President Uhuru Kenyatta has pitched for governments to have more women in leadership positions at the ongoing global conference in Vancouver, Canada.
The Head of State, who is attending the Women Deliver 2019 Conference at the invitation of host Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, has underscored the need to also engage women in critical decision making forums.
He stressed that just like their male counterparts, women should get equal opportunities since they are able to deliver.
“We need to make the society understand that women are as capable as men. We have to create an enabling environment for them to serve,” said President Kenyatta during a high-level panel discussion on the subject.
He said the society should create an enabling environment for women to exploit their skills and talents in providing services to communities.
“The cultural and religious barriers as well as stereotypes have continued to be an impediment to women in realising their potential in leadership and in achieving their dreams of a better society,” said the president.
He credited his first term in office where he made history by appointing six women in key Cabinet positions, thereby empowering them to impact the Kenyan society.
He lauded two of them – Anne Waiguru (Kirinyaga) and Charity Ngilu (Kitui) – who were subsequently elected for governorship in the last elections.
“At the Executive we have appointed women in key Cabinet positions,” said the President.
Uhuru said he would not relent in pushing for more women to be included in leadership positions, and pledged to use his influence to push for the passage of the two-thirds gender law in Parliament.
Parliament is yet to pass the gender Bill, with more than three attempts having flopped.
“There is no way a country can make meaningful progress by excluding the largest segment of its population,” he said.
The Women Deliver Conference was officially opened yesterday by Mr Trudeau with a call to redefine power at every level.
The conference’s main focus is on gender equality, the health rights and well-being of girls and women across the globe.
Over 8,000 delegates, including world leaders, governments representatives, policy makers, influencers, advocates, academics and activists are attending this year’s conference whose agenda is to come up with programmes to accelerate progress for girls and women globally.
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