State lauds civil society for rise in number of elected women

Principal Secretary of the State Department of Gender, Veronica Nduva, has lauded civil society efforts to advance women's leadership in the last elections.

Nduva said that rights groups, especially women's rights groups, played a critical role in helping to get more women elected in various capacities.

The PS spoke during the launch of the report on Gender perspectives from the Kenya 2022 general elections by Echo Network Africa, Democracy Trust Fund and UN Women Kenya on Monday.

"The government appreciates the critical role played by other state and non-state actors across the board, including women's rights organisations in contributing towards the attainment of a just and inclusive society," she said.

She said women's advancement in leadership and their political participation will help create equal opportunities for creating a better world for all.

"Hence, I applaud the flagship initiative Chagua Mama campaign, a partnership aimed at accelerating gender inclusiveness in the run-up to the 2022 general election," she said.

The Chagua Mama campaign was organised by Echo Network Africa, Democracy Trust Fund and other partners.

She said there was an impressive performance by women candidates, which witnessed an increase in elected female MPs.

"There was a rise from 7.9 per cent to 10 per cent representation," she said.

The two-thirds gender rule was, however, still not attained, especially in roles such as committee chairs, chief whips, speakers, minority and majority leader seats.

"It is evident that women are still underrepresented at key decision-making positions hence limiting our voices in defining the democracy agenda in Kenya," she said.

She hoped the report would lead to lessons learned and ensure that we have more women appointed in subsequent elections.