In a renewed push for gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls, the Association of Kenya Women Parliamentarians (KEWOPA) in collaboration with the Centre for Rights Education and Awareness (CREAW) held a high-level meeting in Nairobi to review Kenya’s progress on gender parity and advocate for the full implementation of the Maputo Protocol.
The meeting brought together prominent stakeholders including representatives from the Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Forum, who engaged in robust discussions on bridging the gap between gender equality policies and their effective implementation on the ground.
CREAW presented a comprehensive report outlining the current status of gender equality in the country. The report highlighted notable milestones such as increased awareness of women’s rights, alongside persistent challenges including underrepresentation in leadership, gender-based violence, and limited access to reproductive health services.
Nominated Senator Betty Montet made a passionate call for unity among women leaders.
"Let us stop fighting each other as women. Let us focus on correcting each other while walking the talk on how we are going to increase the number of women leaders in the country," she urged.
A key concern raised during the session was the lack of adequate shelters for survivors of Gender-Based Violence (GBV). Women MPs pushed for increased budgetary allocations to the State Department for Gender, Culture, the Arts and Heritage to ensure comprehensive support systems for affected women and girls.
Participants also appealed to CREAW to open direct engagements with the chairpersons of the Budget & Appropriations and Finance Committees in both the National Assembly and Senate, to ensure gender-responsive budgeting is prioritized.
KEWOPA reaffirmed its commitment to achieving the two-thirds gender rule by leveraging political goodwill and bringing male parliamentarians on board as allies in the gender equality movement.
In a significant move, the meeting renewed calls for Kenya to lift its reservations on Articles 10 and 14 of the Maputo Protocol, which concern women’s rights to health and reproductive autonomy. Stakeholders stressed that the reservations hinder the full realization of women’s rights and called on the government to reaffirm its commitment to the African Union treaty.
The event marks a crucial step forward in the collective efforts to enhance gender equality and ensure that women and girls in Kenya enjoy their rights fully, as enshrined in the Maputo Protocol and the Constitution.
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