A report by the World Economic Forum published Wednesday, July 13, ranked Kenya among top ten Africa countries with most empowered women.
Kenya has been ranked 57th among 146 countries globally with a general score of 0.729. According to the report, women’s participation in the country’s economic sector has significantly improved jumping from position 84 in 2021 to 6th.
The report focused on gender equality in various fields including economy, politics, education, and health. It also measured gender-based gaps in access to resources and opportunities in countries regardless of the available resources in each country.
From the survey, at least 13.20 per cent of the companies in Kenya are majorly owned by women. The government has outlined policies that have contributed to gender equality in the country.
The National Policy on Gender and Developments aims towards creating a just, fair, and transformed society free from gender-based discrimination in all spheres of life practices.
The State Department for Gender in the Ministry of Public Service, Youth and Gender is responsible for promoting gender equality and empowerment of women in Kenya.
The two-third gender rule enshrined in the Constitution guarantees that women are part of the decision-making process in parliament. However, Kenyan lawmakers have been unable to operationalize the provision of the law.
According to the report sadly, education empowerment in the country is still low despite Kenya attaining average scores in fields like access to health and political empowerment.
United State Agency for International Development (USAID) cites that limited control over benefits from land and other resources constrains women’s successful participation in the economy, particularly as producers and market actors.
It states that these are some of the challenges the country needs to address to ensure Kenya is a gender-equal country.
The Global Gender Gap Report 2022 shows that Rwanda is leading as the most gender-equal country on the continent followed by others like Namibia, South Africa, Burundi, Mozambique, Cape Verde, and also Madagascar, and Zimbabwe.
"This year’s results reflect positive changes in relatively populated countries such as Nigeria, Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of Congo and Kenya, where gender parity has increased along the Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex," read the report.
Globally, Iceland retained its position for the 13th consecutive year. It was ranked as the most gender-equal country in the world with a general score of 0.908.
