Youth in Mental Health Series #5

SDG 5: Gender Equality

Goal: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls

Without gender equality, we cannot achieve peaceful, prosperous and sustainable societies. Gender equality is therefore not only a human right, but a foundation for sustainable development. If gender inequalities and discrimination is not addressed, it’s IMPOSSIBLE to achieve the sustainable development goals.

Gender inequalities are present in various ways:

Unequal access to economic resources and assets such as land by women – By ensuring equal access to women, substantial contributions can be made towards ending hunger and achieving food security.  According to UNDP, with the same access to productive resources, women could increase agricultural yields on their farms by 20-30%. This in turn increases agricultural output in developing countries by 2.5-4% and subsequently reduces the number of undernourished people by 12-17%. According to UNICEF Kenya’s Humanitarian situation report published at the end of September 2017, 3.4 million Kenyans were food insecure and over 100,000 children were severely malnourished; In accordance with research, food insecurity and malnutrition among Kenyans can be reduced by promoting equal access to economic resources and assets such as land by women. 

Minimum participation of women in decision making- Very few women are involved in decision making processes both at household and national level

Women in the workforce are subjected to unequal pay, opportunities and vulnerable employment- In sub-Saharan Africa, women comprise only 40% of the workforce.

Disproportionate burden of unpaid work- Most women in developing countries spend a lot of time in unpaid work such as child care, fetching water or collecting firewood to be used as fuel in the household. This limits the time they have to go to school, gain new skills or participate in other income generating activities that could increase household income and ultimately improve the family’s living standards. According to UNDP statistics, 103 million youth worldwide lack basic literacy skills, and more than 60% of them are women.

Violence against women- Early and forced marriages, harmful practices e.g. Female genital Mutilation (FGM)

Disproportionate impact of climate change and natural disasters and environmental degradation- women are more vulnerable to the effects of climate change than men as they constitute the majority of the world’s poor and are more dependent for their livelihood on natural resources that are threatened by climate change. Those charged with the responsibility to secure water, food and fuel for cooking and heating face the greatest challenges. When coupled with the unequal access to resources and to decision-making processes, limited mobility places women in rural areas in a position where they are disproportionately affected by climate change

SDG 5 at a Glance in Kenya

(As of June 2017)

The decentralization of power created 47 County Governments and this has revolutionized leadership at the lower level, bringing many women into the public leadership space. 

The government has undertaken initiatives aimed at promoting gender equality and empowerment of women with the aim of ensuring equal access, control and resource distribution to improve livelihood for the marginalized categories of people, including women, people with disability (PWDs) and other vulnerable groups. There are special catalytic funds dedicated to women, persons with disabilities and the youth for development programs. These include:

·    Women Enterprise Fund (WEF) -provides micro-finance credit and other financial support for women

·    The Youth Enterprise Development Fund (YEDF)-It's aimed at reducing unemployment. It provides credit for young men and women to enable them to establish businesses to earn a living.

·    The Uwezo fund-empowers women, persons with disabilities and youth. The fund gives seed money (upto 5000 USD to one group ) to the special interest groups as start-up capital for businesses. 

·    The Social Protection Fund-It's given as credit and cash transfers to older members of society and people with severe disability. The fund targets senior citizens beyond age 65 years.

·      30% procurement reservation affirmative action to Special Interest Groups (SIG) that include women, persons with disabilities and the youth- The SIG access 30 % value of all all-public procurement tenders to Special Interest Groups.

·         National Government Affirmative Action Fund-established in 2015; It's administered through female members of parliament to run programs targeting socio-empowerment of women, youth, persons with disabilities, children and elderly persons.

3.       Through USAID’s support for gender equality in Kenya:

·         a network of 500 peace advocates has helped more than 8,000 survivors of gender-based violence get support services.

·         26 political parties and more than 2,300 party members and activists are working to increase women’s leadership and participation in governance

·         Empowerment of women- 1.3 million Mothers were tested, counselled and received antiretroviral drugs for prophylaxis to prevent the transmission of HIV

·         More than Ksh 127.5 million ($1.5 million) worth of maternal and child health commodities have been delivered to the Ministry of Health, for distribution to all 47 counties

·         365,000 women farmers are applying new technologies or management practices

·         through a partnership with Coca-Cola, more than 2,500 women entrepreneurs under age 35 have accessed loans.

Article courtesy of UNICEF, UNDP, USAID, UN WomenWatch, Ministry of Planning and Devolution