Leading by example and paving the road for women across Africa

Gender equality is a goal which many countries strive to attain. Instrumental to this pursuit has been the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, an ambitious programme that set gender equality as one of its central goals. Sadly, a recent report by the Equal Measures 2030 (EM2030) partnership has indicated that these goals will not be met by their target date.

The same report however, indicated our country to be above the regional average and on par with the global index score.

This is something us Kenyans should be celebrating. For the benefit of those who haven’t yet met these targets, let us evaluate how our country attained this commendable goal.

Leadership is instrumental in achieving any national goal. President Uhuru Kenyatta has appointed many skilled women to serve in his Cabinet. The most recent appointment of Ms Betty Maina as Industrialisation Cabinet Secretary (CS) further strengthened this and raised the ratio of women in the cabinet to over one third.

While we still have much to aspire to in terms of numbers, we need to evaluate the president’s work to achieve gender equality by quality and not quantity.

While other countries may have appointed more women to cabinet positions, these have often been insignificant positions wielding little to no influence.

The case in our country has been very different, with women in Uhuru’s cabinet holding two of the most important ministerial positions.

These are Raychelle Omamo who currently serves as CS for Foreign Affairs as well as Monica Juma, who is serving as our Defense CS. Both of these positions, prior to Uhuru’s first term in 2013, had traditionally been held by men.

Aside from CS positions, the overall representation of women has also been boosted since President Kenyatta’s first term. A comparison between women in parliament before and after his 2013 election shows a very clear upward trajectory.

While female representation in the 11th parliament stood at 22, women in the 12th Parliament increased almost fourfold to 86. Similar increases have been evident at the county level.

Beyond political appointments, a slew of legislation has been put in place by our leadership which has helped us progress in the field of gender equality.

Some of the most important of these include the Matrimonial Properties Act 2013 which was one of the first on the continent to grant women the same rights as men when dealing with property and executing contracts.

Also important was protecting the interests of women through the Marriage Act 2014 which has proven central in preventing issues such as forced weddings and marriages of underage brides.

Material support has also been shown by the government which has set up a number of funds dedicated to supporting the progress of women.

Key among these is the Women Enterprise Fund, which aims at providing financial support for entrepreneurial women. The Access to Government Procurement Opportunity programme has also been giving a boost to women, placing 30 per cent aside for procurement opportunities involving women and other disadvantaged minorities.

These are great initiatives as they don’t focus on handing out charity but rather, on supporting the initiatives of strong enterprising women.

As a continent, we need to cooperate by learning from each other’s successes as well as from each other’s failures.

And the strategy employed by the government for the empowerment of women is one which can be similarly implemented by our neighbours.

Facilitating women playing leading political roles is important if we are to, together, meet the stated 2030 goals. In the words of one of the world’s most power business women Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook, “We need women at all levels, including the top, to change the dynamic, reshape the conversation, to make sure women’s voices are heard and heeded, not overlooked and ignored”.

When appointing women to positions of power, we must focus on quality and not quantity and allow women to lead by placing them in positions of significance.

Never have the foreign relations of our country or our security been as strong as they are now, under the leadership of two exceptional women.

Governments must also show their dedication with concrete financial commitments and not only speeches on commemoration days such as International Women’s Day.

Actions after all, do speak louder than words.