Historically, cultural beliefs restricted girls’ roles to domestic duties, marriage, and childbearing, which led to high illiteracy rates among women and reinforced gender inequalities as they did not take education seriously.
However, in recent years, significant strides have been made in empowering women through education.
The 2024 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) registration reflects a nearly equal representation of female and male candidates, with 50.1 percent female and 49.9 percent male students’ enrolments.
This indicates a positive trajectory towards achieving gender equity in education. On the other hand, women have made notable progress in leadership roles especially in politics.
In governance today, prestigious and influential positions such as the Chief Justice, Deputy Chief Justice, and Attorney General are held by women, accounting for 44 percent of the judiciary workforce.
In the executive arm of government, women’s representation has been enhanced as Cabinet Secretaries increased from 30 percent in 2017 to 39 percent in 2024.
Similarly, women’s representation among governors rose from 6.3 percent in 2017 to 14.9 percent in 2022.
On the flipside,34 percent of Kenyan women have experienced gender-based violence (GBV), resulting in severe physical, mental, and social consequences, with some even losing their lives. This is correspondingly being addressed.
According to the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey (KDHS) 2022, the proportion of women aged 15-49 who experienced intimate partner violence declined from 32.7 percent in 2014 to 28.1 percent in 2022.
The prevalence of physical violence fell from 22.6 percent in 2014 to 16.0 percent in 2022, and sexual violence decreased from 9.8 percent in 2014 to 7.1 percent in 2022.
Through various policies and initiatives, the Kenyan government is evidently committed to ending GBV in collaboration with other non-state actors.
This is true as in response, President William Ruto established a 42-member task force to reform legal frameworks addressing GBV, led by Dr. Nancy Baraza.
Other initiatives include the creation of the Office of the Women’s Rights Adviser at the Presidency headed by Ms. Chigai and establishment of counseling centers, empowerment programs, and increased access to credit through programs like the Hustler Fund and other affirmative action funds among them, Women Fund.
Conversely, while Kenya has made considerable progress in advancing gender equality since the Beijing Declaration, significant challenges still remain and requires urgent government attention.
The authority and its various stakeholders must continue working together to accelerate the efforts to eliminate GBV, ensure women’s access to property and address their socio-cultural barriers.
The next decade will be crucial in sustaining the momentum and building on the achievements already made in the past 30 years to ensure a more inclusive cum equitable society for all.
Rose Chepkoech and Sheila Tamnai work in the Office of Government Spokesperson as volunteers.
