‘Making visible what is currently not visible: Experiences on generating evidence based results on integrating gender issues in project’ was the title of Petra Saghir’s presentation. Petra an African Women in Agricultural Research and Development (AWARD) fellow attached to the Poverty Gender and Impacts (PGI) team of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) Markets, Gender and Livelihoods Theme gave her presentation on Friday 18, 2012 after the completion of a 9 months attachment which she competed for and was successful to got a placement at ILRI, Nairobi under the supervision of Jemimah Njuki, the then team leader now working with CARE International, USA .

During her attachment, Petra got to work with various projects within the team namely; Integrating Dairy Goat and Root Crop Production for Increasing Food, Nutrition and Income Security of Smallholder Farmers in Tanzania; Gender and Agriculture Assets Project (GAAP) in Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Mozambique, Kenya, Tanzania, India and Uganda in collaboration with IFPRI; Evaluating the Impacts of Livestock and Aquaculture Microcredit and Value Chain Programs on Women’s Empowerment, Eastern Africa and the Australian Center for International Agriculture Research (ACIAR)-Gender and climate Risk consideration for research (crop/livestock) in Africa. Petra highlighted her experiences while working with these projects, lesson learnt, challenges and opportunities.

Petra is grateful to AWARD, ILRI colleagues, the PGI team and her supervisor, Jemimah Njuki for the opportunity that she got which among others has really enabled her to strengthen and utilize her scientific and leadership skills.  She will be going back to her home country Nigeria where she is a lecturer at the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta Nigeria and hopes to pass on the capacity in engendering the academia and help small holder farmers to improve their livelihood.

Jemimah Njuki while at the presentation, challenged other scientist to be willing take up young scientists from the AWARD program as mentees in order to mentor the next generation of scientists.

View her presentation below

You might also want to read:

New ILRI research paper presents gendered analysis of dairy goat and sweet potato production in Tanzania – discussion paper

Petra Abdulsalam-Saghir joins ILRI’s Poverty, Gender and Impact group

Group photo of workshop participants

Climate change is a serious threat to sustainable development. It affects and impacts various regions, generations, gender and other classifications differently. Men and women face different climate change impacts because they perform different tasks, have different access to and control over assets and have different sets of knowledge and skills based on their distinct roles and responsibilities. Evidence shows that greater improvement in agricultural productivity can be achieved if research is approached from a gendered perspective.

Recently there has been increased recognition of the importance of a gendered perspective in climate change research and development. While studies are being conducted on gender and issues like energy, water, environment, there are very few studies that are currently being carried out on gender and climate change.  There is also very little systematic and empirical evidence on the gendered impacts of climate change and the coping strategies of men and women. It is on this premise that a 3 day workshop on ‘Incorporation of Gender into Climate–Resilient Crop-Livestock Systems Research to Accelerate Food Security in Africa’ was held in Nairobi on May 3-5. Participants from the workshop came from east, south and west African countries.

Workshop objectives

The objectives of the workshop were; to establish the current state of knowledge on gender and climate change in crop-livestock systems in Africa, identify key issues on gender and crop-livestock systems in relation to climate change, identify gaps for future research, develop a framework for better integration of gender in crop-livestock research and together with a comprehensive action plan for the proposed and related research.

Looking at livestock, a majority of human diseases are transmitted from livestock implying that climate change will significantly change disease emergences. In addition, a shift to start looking at how pastoral systems can be potential areas for sequencing carbon in the tropics in addition to trees would be worth investing in. It therefore goes without saying that agriculture, climate change and gender are intertwined.

A review by Agajie Tesfaye, a workshop participant disclosed some of the most hazardous climate change occurrences observed. In Ethiopian, climate change variability is observed through drought and floods similar to increasingly intense and frequent drought and flash floods in Kenya, in Tanzania the melting of glaciers in Mt. Kilimanjaro at an approximate glacier loss of 55% within the last 38 years, Malawi experiences winds, floods and heavy rains as it’s most common climate change hazard and Mozambique experiences cyclones in addition to other climate change hazards such as rising temperatures and torrential rain.

With the aim to better understand the current state in the region so as to come up with useful, adaptable and practical strategies at country and local level, participants who were drawn from Ethiopia, Kenya, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Ghana and Malawi shared and exchanged information about the current state of knowledge on climate change in their various countries. This information touched on issues such as the contribution of women to crop-livestock systems, gender consideration in crop-livestock research, gender gaps, gender mainstreaming status of the country, best practices as well as opportunities available to integrate climate resilient crop-livestock systems.  

Successful incorporation of gender into agricultural research requires gender sensitization and capacity building. A training session on gender sensitization was also part of the workshop so as to well equip the participants in this area of research and to enable them to integrate gender into their programs and projects.

The 3 days workshop enabled participants to share knowledge and information from the region, build and enhance their capacity on gender and other related issues and create a network of partners who can further drive the research work on gender and climate change. With a better understanding of the issues, participants were urged not to lose the momentum, to pull in their diverse strengths and skills to address gender, climate change and crop-livestock systems.

The workshop was jointly organized by the Poverty Gender and Impacts (PGI) team of the ILRI Markets, Gender and Livelihoods Theme together with Curtin University, the Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA) and the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) with funding from the Australian Center for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR).

Click HERE to view the workshop photos

‘The 2012-2013 Africa-wide competitions will evaluate, recognize and reward the contributions of women and young professionals who are involved in: (i) Pioneering and innovative research; (ii) Communicating their research results and technological developments; and (iii) Advocating for policy change as well as influencing policy processes through their research. They will also raise awareness of the need for valuing and sustaining the engagement of women and young professionals and facilitating their contribution to Africa’s socio-economic transformation.’

Read more about the competition from the CTA website: Feeding 1 billion in Africa in a changing world

When vision, passion and commitment meet, what emerges is a leader who inspires and motivates her team to achieve great things and propels them to great heights. It is nearly impossible to have a conversation around gender at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and within the region without mentioning Jemimah Njuki. Her profound understanding of gender issues and her passion and commitment for addressing gender inequalities has made her a voice of authority when it comes to gender and agriculture issues not only at ILRI, but within the agriculture community globally. Jemimah has been leading the Poverty, Gender and Impact team at ILRI for the last 2 years, a team that she helped weave together soon after she joined ILRI.

It is that time in her career when she moves on to new challenges, in this blog post, we look at some of her achievements while working in the CGIAR, her thoughts about gender and the changes in the CGIAR and her future plans.

Growing up in a small holder agricultural setting and seeing the significant role that women played in the  agricultural sector, putting in a lot of labour and yet, with such little access to and ownership of the resources and assets that mattered, and with such low benefits from their hard toil,  left a lasting impression on Jemimah. She was however propelled to do something about it much later in her life. Soon after her Bachelor’s degree in Dairy, Food Science and Technology at Egerton University in 1995, she got a position as a projects officer with the then Kenyan Ministry of Regional Development working in Tana River, Ijara, Garisa, Kwale, Kilifi, and Taita Taveta. Working in these arid and semi arid districts, she experienced firsthand the daily struggles of women to access basic services such as water, and health care, saw their endless toils to sustain their families on land they did not own but also saw the potential to change the face of agriculture by addressing these inequalities and by giving women the voice and resources they needed to advance their lives and those of their facilities and communities.  This gave her the real affirmative that made her decide to devote her life to improving the condition of women in agriculture.  She however felt she was ill equipped for this, and decided to go back to school and get the skills that would enable her do something that would empower rural women in agriculture. She would later graduate from Sokoine University in Tanzania with a PhD in Rural Development specializing in gender and development.

Living her passion and realising her dreams

Jemimah has worked extensively on gender issues in the CGIAR for the last 9 years and has been a part of many projects that have transformed many rural lives. In her previous position at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) she was part of and later led a team implementing a program called Enabling Rural Innovation in 9 countries in Eastern and Southern Africa. The idea behind the project was to build small holder farmers capacity to understand and engage in markets. The project employed development and action research oriented approaches, working with rural men and women. She vividly recalls taking a group of Malawian women to  markets in Lilongwe to understand what the market demands were, what quality and quantities were required and discussing with them how they could organize themselves and use improved agricultural practices to supply these markets. In one of the villages, households that could not produce enough to eat all year round became major suppliers of pork and piglets to the country.

In ILRI, Jemimah has been working on various projects with partners. Some of the notable ones include working with the International Food Policy Research Institute and 8 international NGOs and research organizations to influence agriculture programming so that it has impacts on gender disparities in asset ownership, and working with the East Africa Dairy Development Project (EADD) to ensure that women participate in and benefit from improved dairy markets.  She singles out one project that has been very exciting for her. The project was informed by some of Jemimah’s research that revealed that even when women were linked to agricultural markets and economically empowered, it could lead to male appropriation of benefits with women often losing control over the enterprises. The project links women’s economic empowerment with a broader societal change that involves working with men and women and more interestingly integrating women’s awareness and exercise of their rights into the broader economic empowerment discourse. It integrates two critical components of empowerment- creating economic opportunities for women, and increasing their awareness and exercise of their rights.

A good leader is one who transitions while leaving behind a well equipped and empowered team to keep working on attaining the team goals and carry on with the challenges. Jemimah has left behind a new ‘Strategy and plan of action to mainstream gender in ILRI’, that guides ILRI on how to more systematically integrate gender in the research agenda in a transformational way. It is the first time the institute is having such a document to guide it on how to promote gender equality and equity within the livestock and agriculture sectors.

Gender advancements in the CGIAR

When Jemimah joined ILRI and indeed the CGIAR, only a handful of people were talking about gender. Jemimah acknowledges that the CGIAR has made a lot of progress in incorporating gender in its research agenda. But cautions that there remains a lot to be done. The commitments that we have put on paper especially in the CGIAR research programs have to be followed through. Within ILRI, gender is now a strong component in the CGIAR Research Programs on Livestock and Fish, on Agriculture for Improved Nutrition and Health that she has been part of developing. Within the research program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security, ILRI has received a grant to see how best to address gender in climate smart agriculture on recognition that the impacts of climate change are different for men and women, and women have a great role to play especially in adaptation to climate change.

She believes that ILRI is well positioned to play a bigger role in influencing how gender is addressed in agricultural research. For ILRI to do this, addressing gender and gender inequalities must be an individual commitment by all whatever their role in the organization is, and the organization must invest in specialized capacity that supports individuals and partners with tools and expertise.

Her next assignment – more work on women in agriculture

For last 9 years Jemimah has been working on gender and agriculture from the international research side, gathering evidence on the role of women in agriculture and using this with partners to influence policy and practice. Her burning passion has however been to get back on the ground, be part of the action and implement what she has been recommending to others.

Jemimah is leaving ILRI to join CARE International, USA to head a new program on Women in Agriculture called PATHWAYS. She will be working in both Africa and Asia and will be based in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.  The exciting thing about the program for her is that she will not only be building on her previous work on women and agriculture but will be doing it at scale. The program will work directly with 11,000 women’s groups and co-operatives, using these groups and co-operatives and agriculture as the entry point for women’s empowerment. She sees this as a good transition from generating evidence to using evidence to have an impact on women’s lives.  In this role, she hopes to continue to collaborate with ILRI and with other research organizations. As she says, ‘once a researcher, always a researcher’

A tribute to ILRI

Jemimah Njuki at a Workshop on Gender and Market-Oriented Agriculture, Ethiopia (photo credit: ILRI/Apollo Habtamu).

To keep progressing one must learn, Jemimah has grown professionally over the years and she is grateful to ILRI for the opportunity to network globally with others working on gender and agriculture. She has addressed numerous global gatherings, talking about the role of women in livestock and the importance of livestock for women. Even though she is leaving the CGIAR, she hopes to still maintain some leadership and advisory positions with the CGIAR. She is currently in the management committee of the CGIAR research program on Policies, Institutions and Markets. She will continue to work with ILRI on her new book on Gender and Livestock due in September this year.

Jemimah has managed to create synergy in her team by being very supportive, clearly setting and articulating the goals that the team is working to attain, involving them throughout the projects, listening and also learning from them. She has mentored and nurtured many along her course and is one of the African Women in Agricultural Research and Development (AWARD) mentors.

As she stretches her wings to other heights, the team she has influenced and leaves behind to continue working on gender issues at ILRI had this to say in their farewell messages to their mentor:

I have worked with you for the last one and half years and I must confess, what I have learnt under your mentorship is close to a 10 years period. I have always admired your quick grasp of your juniors’ problem and your practical advices throughout the period. I hope and wish that your departure from ILRI does not mean closer of this Nobel tie. I promise to apply and replicate what I have learnt under your leadership. It’s what I can describe as holistic mentorship. Go shine and shine. Harrison Rware…. Read more

More about Jemimah and her work in the links below:

TEDxWashingtonCircle- Jemimah Njuki – The Missing Link

Carrying on the fight for gender equality: Growing talents: youth in agriculture jemimah-njuki

Read more about this transition in the article: From Research to Action – Jemimah Njuki Sails On!

I have worked with Jemimah for the last one and half years and I must confess, what I have learnt under her mentorship is close to a 10 years period. I have always admired her quick grasp of her juniors’ problem and her practical advices throughout the period. I hope and wish that Jemimah’s departure from ILRI does not mean closer of this Nobel tie. I promise to apply and replicate what I have learnt under her leadership. It’s what I can describe as holistic mentorship. Go shine and shine. Harrison Rware

I got to know Jemimah just few months ago and what I have learned from her cannot be quantified. I admire her fierce passion for what she believes in, she has been a wonderful supervisor and a great mentor to me. She gives commendation and encouragement freely and acknowledges good works. It is a pleasure getting to work with and learn from her. This is wishing her all the best in all her endeavors. It is very hard to say goodbye, so I am saying we will meet again! Petra Saghir

Working under Jemimah has been a truly amazing experience. She is not only inspirational; she is inspired daily by her need to achieve her goals, to be excellent. One of the things that have impressed me the most about Jemimah is her commitment and her dedication towards a noble cause (gender isn’t the only one). May you continue to mentor young scientists and demonstrate the value of persistence. The sky is the limit for Jemimah. We are sad to be losing her at ILRI, but I know that she’s always available for a chat over a couple glasses of wine!!! Juliet Kariuki

I worked with Jemimah for about one and half years in the poverty and gender team before joining IBLI team last year.  Her commitment to gender research in livestock was admirable. Working with her I was able to learn and appreciate new research approaches especially on issues related to intra-household gender disparities that most often tend to be overlooked in research. I believe her time at ILRI touched the lives of many and made some difference.  It is a small world and I know we shall probably meet in other spheres. Sam Mburu

It is only that some of us who joint ILRI recently will miss the opportunity to learn more from her. However, in the short duration working with her, her in-depth knowledge in gender and agriculture in general amazed me. Her ability to handle multiple projects and still remember the details of each in addition to the opportunities and space for work she gave was inspiring. I am sure those she will join will have an inspiration. Luke Korir

Jemimah has been an exemplary Supervisor and Mentor. From her l have learnt that it is possible to lead and nurture others simultaneously. I will remember her fondly for the wake-up call she gave us in this year’s International Women’s Day. “We can no longer live kiundutho style! We must arise, work and strive for excellence at all times.” Edna Mutua

I have really enjoyed working with Jemimah for over 2 years or so we have been together.  I will really miss her leadership skills and how well she coordinated team activities and meetings.  I liked the way she handled team issues professionally and she has always been approachable.  I wish you all the best in your future endeavors and hope we shall have more interaction in the future.  All the best!  Joyce Wanderi

Jemimah is my boss and my inspiration, I have learnt from her that one can keep the principles that make the character while being a boss. She empathizes with people to explain something from their point of view and driving the point home.  I admire her open door policy and being passionate about work. Nabintu Sanginga

Jemimah helped us in PGI to tap into our potential. Where anyone of us thought that the limit was all we could give, Jemimah helped us to move one step further than our limits. She not only believed in her teams’ abilities and talent but let these abilities within her team to flourish. Jemimah is a perfect example of the balance between the roles as a Mom, work, play and career advancement which we should learn from. As a leader I have learnt from how she makes her calculated moves, decisions, transforms theory into practice in a clear, articulate, practical, concise manner and chooses the battles to fight in the advancement of gender. Pamela Pali

I could write a book to say what I’ve learnt from Jemimah, but I’ve no space. In addition to growing exponentially in scientific thought because of her, I’ve seen lots of good things that she is and that I’d like to be. I am not there at all, but I aspire to be one day! These include being clever even in your sleep; thinking and talking sense simultaneously on your feet; whipping up brilliant ideas, money, time and other resources from thin air. Jemimah, is an amazing woman and has had a splendid influence in my life. Best wishes, Liz Waithanji

I admire Jemimah’s passion, the resilience and determination that she puts in her projects and activities. Even in her busy schedule she always find time and she in touch with all her staff. Indeed as Jemimah puts it, scientists are fun, she is one fun scientist who knows how to enjoy herself and have a hearty laugh when the occasion is right. From her I have learnt to respect my work, I will strive for excellence as she has rightfully said in many occasions that mediocrity is a no no! I am extremely grateful that I got the chance to work with her. She is just a star! Evelyn Katingi

It has been a pleasure working with Jemimah over the past three years.  I can’t think of anyone who has had such an impact on ILRI in such a short period of time. Jemimah certainly made me think about things in a different way and has left a lasting legacy on ILRI. I’m sure that moving to CARE will be an interesting and very rewarding experience her – building links between the research and development communities is so important and people moving from one to the other is an excellent way of doing that.  Best wishes. Iain Wright

I am thankful to Jemimah for putting gender on ILRI’s map, and ILRI on the gender map!  I hope we can keep up with the good work you have put in place here. Shirley Tarawali

Petra Saghir extreme left, an African Women in Agricultural Research and Development (AWARD) Fellow with the Poverty, Gender and Impact team at ILRI at the conference ((photo credit: ILRI/Jemimah Njuki

The First Global Conference on Women in Agriculture (GCWA), was held on March 13-15 in New Delhi, India.  Petra Saghir and Jemimah Njuki, both from the ILRI Poverty Gender and Impact (PGI) team attended the event.

The document was developed by a task force led by Jemimah Njuki, leader of ILRI’s Poverty, Gender and Impact team.

This strategy and action plan define the role that ILRI will play to stimulate and facilitate efforts, both in-house and with partners, to take advantage of opportunities to promote gender equality and equity within the livestock subsector and the agriculture sector in general.

The objectives of the strategy are:

1. To promote equality of opportunity and outcomes between women and men in the livestock sub-sector at local, national, regional, and global levels;
2. To increase the quality, efficiency and impacts of ILRI’s work in livestock development;
3. To ensure that human equality, equity and rights are respected across gender, that there is good gender representation in ILRI staffing, decision-making positions and there is active and balanced participation by both women and men in ILRI’s work.

The finalization of the strategy is one of the last actions in ILRI by Jemimah Njuki, who departs the institute at the end of March 2012. Her energy and commitment across ILRI will be missed.’

While receiving the adopted strategy and action plan from Jimmy Smith, ILRI director general on 23rd Friday at her farewell party, Njuki challenged ILRI colleagues to keep the gender spirit going and  to read the document.

Download the strategy and action plan

Read the entire article in ILRI News

Group photo of the training workshop participants

Earlier this week, on 19-20 March a group of policy makers and program managers from the Ministry of Livestock Development (MOLD) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), Kenya Livestock program, converged at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) for a gender and livestock training workshop. The objectives of this workshop which was officially opened by the director of livestock production at the Ministry of livestock in Kenya and Jimmy Smith, ILRI’s director general were:

• To build a better understanding of the importance of addressing gender issues in livestock policies, programmes, projects and activities
• To strengthen the capacity of Livestock experts working on the ground to address gender related livestock issues in their policies, strategies, work plans and activities
• To Identify gaps within participating institutions and establish action plans to address the gaps

In his opening speech that was read on his behalf, Kenneth Lusaka, the permanent secretary of the ministry of livestock development said that, ‘It is worth noting that the ministry of livestock development has embraced gender mainstreaming because livestock are a key source of livelihoods and have defined roles for women, men, girls and boys. However, the success of gender mainstreaming is hinged on addressing gender issues at organization, programs and community levels.’ The permanent secretary welcomed the collaborative efforts of ILRI, FAO, the ministry and other stakeholders towards the training. He mentioned that as ILRI carries out research in livestock issues they should continue to focus on ‘Gender based research areas priority settings’ and development

The training was concluded with an evaluation followed by closing remarks from Okore Cleopas, a participant from the ministry of livestock who said that the training had helped them to better understand the importance of addressing gender in livestock through research whereby statistical evidence is generated and used for interventions. He indicated that it will be impossible to fight poverty without addressing the diverse roles of women and men. In line with the training objectives, he was confident that the team was well equipped to spearhead gender mainstreaming in their organizations and to bring fellow officers to their same level.

The training was conducted by  Jemimah Njuki and  Elizabeth  Waithanji from the Poverty Gender and Impacts (PGI) team of the ILRI Markets, Gender and Livelihoods Theme and co-facilitated by Edna Mutua (PGI – ILRI); Petra Saghir (AWARD fellow, PGI-ILRI) Joyce Wanderi (PGI – ILRI);  Queen Katembu (FAO) and Rebecca Biegon (MOLD)

A related training was held last December in Addis Ethiopia, read more about is here

Click here to view the workshop presentations

Picture review of the workshop

 
Joseph Matere of the Food and Agriculture Organisation second from left at the workshop

Participants engage in round table discussion

Elizabeth Waithanji, ILRI scientist with the Poverty Gender and Impact team showing off her training certificate after the workshop

Queen Katembu of the Food and Agriculture Organisation showing off her training certificate after the workshop

ILRI staff and students from Loreto Limuru and Cardinal Otunga high schools celebrate the International Women's Day at the ILRI Nairobi campus on 8 March 2012. This year's theme was 'connecting girls, inspiring futures' (photo credit: ILRI/Newton Wanga).

The International women’s day is normally a very special day at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and this year’s 101 women’s day was no different. High school female students from Loreto Limuru and Cardinal Otunga, visited the institute and shared the women’s day cake with the rest of the ILRI community before being addressed by four women scientists, who despite their very humble beginnings have managed to make it in science. The older ladies shared their life’s experiences and words of inspiration to the younger girls.

Shirley Tarawali, plant scientist and director of institutional planning started by spelling out key ingredients of being a lady from that word;

• L – earn, life is learning experience, never allow a learning opportunity to pass you by from all your experiences and encounters
• A – ppreciate yourself, don’t compare yourself with anyone unless it is people who positively inspire you
• D – evelop yourself at all times, be patient but continuously work at investing in yourself
• Y– ou, never be afraid to be yourself, we are all unique and special

Teddy Amuge, a PhD student who was among the three people in a class of 80 to make it to university said that it always starts with one woman, one woman at a time using her skills and bringing out the best in themselves. One woman who chooses to live her life to the fullest, using her differences and abilities to touch a live and make a positive impact will create a viral effect in our society and the world at large.

Jemimah Njuki, a sociologist and team leader of the Poverty Gender and Impact team, challenged the ladies to live a purposeful life and set their life goals at an early age. Most important, that a time is coming when in the next 30 years a majority of the women scientist who addressed them on that day will no longer be where they are, tables will turn and the stage will be occupied by them, it is the younger ladies who will be setting the science agenda and changing lives, while other much younger ladies will be looking up to them for inspiration, importantly, they will have a greater obligation to impact and influence generations after them. And, that as a lady, one cannot afford to perform at mediocre levels, it is only through striving to excel in all areas of one’s life that you become a high achiever.

Nimmo Gicheru an immunologist and PhD student, reminded the ladies that women are gifted in many areas and that it is a real pleasure to be a woman. She emphasized the importance of the subjects they are being taught in school and that all the subjects had a direct relation to science and are important in setting a good foundation for their future careers, she encouraged them to have a strong resolve to excel in all of them.

The girls were also presented with computers and toured the institute.

‘ILRI applies a gender lens to it’s objectives, recognises and conducts research on the multiple roles of livestock and the constraints that smallholders especially women and the poor face in livestock production and marketing.’

‘The Norwegian Embassy and the United Nations in Kenya announced the signing of an agreement in support of a Joint Programme on Gender Equality and Women‟s Empowerment, developed in partnership with the Government of Kenya.

‘Norway will contribute 13,175,000 Norwegian kroner (approx. 200 million Kenya shillings) over the next two years. The contribution will support Government and United Nations efforts to review and enact gender responsive laws under the new constitution, to increase women‟s participation in decision-making, to enhance statistics on gender, to improve services and opportunities for victims of sexual and gender based violence, and to support business development and vocational training for women.’

‘The Norwegian Ambassador to Kenya, Mr. Per Ludvig Magnus, underlined that “Norway is committed to improving opportunities for women and girls in Kenya. Sustainable progress towards the achievement of Kenya’s Vision 2030 and the Millennium Development Goals will depend on greater gender equality. Our contribution should help achieve this goal and deliver real results in improving the lives of women and girls.”’

Article source: GOK-UN Joint Programme On Gender Equality And Women’s Empowerment (JP GEWE), press statement