Kenya shamed in global gender list

Kenya has been named among African countries with worrying gender inequality gap.

Gender equality activists meeting in South Africa this week cited recent global gender reports by UN and the United States Aid  Agency (USAid) that gave Kenya low marks in efforts to bridge the gender inequality gaps.

The USAid report titled Gender Equality and Women Empowerment in Kenya says Kenyan women were underrepresented in key decision-making positions.

“They also have less access to education, land, and employment. Those living in rural areas spend long hours collecting water and firewood; interfering with school attendance and leaving them with little time to earn money or engage in other productive activities,” noted the report released in Nairobi in March this year.

Speakers at the global gender equality conference held at Guateng city in South Africa, called for concerted efforts to bridge the gender equality gaps in Africa.

The United Nations Women program specialist Ayanda Wimbi said abuse to women which manifested in forms such as sexual abuse and harmful cultural practices like female genital mutilation, is still of great concern in the society today.

She said to counter this, there was need to empower men to stand up for women.

“Men need to be engaged for gender equality to be achieved. They too need to be empowered to treat women as equals rather than subordinates,” said Wimbi.

Melanie Cheary from Thomson Reuters Foundation said there is a lot to be done to bridge the wide gender gap.

“In our society women are still considered the weaker sex and this poses a huge problem in how men relate to women,” said Cheary.

She lauded the bold men who have gone ahead to empower the women in their lives.