“Championing Women’s Political Leadership: 1 Delivering the One-Third Promise in Kenya” REPORT ON THE REGIONAL DIALOGUE ON WOMEN’S POLITICAL LEADERSHIP “Championing Women’s Political Leadership: Delivering the One-Third Promise in Kenya” 14th -16th August 2012 “Championing Women’s Political Leadership: “Championing Women’s in Kenya” Promise Delivering the One-Third Safari Park Hotel, Nairobi - Kenya 2 “Championing Women’s Political Leadership: 3 Delivering the One-Third Promise in Kenya” 4 “Championing Women’s Political Leadership: Delivering the One-Third Promise in Kenya” Report on the Regional Dialogue on Women’s Political Leadership “Championing Women’s Political Leadership: Delivering the One-Third Promise in Kenya” 14th -16th August 2012 Safari Park Hotel, Nairobi - Kenya “Championing Women’s Political Leadership: “Championing Women’s in Kenya” Promise Delivering the One-Third i Table of Contents Abbreviations .................................................................................................................................iii Foreward ....................................................................................................................................................iv Executive Summary....................................................................................................................... vi Introduction ...................................................................................................................................1 Fast Facts on Women Leadership in Kenya ....................................................................................2 Opening Ceremony .......................................................................................................................3 Session 1: Women’s Engagement in the Political Process - The Kenyan Experience ....................... 6 Session 2: Women’s Engagement in Political Process - Lessons from the Region ............................ 8 Tanzania’s Experience: Presented by Hon. Margareth Abdallah, 8th Member of Parliament, Tanzania.........................................................................................................................................8 South Africa’s Experience: Presented by Hon. Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge, former Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly .................................................................................................9 Uganda’s Experience: Presented by Hon. Miriam Matembe, former Minister for Ethics and Integrity, Uganda ...........................................................................................................................9 Rwanda’s experience: Presented by Hon. Oda Gasinzigwa, Chief Gender Monitor, Gender Monitoring Office, Rwanda ............................................................................................................9 Session 3: Implementing Affirmative Action Policies for Women in Politics ................................... 11 Session 4: Towards Inclusive Parties: Fostering Party Reforms to Gender Equality ......................... 13 Session 5: Peaceful, Fair and Transparent Elections – Prospects for Kenya ................................... 17 Session 6: Engaging with the Media .............................................................................................18 Closing and Way forward ............................................................................................................20 Addendum ..................................................................................................................................22 Annexes .......................................................................................................................................23 Annex 1: Concept note ...............................................................................................................23 Annex 2: Workshop Programme ...................................................................................................26 Annex 3: List of participants .........................................................................................................31 Annex 4: Questions - Group Sessions ............................................................................................36 Annex 5: Remarks and Presentations ...........................................................................................37 Remarks: Mr. Aeneas Chuma, UNDP Resident Representative .................................................... 37 Remarks: Commissioner Winfred Lichuma, chairperson, National Gender and Equality Commission, Kenya ......................................................................................................................41 Remarks: Hon. Dr. Naomi Shaban, Minister for Gender, Children and Social Development, Kenya ..........................................................................................................................................48 Keynote Address: Hon. Dr. Willy Mutunga, Chief Justice/President, Supreme Court of Kenya ..... 51 “Championing Women’s Political Leadership: “Championing Women’s in Kenya” Promise Delivering the One-Third ii Abbreviations ANC African National Congress CBOs Community Based Organizations CCM Chama Cha Mapinduzi CID Criminal Investigation Department CKRC Constitution of Kenya Review Commission GBV Gender Based Violence ICC International Criminal Court IDP Internally Displaced Person IEBC Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission IPPG Inter Party Parliamentary Group KNICE Kenya National Integrated Civic Education MRC Mombasa Republican Council NDI National Democratic Institute NCIC National Cohesion and Integration Commission NGEC National Gender and Equality Commission UN United Nations UNDP United Nations Development Programme “Championing Women’s Political Leadership: “Championing Women’s in Kenya” Promise Delivering the One-Third iii Foreward The Regional Dialogue on Women’s Political Leadership workshop came at a critical time when Kenya was getting ready to enjoy the fruits of the Constitution of Kenya 2010 in the fight towards gender equality. This was so because the country was preparing for the 2013 General Elections which had provisions for both elective and nominative posts that were intended to open up spaces for women’s participation in decision making processes. The regional dialogue workshop was held from the 14th to the 16th of August 2012 in Nairobi, Kenya under the theme “Championing Women’s Political Leadership: Delivering the one-third promise in Kenya”. The meeting brought together local and international participants from Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and South Africa to share experiences on how they had implemented the gender quotas and to build consensus on how best to operationalize the quota provisions. This was aimed at enabling Kenya to learn from the experiences of other countries and develop its own concrete strategies to implement the gender provisions. The workshop brought forth challenges that are encountered by Kenyan women in the fight for political participation. From the sharing of the experiences it emerged that these were not unique to Kenya but were also experienced by other women across the region. It was therefore important for the participants to deliberate on howto influence and lobby political parties and other relevant institutions and stakeholders to adhere to the gender equity constitutional requirements in their party constitutions, nominations, party lists and manifestos and all other processes thereby enhancing women’s participation in the political sphere. It should be noted that from the dialogue meeting the Electoral Commission reduced the nomination fees for women aspirants at all levels. Also, the dialogue raised media’s awareness on the 2/3 gender rule and this led to sustained media engagement. It should however be noted that the Supreme Court on 11th December, 2012 ruled that the one-third gender rule was intended to be enforced progressively. “Championing Women’s Political Leadership: “Championing Women’s in Kenya” Promise Delivering the One-Third iv This meant that the National Assembly and the Senate would not be required to have minimum 1/3 quota reserved for women after the March 4, 2013 General Election . The Court gave Parliament up to August 27, 2015 to come up with legislation on how the one-third gender rule will be met in the 2017 General Election. Following the above ruling, it is therefore important for efforts to continue in encouraging women to present themselves as candidates during the 2013 general elections. This would ensure that there is an improvement in the representation of women in parliament. After the regional dialogue workshop a robust capacity building program for all the women leaders who indicated interest in presenting themselves as aspirants or to be appointed to take up positions in the public service was conducted by many stakeholders. The capacity building included leadership skills, management, strategic planning and implantation, public policy, HRBA to development, public financial management among others. Comprehensive Civic education was also conducted to educate the population as a whole on the need for women’s engagement in political and leadership processes and help to break down the barriers that women in Kenya face. This report has made a special effort to document the proceedings of the workshop for future reference and also highlighting key recommendations with areas of intervention in order to support