GENERATION EQUALITY FORUM: KENYA’S ROADMAP FOR ADVANCING GENDER EQUALITY

The Generation Equality Forum is a global and civil society-centered gathering to revisit the commitments outlined in the 1995 Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and catalyze transformative action toward gender equality. Convened by UN Women and co-hosted by Mexico and France, the Generation Equality forum has creation “Action Coalitions” to address six key thematic areas. As one of the co-leads of the Generation Equality Forum’s Gender-Based Violence (GBV) Action Coalition, Kenya has a unique opportunity to advance gender equality in Africa, and serve as an example for other member states to follow suit.

In this context, the Government of Kenya debuted in May 2021 a national roadmap on advancing gender equality and ending all forms of GBV and FGM by 2026.

Download the roadmap | Download the summary brief

The brief specifically outlines 12 concrete actions that comprise Kenya’s GEF commitment framework, underpinned by the following pillars outlined by the GEF GBV Action Coalition:

• FINANCING: Increase financing and budgetary allocation for gender-based violence prevention and response, including reform and implementation of laws, policies, and multi-sectoral national action plans in domestic resources across sectors. Kenya commits to increasing resource allocation, sustaining the current allocation in FY2020/2021, and setting up co-financing models to create a pathway towards gender responsive and establish a survivors’ fund and research fund for GBV prevention and response.
• LEADERSHIP & ACCOUNTABILITY: By strengthening accountability on enforcement and implementation of Kenya’s laws, policies, and other commitments on advancing Gender equality and ending all forms of Gender-Based Violence and Female Genital Mutilation. Kenya commits to developing an accountability framework for tracking expenditure on the allocated resources for ending all forms of GBV and FGM, and an indicator in the government Performance contracting framework to track duty-bearers accountability on enforcement and implementation of GBV laws and policies by 2022.
• LAWS AND POLICIES: By ratification and implementation of laws and conventions. Kenya commits to ratifying and implementing the ILO Convention 190 on elimination of Gender-Based Violence and Harassment in the world of work by 2026, in close partnership with the private sector.
• DATA: By strengthening the utilization of gender statistics in informing the design, scale-up, and evaluation of FGM and GBV programming. Kenya commits to introducing a module on GBV in the 2022 Kenya Demographic Health Survey and developing a GBV management and information.
• SERVICE DELIVERY: Kenya commits to incorporating GBV prevention and response service provision in the essential minimum package of the Universal Health Coverage UHC by 2022 and scaling up the national police service integrated response to GBV (‘Policare’1). In addition, Kenya commits to establishing Gender-Based Violence Recovery Centers and shelters in all 47 counties by 2026.