Gender Forum

The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that approximately 125 million girls and women alive today had been subjected to Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in 29 countries, mainly in Africa and the Middle East where FGM is prevalent. On the 26th of February 2015, Heinrich Boell Foundation’s Nairobi office once again convened the monthly Gender Forum at the Nairobi Safari Club, with the agenda of addressing FGM in Kenya. In a highly emotional ambience, people from different backgrounds in Kenya came together to discuss FGM in Kenya and what can be done to fight the vice.

Two Thirds Gender Rule in the National Assembly and the Senate To fully realize the two thirds gender rule in the national Assembly and the Senate, Kenyans will have to agree to a minimum constitutional amendment. This was the message that was given at the monthly Gender Forum on November 27.

“Women must not to shy away from aiming for elective political seats”, urged the guest speaker, the former nominated MP, Sophia Abdi Nur. In 1997, Ms. Abdi Nur became the first woman in Kenya's North Eastern Province to vie for a political seat when she ran for parliament representing Ijara district. She lost the race but didn't give up. She was nominated in 2008 and became the first woman member of parliament from her region

Majority of Kisumu County's population lives in the grip of a patriarchal structure where gender roles are ascribed. The County’s policy and development blueprints as well as County budget make useful references to gauge the prioritization and analysis of gendered needs of the Couny residents.

Will enforcement of abortion criminalization translate to a decrease in incidence of incomplete, unsafe termination or will it merely increase the numbers of women that die silently? What is the economic loss of all this?

How is gender equality understood at the County level, and how can the County’s policy and development blueprints and sectoral budget be used to prioritise and analyse gendered needs?

Women globally contribute a great deal of their time performing unpaid domestic and care oriented work. In Kenya, there is no reflection for such work in the economic analyses or national statistics.

Sexual and Gender based violence in Kenya: Experts agree that personal involvement is needed to curb the vice that is on the rise. 

The Gender Forum travelled to the ethnically cosmopolitan town of Isiolo to contribute a platform for dialogue on women’s participation in decision making in Isiolo County, with focus on the budgeting process.

Land reforms have provided a beacon of hope for a more equitable and favourable situation for women in Kenya to own, manage, access and transfer or otherwise transact in land and immovable property.