INTRODUCTION
Gender main streaming
can be defined as the public policy concept of assessing the impact for both
men and women of any planned policy action. This is mostly in terms of basic
education, healthcare, equality in terms of economic opportunity and political
empowerment. Gender mainstreaming is all about making the concerns and
experiences of women as well as that of men an integral part of the design,
implementation, monitoring and evaluation of all devolve government policies so
that the two genders benefit equally (Conell & Raewyn W, 2002) . As easy as it
sounds, implementing it is another story all together. Below is a list of
problem that the devolve government faces in an effort to achieve this.
CHALLENGES
FACED BY DEVOLVE GOVERNMENTS IN GENDER MAINSTREAMING
Cultural
Practices: One major problem is the position of women in the
society especially in rural areas. Some communities still believe that its only
men that should lead and the women belong to the kitchen and daughters are just
a source of dowry. This communities concentrate their efforts in the boy child
for example when it comes to education and ignore the girl child as they will
be married of whether educated or not. This leaves the girl child at a
disadvantaged position. Also some communities find it hard accepting female leaders
and thus will not vote for them and even when they get in positions in devolve
governments they are not easily accepted.
Superiority
complex: There is a general believe that men are generally
superior/strong in the African society. ‘usilie kama mwanamke’ (don’t cry like
woman) and ‘be strong like a man’ are common phrases that are used in
conversation to emphasis this point. With this kind of mindset women are left
to fight for left overs as the ‘stronger’ gender gets the best or are given
priority.
Lack
of economic independence; this is especially the case with women
as they highly depend on men such as their husbands and fathers for financial
support (muli & koki, 2002) . Thus they make
decisions as per the wishes of the providers. It mostly affects the stay at
home mums thus they cannot have a differing opinion on devolution matters to
that of their husbands.
Over
concentration on the girl child: In an effort by the
devolve government to mainstream gender, another problem arises of the boy
child being neglected. A lot of resources is being allocated to the girl child
and we forget the boy child also needs to be given attention. This can be seen
in institutions used by mainly by the boy child which have been neglected such
as some boy schools which lack basic amenities.
Pressure
to Achieve Gender equality: The pressure to achieve gender
main streaming is also a problem on its own. Most devolve government are forced
to change their organizational structure so as to cater for women and try
achieve the one third gender rule, a classic example is the women
representative position which was created and role not clearly defined. Also
people miss on jobs which they are the most qualified for because the gender
rule has to be achieved. For example the deputy chief justice position which
was ‘preserved’ for female candidates. This is a form of discrimination.
CONCLUSION
Women make up more than
half the population of Kenya yet they represent a staggering 70% of the poor.
However it’s important to note that gender mainstreaming is not just about the
female gender as with all the concentration on the girl child it is now the boy
child who is being neglected. Literally all the 47 counties constituting the
devolve government have not achieved the one third gender requirement as a
requirement of the 2012 constitution (CONSTITUITION, 2010) .
It is also important to
note that a lot of effort has been made to try and achieve gender
mainstreaming. They include the office of women representative, girls getting
to schools with lower marks, having a gender office, provision of sanitary
pads, and free primary education for all among others. To achieve economic
development we need both genders working together and not against each other.
Gender mainstreaming mainly concentrates on women as they are the most
marginalized. As United States of America President Barack Obama said on his
recent visit to Kenya,
‘Any nation that fails to educate its girls or
employ its women and allow them to maximize their potential is doomed to fall
behind the global economy. We’re in a sports center: Imagine if you have a team
and don’t let half the team play. That’s stupid. That makes no sense. (Yurcaba,
2015)
References
Conell, & Raewyn W. (2002). Gender.
Cambridge Polity Press.
CONSTITUITION. (2010). KENYA:
Kenya Gazzette.
muli, & koki. (2002). constitution
to ensure fair and gender balanced representation. nairobi: kenya human
rights commission.
Yurcaba, J. (2015, july 26). Bustle.com.
Retrieved from
www.bustle.com/articles/99843-the-6-best-quotes-from-president-barack-obamas-speech-in-kenya-called-for-an-end-to
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