Kenya_Gender_Analysis_ _Action_Plan.pdf

August 7, 2012 This publication was produced for review by the United States Agency for International Development. It was prepared by Development & Training Services, Inc. (dTS).

GENDER ANALYSIS &

ACTION PLAN

USAID Contract Number: AID-RAN-I-00-09-00015

Task Order: AID-623-TO-11-00007

Performance, Analysis, Communications & Evaluation (PACE)

Implemented by:

Development & Training Services, Inc. (dTS) 4600 North Fairfax Drive, Suite 402 Arlington, VA 22203

Phone: +1 703-465-9388 Fax: +1 703-465-9344 www.onlinedts.com

GENDER ANALYSIS & ACTION

PLAN

Submitted to:

USAID Kenya

Prepared by:

Development & Training Services, Inc.

Dr. Cathy Farnworth, Dr. Akinyi Nzioki, Salome Muigai, Professor Elishiba Njambi Kimani, Dr.

Charles Olungah and Dr. Kennedy Monyoncho.

DISCLAIMER:

The authors’ views expressed in this document do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Agency for International Development or the United States Government.

Gender Analysis & Action Plan i

ACRONYM LIST

ABEO Agricultural Business and the Environment ADS Automated Directives System AIDS Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome ANDY Association of National Disabled Youth APHIAplus AIDS, Population, and Health Integrated Assistance APRM African Peer Review Mechanism ASAL Arid and Semi-Arid Lands ASDS Agricultural Sector Development Strategy BPFA Beijing Platform for Action C/AOR Contracting/Assistance Officer's Representative CAADP Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program CBO Community Based Organization CDC Center for Disease Control and Prevention CDCS Kenya Country Development Cooperation Strategy CEDAW Convention on Elimination of Discrimination Against Women CFA Community Forest Association CHEW Community Health Extension Worker CHW Community Health Worker CIGs Common Interest Groups COMESA Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa COPA Coalition for Peace in Africa CREAW Center for Rights, Education and Awareness CSO Community Support Organizations D&G Democracy and Governance DEMA Decentralized Education Management Activity DHMT District Health Management Team EAC East African Community ECDE Early Childhood Development Education ECLED Enhancing Capacity for Low Emission Development EDY Education and Youth EFA Education for All EMACK Education for Marginalized Children of Kenya Program ENRM Environment and Natural Resource Management EU European Union FEMNET African Women’s Development and Communication Network FGM/C Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting FHI Family Health International FP Family Planning ii

FtF Feed the Future G10 National Women’s Steering Committee on Constitutional Implementation / Consortium of Women’s Organizations GALS Gender Action Learning System (GALS) GATE Greater Access to Trade Expansion project

GATE

INGIA-VC

Greater Access to Trade Expansion/Integrating Gender into Agriculture Value Chains project

GCN Girl Child Network GDP Gross Domestic Product GEMS Gender Strategy Mobilization Strategy GGBC Global Give Back Circle GHI Global Health Initiative GII Gender Inequality Index GJLOS Governance, Justice, Law and Order Sector GoK Government of Kenya HDI Human Development Index HELB Higher Education Loans Board HIV Human Immunodeficiency Virus HOPE Healthy Outcome through Preventive Education ICT Information Communication and Technology IDPs Internally Displaced Persons IFAD International Fund for Agricultural Development IPT Intermittent Preventive Treatment ITN Insecticide treated Nets KAIS Kenya AIDS Indicator Survey KCDF Kenya Community Development Foundation KCSSP Kenyan Civil Society Strengthening Program KDHS Kenya Demographic and Health Survey KDLDP Kenya Drylands Livestock Development Program KDSCP Kenya Dairy Sector Competitiveness Program KHCP Kenya Horticulture Competitiveness Program KICODI Kisauni Constituency Development Initiative KMDP Kenya Maize Development Program KNBS Kenya National Bureau of Statistics KUBE Kenya Union for the Blind LGBTI Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex M&E Monitoring and Evaluation MARPS Most At Risk Populations MAT Maturity Assessment Template MDG Millennium Development Goal MEGEN Men for Gender Equality Now MMR Maternal Mortality Rate iii

MNCH Maternal Nutrition and Child Health MoE Ministry of Education MSM Men who have Sex with Men MTP Medium Term Plan MWP Millennium Water Project NACC National Aids Control Council NAD National Association for the Deaf NALEAP National Legal Aid and Awareness Program NALEP National, Agricultural and Livestock Extension Program NARA National Accord and Reconciliation Agreement NCPWD National Council for People with Disabilities NDI National Democratic Institute NER Net Enrolment Rate NESC National Economic and Social Council NGO Non-governmental organization NGEC National Gender and Equality Commission NRM Natural Resource Management NRT Northern Rangeland Trust OPH Office of Population and Health OVC Orphans and Vulnerable Children PEPFAR President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief PLWHA People Living with HIV and AIDS PMI President's Malaria Initiative PMP Performance Monitoring Plan PRIMR Primary Math and Reading Initiative PWD Persons with Disability RVF Recto-vaginal Fistula SECURE Securing Rights Land and Natural Resources for Biodiversity and Livelihoods program SGBV Sexual Gender Based Violence SHGs Self Help Groups SLDF Sabaot Land Defense Force STI Sexually Transmitted Infection TEPD Teacher Education and Professional Development TIST International Small Group Tree Planting TIVET Technical, Industrial, Vocational, Entrepreneurship Training UN United Nations UGI Units of Gender Issues UNFPA United Nations Population Fund UNICEF United Nations Children's Fund USAID United States Agency for International Development USG United States Government iv

VVF Vesico-Vaginal Fistula WHO World Health Organization WID Women in Development WRUA Water Resource Users Association YYC Yes, Youth Can! program

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACRONYM LIST I

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1

1. Introduction 4

1.1. Conceptual Framework and Study Methodology 5

1.2. USAID Policy on Gender Equality and Female Empowerment and Kenya’s Constitution 7

2. Democracy & Governance 9

2.1. Women’s Participation 9

2.1.1. Recommendations 9

2.1.1.1. Peace and Reconciliation 9

2.1.1.2. People with Disabilities and LGBTI Communities 9

2.1.1.3. Democracy and Governance Processes 10

2.1.1.4. USAID Kenya Program Support and Coordination 10

2.1.2. USAID Program Overview 10

2.1.3. Gender Analysis 11

3. Agriculture, Business & The Environment 13

3.1. ABEO Feed the Future 13

3.1.1. Recommendations 14

3.1.2. USAID Program Overview 15

3.1.3. Gender Analysis 16

3.2. Environment and Natural Resource Management (ENRM) 20

3.2.1. Recommendations 21

3.2.1.1. Land Sector 21

3.2.1.2. Water 22

3.2.1.3. Forest, Energy, Wildlife Resources, Climate Change, Peace and Security 22

3.2.2. USAID Program Overview 22

3.2.3. Gender Analysis 23

3.2.3.1. Millennium Water Program in Eastern Kenya 24

3.2.3.2. Northern Rangeland Trust (NRT) in Northern Kenya 24

3.2.3.3. Laikipia Wildlife Forum program 25

3.2.3.4. International Small-Group Tree Planting (TIST) Program in Central Kenya 25

3.2.3.5. ProMara Program ‘People Centered Mau Conservation’ in Rift Valley 26

4. Education & Youth 26

4.1. Education Program 26

4.1.1. Recommendations 27

4.1.2. USAID Program Overview 27

4.1.3. Gender Analysis 28

4.1.3.1. Challenge of Boosting Attainment 29

4.1.3.2. The Primary Math and Reading Initiative (PRIMR) 30

4.2. Youth and the Yes, Youth Can! (YYC) Program 30

4.2.1. Recommendations 31

4.2.2. USAID Program Overview 32

4.2.3. Gender Analysis 32

5. Population & Health 34

5.1. Population and Health Challanges 34

5.1.1. Recommendations 34

5.1.1.1. Cross-cutting Recommendations 34

5.1.1.2. HIV/AIDS 35

5.1.1.3. Malaria 35

5.1.1.4. Nutrition 35

5.1.1.5. Sexual and Gender Based Violence 35

5.1.2. USAID Program Overview 36

5.1.3. Gender Analysis 36

REFERENCES 41

Appendix A 47 Appendix B 53 Annex A: Education 53 Annex B: Governance and Decision-Making 60 Annex C: Energy and Water 66 Annex D: Health 71 Annex E: Women’s Groups 82 Annex F: Women in Employment (Including Agriculture) 84 Annex G: Other 86 Appendix C 88 Appendix D 109

TABLE OF FIGURES

Figure 1. Overview of the Three Empowerment Dimensions 6 Figure 2. Primary School Enrollment by Year and Sex 54 Figure 3. Enrollment of Men in TIVET 56 Figure 4. Enrollment of Women in TIVET 56 Figure 5. Sex Distribution of Adult Education Enrollment by Province and Sex 58 Figure 6. Sex Distribution of Voters by Year 60 Figure 7. Distribution of Employees in Public Service 62 Figure 8. Percentage of Workforce in Government Parastatals, 2011 62 Figure 9. Percentage of Women Provincial Administrators, 2011 63 Figure 10. Percentage of Women Representation in Civic Seats 64 Figure 11. Percentage of Women Parliamentarians 65 Figure 12. Source of Drinking Water for Rural Kenya 67 Figure 13. Person Usually Collecting Drinking Water 68 Figure 14. Cooking Fuel Used in Rural Areas, 2003 and 2008 69 Figure 15. Energy Usage by Poor and Non-poor Households, 2005/6 70 Figure 16. Fertility Rates by Broad Age Group, 2003 and 2008 73 Figure 17. HIV Prevalence by Region and Sex 2007 74 Figure 18. Percentage of Respondents Aged 15-65 Who Took Alcohol in the Last Month 75 Figure 19. Percentage of Current Drug Users by Drug and Age, 2007 77 Figure 20. Percentage of Women and Men Aged15-65 by Drugs Currently Used 77 Figure 21. Percentage of Forms of Spousal Violence 78 Figure 22. Trends of Stunting in Children, 2000-2008 81 Figure 23. Trends in Wasting of Children, 2000-2008 81 Figure 24. Growth in the Women Enterprise Fund 83 Figure 25. Growth in the Women Groups Fund 83 Figure 26. Percentage of Children Aged 0-14 Not Living with Parents 87

TABLE OF BOXES

Box 1. USAID Investments in Gender Equality and Female Empowerment 4 Box 2. Selected Provisions of the Kenyan Constitution 7 Box 3. Correlation between Low Gender Equity and Agricultural Productivity 17

TABLE OF TABLES

Table 1. Examples of Best Practices 19 Table 2. Key Gender Issues in Natural Resource Management 23 Table 3. Percentage of Primary School Enrollment by Standard and Sex, 2007-2011 53 Table 4. Percentage of Enrollment in Secondary Schools by Sex 54 Table 5. Enrollment in Secondary Schools by Year and Sex 55 Table 6. Percentage of Student Enrollment by Type of Technical Institutions and by Sex, 2007-2011 55 Table 7. Student Enrollments by Sex in Universities, 2007/2008-2011-2012 57 Table 8. Number and Percentage of Undergraduate and Post-graduate Medical Students by Sex and Course 57 Table 9. Transition Rates from Primary to Secondary Schools, 2003-2007 58 Table 10. KCSE: Mean Score by Sex and Subject 59 Table 11. Percentage of Voters by Sex, Province, and Year 61 Table 12. Number and Percentage of Women and Men in Public Service, 2011 61 Table 13. Number and Percentage of Women and Men in Public Service, 2011 61 Table 14. Representation of Women in Civic Positions 63 Table 15. Percentage of Women in Decision-making Positions 64 Table 16. Percentage of Drinking Water Sources in Rural and Urban Kenya 66 Table 17. Percentage of Households by Time to Collect Drinking Water 67 Table 18. Percentage of Persons Collecting Drinking Water, by Sex and Age 68 Table 19. Percentage of Households by Type of Cooking Fuel in Rural and Urban Areas 69 Table 20. Number of Health Institutions by Province, 2007-2011 71 Table 21. Maternal Mortality Rate Ratios 72 Table 22. Fertility Rates by Age Group and Region 72 Table 23. HIV Prevalence Among Women and Men, by Five-year Age Groups, Kenya, 2003-2008 74 Table 24. Percentage of Respondents Using Alcohol 75 Table 25. Percentage of Those Currently Using Drugs by Province, 2007 76 Table 26. Forms of Spousal Violence, 2008 78 Table 27. Percentage Use of Source of Help by Type of Violence 2008 79 Table 28. Percentage of Malarial Drug Usage 2008 79 Table 29. Percentage of Unmet Family Planning (FP) Needs of Married Women 80 Table 30. Trends in Nutritional status of Children by Province 80 Table 31. Membership in Women’s Groups and Contribution 82 Table 32. Share of Women in Wage Employment in Non-agricultural Sector 84 Table 33. Percentage of Women and Men in Wage Employment by Sex and Year 84 Table 34. Percentage of Wage Employment by Sex and Income (monthly) 85 Table 35. Percentage of Children aged 0-14 Living Without Parents 86

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Currently, Kenya’s human development indicators are poor. HIV/AIDS, drug and substance abuse, high levels of food insecurity and malnutrition impede overall development and stymie people’s lives in urban and rural areas. Corruption is widespread. Poverty is endemic. In rural and urban economies, in education, in health and in relation to democracy and governance, women remain in a disadvantaged position compared to men. It is notable however that there is high variability in the situation of women across the country. These disparities are often influenced by complex interactions between Kenya’s wide variety of agro-ecological zones and their associated production systems, differences in livelihood generation opportunities in urban and rural areas, a wide variety of cultural norms governing gender relations, and multiple sources of social, political and economic change.

Although Kenya has a long path to travel in order to attain its goal of becoming a middle-income country by 2030, overall developmental trends suggest mild improvement. Kenya’s rank in the Human Development Index (HDI) in 2011 placed it at 143 out of 187 countries with comparable data.1 Kenya’s HDI ranking places it at the top of the index in the East Africa region, and it has progressed more rapidly over the past decade than many Sub-Saharan African countries with respect to improving its HDI ranking. However, Kenya’s rating in the Gender Inequality Index (GII) in 2011 is disappointing. In the East Africa region Kenya was placed fourth, just above Burundi, and below Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda. Nevertheless, the statistical annexes in this report show some improvement in women’s ranking vis-à-vis men (Appendix B).

USAID Kenya is working towards institutionalizing gender equality and women’s empowerment in all of its programming. This Gender Assessment Study found high variation in the effectiveness of its work through the Mission and implementing agencies. Patchy performance in programs is partly due to the enduring influence of cultural norms across the country which, in many cases, continues to strongly limit women’s decision-making power within the household, in their communities, and in decision-making forums at all levels. Cultural norms also govern women’s access to key productive resources of all kinds. In rural areas in particular, women typically access assets through male relatives. Those assets they call their own usually have low income-generation capacity. Women have far more restricted voices and asset base, thus limiting their participation in many USAID programs and resulting in some disappointing outcomes.

A clear and shared vision of what ‘empowerment’ means in the Kenyan context is often lacking. An ability to take gender analysis beyond a technical tick-box exercise to a stronger focus on shifting gender norms is absent in a number, though not all, USAID programs. USAID Kenya, partly in line with directives from Washington, overlooks an excellent opportunity to identify positive cultural norms, and to develop new ones, when requesting that implementing agencies primarily provide activity- and output-level sex-disaggregated data. An undue focus on such data – which often seems very promising at first sight - can serve to obscure analysis of whether participation in training events, attendance at clinics, participation in decision-making bodies, etc., actually indicate an increase in women’s ability to (a) express their gender-specific needs, (b) implement what they have learned, and (c) take control and manage their lives as they wish.

This study team met with many people at USAID Kenya, in implementing agencies, and in other organizations, who are deeply committed to women’s empowerment and equality between women and men.

There are many beacons of exciting best practice across all of USAID Kenya’s work. This study highlights some of these examples. It urges USAID Kenya to improve its management information systems to ensure that best practices are captured, replicated and scaled-up within sector teams, and across sector teams.

Systematizing the rich evidence of strategies that work is critical to ensuring that USAID Kenya is able to improve its design process, place demands on its implementing agencies, and effectively monitor and evaluate progress towards gender equality in country.

The new Country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS) is being formulated at a propitious time for working on gender equality, since it coincides with both the promulgation of Kenya’s progressive constitution as well as USAID’s Policy on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment. The enabling environment is there; USAID Kenya needs to seize it.

A number of further steps to institutionalize gender-sensitive programming at USAID Kenya are required;

these are outlined below. Sector-specific recommendations are provided in each thematic chapter.

Steps to Institutionalize Gender-sensitive Programming Across USAID Kenya’s Work USAID Kenya Overall Recommendations

• Do not make responsibility for gender the sole province of USAID Gender Focal Points. It is the responsibility of all sector team members to understand USAID’s Gender Policy and how to interpret it in relation to their work.

• Gender analysis training should be mandatory for all staff upon their entry into USAID and should precede all technical courses. The training should be relevant to each sector team’s portfolio. Existing employees in all sector teams should also attend sector-specific gender training. Moreover, Contracting/Assistance Officer’s Representative (C/AOR) job description requirements should include gender awareness and accountability for gender outcomes.

• Hold implementing agencies accountable to USAID Kenya for their work on gender.

• Develop a management information system that goes beyond quarterly meetings to sharing of best practices. It is necessary to develop mechanisms to capture best practice and replicate and scale-up lessons learned.

• Share best practice on identifying and addressing key gender-based constraints (all sector teams).

Many such constraints will be common to all teams, but each team will develop its own insights through practice. Obtaining synergies through sharing of lessons learned will help build synergies to improve the outcomes of the work of all sector teams on gender.

Program Identification/Formulation Baseline Survey

• Undertake a gender-sensitive baseline survey to identify gender gaps and prepare strategies accordingly. Baseline surveys should include sex-disaggregated data on key indicators relevant to the program, qualitative information on key gender norms and practices, and a survey of key institutional partners/community structures that can or must be worked with to secure gender equality.

• Include information in all baseline surveys on intra-household roles and responsibilities by gender, responsibility for expenditure decisions (health care, crops, school fees, etc.), and access to and control over key resources. This survey will provide baseline information, against which outcome indicators can be subsequently formulated and tracked.

• Utilize disaggregate data by region to identify regionally or culturally specific gender issues that should be taken into account for appropriate geographical targeting.

• Assess further socio-economic variations in association with the gender baseline survey, including men and women with disabilities and child-headed and female-headed households, taking into account cultural, age and regional diversity.

Design Preparation

• Use information provided by the baseline survey to devise strategies to meet the gender gaps by targeting identified groups.

• Develop both outcome and output indicators.

Appendix D, Best Practices, includes a gender checklist developed by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), which can easily be modified by any sector team to ensure key gender issues are addressed.

Design Evaluation

• Allow a mixture of internal and external representatives (without any stake in the process) to evaluate program design. This team can be small but should include at least one gender expert.

Appendix D, Best Practices includes a gender checklist developed by IFAD, which can easily be modified by any sector team to ensure key gender issues are addressed.

Field Testing

• Pilot the program and build beneficiary feedback into the improved design before rolling it out.

Selection of Implementing Partner

• Require that each contract solicitation with five or more key staff stipulate the inclusion of a gender expert with expertise in the relevant discipline as a key staff member.

• Require that each bidder provide evidence of previous work on gender and provide examples of this work as part of their proposal. These examples should be evaluated as part of the selection process and points awarded accordingly. The existence of a gender policy and strategies to achieve gender equality should be rewarded.

• Require that budget lines include commitments to implement gender-sensitive programming.

Program Implementation Commit each implementing partner to:

• Develop a gender policy, if it does not yet have one.

• Develop and implement gender strategies that take into account gender gaps noted in the baseline survey.

• Report on outcome as well as output indicators.

• Report regularly on strategies that work, and report honestly on strategies that are less effective.

Show evidence that lessons learned are being built into programming (e.g. a mid-term review should demonstrate evidence of learning).

• Ensure continual staff training, particularly for technical experts, on gender related to the program.

• Demonstrate strong leadership on implementing USAID’s Gender Policy. If a gender focal point is not part of key staff, gender expertise should be incorporated regularly. However, the ideal position is a gender focal point.

Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E)

• Facilitate systematic and regular communication, information sharing and coordination of activities between USAID’s technical offices and implementing partners to maximize coordination and synergies between programs and to ensure effective integration of gender in programs.

• Hold implementing partners accountable for integrating gender through review and approval of their Performance Monitoring Plans (PMPs).

• Train M&E project field monitors on gender-sensitive monitoring and evaluation. Integrate gender into monitoring and verification tools and methods (e.g., site visits and non-financial audit checklists, sex disaggregated data collection, etc.).

• It is strongly recommended that an enumerator of the same sex, who is trained in facilitation skills, meet with women and men beneficiaries separately. This is critical when working to draw out gender issues in relation to the program’s effectiveness, particularly in relation to outcome indicators.

1. INTRODUCTION

Kenya is the recipient of the largest United States Government (USG) foreign assistance program in Sub- Saharan Africa, with an FY2011 budget of $663 million ($477 million USAID). USAID Kenya will develop a new Country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS) for 2012-2016. This forward-looking gender assessment is mandated by the Automated Directives System (ADS). It contributes to the CDCS by generating information, highlighting areas for specific attention, and providing specific recommendations to ensure that USAID Kenya works effectively towards women’s empowerment and gender equality.

Information presented in Box 1 outlines expectations set out in the new USAID Policy on Gender Equality and Female Empowerment, henceforth termed USAID Gender Policy, for the work of all USAID missions on gender and empowerment.

Box 1. USAID Investments in Gender Equality and Female Empowerment2 USAID investments are designed to achieve three overarching outcomes. In strategic planning, at the country or project level, these outcomes will be adapted and translated into specific results with associated targets and indicators. These outcomes, which are especially important for people who are marginalized or excluded due to ethnicity, gender, identity, sexual orientation, lack of income, disability or other factors, reflect the wide range of activities USAID undertakes. The overarching outcomes are:

1. Reduce gender disparities in access to, control over, and benefit from resources, wealth, opportunities and services – economic, social, political, and cultural.

2. Reduce gender-based violence and mitigate its harmful effects on individuals and communities.

3. Increase capability of women and girls to realize their rights, determine their life outcomes, and influence decision-making in households, communities and societies.

Seven guiding principles underpin these outcomes. They are:

1. Integrate gender equality and female empowerment into USAID’s work.

2. Pursue an inclusive approach to foster equality.

3. Build partnerships across a wide range of stakeholders.

4. Harness science, technology and innovation to reduce gender gaps and empower women and girls.

5. Address the unique challenges in crisis and conflict-affected environments.

6. Serve as a thought leader and learning community.

7. Hold ourselves accountable.

This policy applies to all bureaus and missions and covers policy and programmatic operations. Implementation of the policy will be assessed in 2015. USAID hopes that realization of the policy will help bring to fruition USAID’s vision of a world in which women and men, girls and boys enjoy social, economic, cultural, civil, and political rights, and are equally empowered to secure better lives for themselves, their families and their communities.

In order to assist USAID Kenya in meeting the expectations of the Gender Policy, this study analyzes key development policies and indicators in Kenya from a gender perspective. It assesses the gender-based opportunities and constraints faced by each sector team: Agriculture, Business and Environment (ABEO), Education and Youth (EDY), Office of Population and Health (OPH), and Democracy and Governance (D&G). Best practice examples from selected programs are highlighted, as are continuing and new challenges.

Sector-specific illustrative steps are outlined to assist USAID Kenya to implement strategies that will help contribute to the empowerment of Kenyan women and men, and in so doing, work towards the attainment of the development outcomes necessary to realize Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Vision 2030, and other development objectives.

This section outlines the Gender Assessment Report’s conceptual framework and research methodology, followed by USAID’s current policy on gender equality and female empowerment with reference to Kenya’s constitution. The subsequent four sections discuss the findings with respect to USAID Kenya sector priorities, including Democracy and Governance; Education and Youth; Health; and Agriculture, including Environment and Natural Resource Management (NRM). A general description of Kenya’s Gender and Growth Country Profile can be found in Appendix A. This profile highlights selected socio-economic and macro-economic trends before tracking Kenya’s progress towards gender equality in relation to the progress of other countries in East Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, and globally. The statistical annexes found in Appendix B provide detailed, up-to-date gender data and analysis on each sector analyzed. The information in Appendix C provides names and contact information for people met and interviewed for the study. Appendix D, Best Practices, provides a variety of resources and tools for integrating gender into program design and implementation, as well as examples of activities and programs promoting gender equality and empowerment.

1.1. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK & STUDY METHODOLOGY

A gender assessment follows four steps.3 They are:

1. Analyze the gender circumstances of women and men’s lives in a given setting, and how gender inequalities affect outcomes of interest to the sector program (this step contains the gender analysis).

2. Review activities and programs currently being supported by the Mission, and other agencies.

3. Assess programming gaps.

4. Make recommendations for future programming.

To realize step 1, the study team worked with a conceptual framework developed by CARE. This framework focuses on three ‘empowerment dimensions’:4 agency, structure, and relations. These three dimensions are illustrated in Figure 1.

1. Agency refers to the ability of women and men as individuals to take decisions and act upon them.

2. Relations refer to the ability of women and men to build relationships, coalitions and mutual support to expand their personal agency and to alter structures such as customary norms.

3. Structure refers to both cultural norms, and to institutions that codify, reinforce or change gender relations at every level of society.

To realize steps 2, 3 and 4, study team members interviewed sector team staff at USAID Kenya and visited selected sector programs across the country. Team members met with implementing agencies and beneficiaries in order to secure the best possible picture of gender opportunities and constraints. Examples of best practice in the field were identified. The team met with a number of other stakeholders involved in Kenya’s work towards gender equality and reviewed relevant literature.

Figure 1. Overview of the Three Empowerment Dimensions

Gender equality concerns everyone and involves working with men, boys, women and girls to bring about changes in attitudes, behaviors, roles and responsibilities at home, in the work place, and in the community.

Genuine equality means more than parity in numbers or laws on the books; it means expanding freedoms and improving overall quality of life so that true equality is achieved without sacrificing gains for males or females.5 Social, behavioral and cultural attributes, expectations, and norms associated with being a woman or man determine how women and men relate to each other and to the resulting differences in power between them.6 When considering what ‘empowerment’ might mean, it is important to distinguish between different forms of power. ‘Power over’ refers to direct and indirect control by one person or group over another person or group. ‘Power within’, ‘power to’ and ‘power with’ provide understandings of how to increase one’s personal ability to make change in oneself and with others.

In Kenya, work on gender is often confused with promoting and institutionalizing ‘power over’ approaches.

There is a widespread perception that men lose out as the result of a focus on gender. This perception is due in part to past approaches that singled out women for special attention, which was the case under certain Women In Development (WID) activities. It will be central to the work of USAID Kenya and its implementing agencies when enacting gender policies and strategies that men as well as women understand that they will benefit equally from gender equality in all aspects of their lives.

It will be important to directly address the fact that: (1) gender norms in Kenya, though highly situation-specific, typically restrict women from fully exercising their ability to make rational decisions regarding the use

Agency Self-determination, meaningful choices, equal decision-making power in the household over livelihood planning and productive assets and shared contributions to expenditure decisions.

Structure Cultural norms treat Constitution women and men Gender-responsive budgets equally for inheritance, Gender-equitable laws marriage and participation in decision-making forums.

Gender Equality and Women’s

Empowerment in USAID Kenya Programming

Relations Women’s active participation in coalitions, advocacy, mutual support, horizontal and vertical value chain partnerships.

of productive resources at the household and community level and reduce their ability to benefit from education opportunities; (2) sex segregation in the economy harms Kenya’s overall development; and (3) gender norms render women more vulnerable to HIV/AIDS infection, sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) and thus increase the costs to the health care system (this is not an exclusive list). At the same time, USAID Kenya and its implementing agencies should openly recognize that gender norms typically privilege men across the country. However, more work must be done to support men as social and economic privileges change. In so doing it must be recognized that gender inequalities pose costs to men. These inequalities include the fact that men’s lives can be damaged by a system of gender inequality that consequently damages the lives of the women and girls with whom they have relationships. Gender norms that equate masculinity with toughness reduce male health-seeking behaviors, force men to view themselves as breadwinners at a time when structural changes in the economy encourage higher rates of female participation, and engender cultural dynamics that make young men particularly vulnerable to appeals to engage in inter-ethnic violence.7

In terms of strategy, the three ‘empowerment dimensions’ need to interlink to ensure that empowerment gains in one dimension are strengthened and reinforced by activities and gains in another. Realization of Kenya’s Constitution (structure), for example, demands improvements in women’s ability to participate in relational networks, which of itself demands an increase in women’s personal agency. Thus, work on integrating women into agricultural value chains requires that women become active members of producer and marketing boards (structure), are effective decision-makers at the household level (agency) and are able to develop value chain partnerships (relations). Programming across all three dimensions will help to anchor and sustain empowerment gains over the long term.

1.2. USAID POLICY ON GENDER EQUALITY & FEMALE

EMPOWERMENT AND KENYA’S CONSTITUTION

This section discusses the policy environment with regard to gender equality in Kenya. It highlights key provisions of the Kenyan Constitution to assess the degree to which it provides an enabling environment for the realization of USAID’s Gender Policy in relation to the work of the sector teams (see Box 2). In general the Constitution mostly, but not fully, enables USAID’s Gender Policy.

Box 2. Selected Provisions of the Kenyan Constitution8 All Sector Teams The Constitution recognizes in the Preamble that the government of the land is of women and men, by women and men, and for women and men. Article 2 renders customary and other laws that differ from the Constitution void. This article aims to protect women from harmful cultural norms (reaffirmed by Article 55 which specifies the right of young women to enjoy these freedoms).

Article 27 says that women must gain equality in political, economic, social and cultural spheres. Article 29 protects women from all forms of violence. Article 54 provides that women with disabilities be treated with dignity and have access to all places, Article 97 sets aside one seat from 16 for women with disabilities in the Senate, and Article 97 says that women will be nominated to the National Assembly to ensure the representation of women with disabilities and young women. Article 56 provides for affirmative action for women from marginalized groups, and Article 57 provides that elderly women be allowed to live in dignity and respect and to be free from abuse.

Democracy and Governance Article 3 renders any government that does not permit women all the rights in the Constitution illegal. Articles 27, 81, 127, 175 and 177 all affirm that no more than two-thirds of the membership of elected or appointed public bodies should be of one gender -that is, women or men must always form at least one third. All political parties are to respect and promote gender equality and equity, are to include women and men, and are to protect women from political violence (Article 91).

Agriculture and Business Articles 40, 60 and 68 protect women’s right to own land and property anywhere in Kenya, and specifically protect the interests of widows and orphans to land.

Health Article 43 says women have a right to health care including reproductive health. Article 26 says that while abortion is not permitted, trained health professionals are required not to risk the life or health of the mother.

Education

Article 43 says women have the right to education.

Further key aspects relevant to USAID’s work include the fact that the constitution: (1) sets up new checks and balances for all public institutions, including the presidency; (2) devolves authority and funding to 47 new elected countries; and (3) gives every Kenyan the right and the duty to conserve the environment and to ensure ecologically sustainable development.9 Each of these aspects has gender dimensions referenced in the following thematic chapters of this report.

The Bill of Rights states that women and men have the right to equal treatment, including the right to equal opportunities in political, economic, cultural and social spheres. Additionally, every person is entitled to fundamental rights and freedoms of the individual regardless of her/his race, sex, pregnancy, marital status, health status, ethnic or social origin, color, age, disability, religion, conscience, belief, culture, dress, language or birth; and that every person is equal before the law and has the right to equal protection and equal benefit of the law.10

Although the Bill of Rights does not include rights pertaining to gender identity and sexual orientation, the wording has been carefully crafted to protect the rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people by affirming the right of every Kenyan to fundamental rights, freedoms and equal treatment regardless of conscience, belief, dress, sex, marital and health status.11 However, Kenya contravenes the International Declaration of Human Rights, to which it is a signatory, by criminalizing same-sex sexual activity. This contradiction drives lesbian, gay and bisexual people underground, and isolates transgender and intersex people, thus making it difficult for them to realize their rights, including to health care, under the Constitution. It also makes it difficult to reach men who have sex with men (MSM) – widely viewed to be a key source of new HIV/AIDS infections. Furthermore, Kenya criminalizes abortion. As a consequence unknown numbers of women die or suffer serious complications every year due to illegal abortions. The right to abortion is a central plank of the international women’s movement and has been recognized as a right in the United States since the Roe versus Wade ruling in 1973.

USAID Kenya needs to seize the many opportunities offered by the Constitution to work towards gender equality. Where the legal framework is hostile to aspects of USAID’s gender policy and international interpretations of human rights, the sector teams need to ensure that their work does not actively infringe the rights of marginalized communities through ensuring that the principle of ‘Do No Harm' is applied. As a lead development partner, USAID Kenya should seize the opportunity to engage in constructive dialogue with the government about decriminalizing same-sex sexual activity, and work towards the decriminalization of abortion. All sector teams should work creatively to address the practical and strategic needs of the LGBTI communities within the scope of the Constitution. It is reiterated here that the Constitution provides scope for ingenuity.

2. DEMOCRACY &

GOVERNANCE

This study finds that the enabling environment provided by the Constitution to bring women into democracy and governance processes remains to be fully realized in all areas. This finding is particularly clear with regard to peace and mediation programs. Cultural norms do not accord women a place at the table in conflict resolution and mediation processes in all Kenyan communities. In many cases, the only way forward has been to form separate women-only parallel structures that rarely converge with male-led forums. In effect, these women-only peace groups act as ‘capacity development’ incubators. The women involved have minimum capacity to help set the agenda and participate in community-level mediation processes. It is recommended that work be strengthened with community elders and other gatekeepers to enable women to participate equally in established, male-led forums.

2.1. WOMEN’S PARTICIPATION

This study further recommends that USAID Kenya increase its support in strengthening women’s enabling organizations, such as the G10 and the Gender and Equality Commission, to influence the agendas of the Government of Kenya (GoK) and international donor community; facilitating processes for Constitutional implementation, decentralization and devolution. The needs of discriminated and marginalized communities, including LGBTI and disabled people, should be disaggregated by gender and addressed accordingly. This may require providing capacity development and logistical support to increase participation and representation in democracy and governance forums, as well as support for litigation of discrimination cases.

2.1.1. RECOMMENDATIONS

2.1.1.1. PEACE AND RECONCILIATION

• Recognize and incorporate women’s gender needs into peace and reconciliation processes.

This will require analyzing and working with target communities to help them better understand how women’s gender needs are promoted or harmed by conflict and that women can play an important role in the peace and reconciliation process.

• Address male gender norms or “masculinities” by involving women and men, girls and boys, in programs that provide a safe environment and external facilitator or mediator to explore and deconstruct masculinities. It is recommended that the D&G Sector Team engage with Men for Gender Equality Now (MEGEN), which advocates transforming masculinities for women’s empowerment. Collaborate with community gatekeepers such as community elders, local authorities, imams, priests, and others, to obtain support for more active women participation. MEGEN and other similar organizations have proven experience working with senior men and can advise on best approaches.

• Ensure that measures to identify and address SGBV form part of program strategies, recognizing that men, as well as women, are vulnerable to SGBV.

2.1.1.2. PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES AND LGBTI COMMUNITIES

• Support organizations representing people with disabilities, such as the National Council for People with Disabilities (NCPWD), to ensure their participation in democracy and governance forums and to identify the distinctive gender needs of women and men with disabilities.

• Provide support to the Gay Kenya and Transgender Advocacy Network, to enable it to effectively articulate and represent the interests of the LGBTI community. Consider supporting litigation led by the LGBTI and disabled people’s organizations to pursue cases of discrimination by law enforcement officers and health care facilities.

• Work with USAID Kenya Office of Population and Health and Implementing Partners to identify and engage gatekeepers to facilitate greater access to health care facilities and programs by women, people with disabilities and members of the LGBTI community.

2.1.1.3. DEMOCRACY AND GOVERNANCE PROCESSES

• Gender-responsive planning. Support activities and programs to develop the capacity of national/county governments to formulate, implement and monitor gender responsive planning and budgeting, supported by sex-disaggregated data (national/county levels) helping to identify gaps.

• Awareness Raising. Support efforts to raise awareness and promote civic education to ensure women and men, particularly in grassroots communities, understand their constitutional rights;

especially the provisions of the constitution that ensure gender equality. Promote civic education in local languages.

• Donor Gender Audit. Consider funding a gender audit to determine the amount of donor assistance needed to support gender equality and women’s empowerment work in the country. Determine how funds are used and provide information to key stakeholders to facilitate planning and coordination related to gender activities.

2.1.1.4. USAID KENYA PROGRAM SUPPORT AND COORDINATION

• Cross-Sectoral Team Work on Democracy and Governance. This study recommends that the USAID Kenya D&G Team set up a cross-sectoral team with ABEO Feed the Future (FtF) and ABEO Environment and Natural Resource Management, to develop strategies and activities that promote land tenure and titling rights of women and marginalized communities and facilitate the implementation of constitutional provisions that guarantee and protect women’s right to own land.

• Gender Policy, Staff and Budget Support. Require implementing partners to have a gender policy, a gender expert as key staff, and budget support for gender staff and gender training activities.

• M&E. Require implementing partners to incorporate gender strategies in program design and implementation, along with gender-responsive indicators designed to measure outcomes and impacts.

Create mechanisms to capture effective strategies and programs that can be scaled-up and replicated.

2.1.2. USAID PROGRAM OVERVIEW

The USAID Kenya D&G program aims to enhance the capacities of key national- and local-level governance institutions, and to incorporate inclusive, accountable and participatory development, policy formulation and implementation, respect for the rule of law, citizen responsibility, constitutionalism, tolerance, access to justice and the realization of human rights. The program portfolio supports Kenyan women as they struggle for their human rights. It supports efforts to enact basic rights for women, such as the right to land and other property, equal access to education and the right to other opportunities for women set out in the Constitution, the National Land Policy and other legal reforms.

Agreements ending the 2007 post-election violence identified issues that require a commitment to action:

constitutional, institutional and legal reform, land reform, eradicating poverty and inequalities of various kinds, addressing unemployment, especially among youth, as well as regional socio-economic imbalances. The aim is national cohesion, unity, transparency and accountability. USAID Kenya is helping to facilitate the implementation of the GoK’s reform agenda by working with political parties for free, fair and peaceful elections in 2012; supporting female parliamentarians and key women’s organizations in efforts to propose and draft policy and legislation that promotes gender equality; and supporting dozens of civil society groups, including women’s rights organizations, to improve their leadership, advocacy, peace-building, and civic education skills. These efforts empower women to report historical injustices to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and support political parties in mobilizing women’s active participation through training, -including how to run for office.12 The parliamentary strengthening program in Kenya aims to improve s effectiveness in law-making and oversight functions and to enable transparency and accountability of parliamentary processes. Some of the parliament’s departmental committees supported by USAID Kenya include: justice and legal affairs; health; agriculture, livestock and cooperatives; lands and natural resources;

education, research and technology; and the Committee on Equal Opportunity.13

2.1.3. GENDER ANALYSIS

The mandate of the USAID Kenya D&G team is vast. It is difficult to address the full scope of activities it supports. The following analysis provides a brief discussion of women’s involvement in mainstream and alternative political structures, followed by a discussion of disabled people’s organizations.

The Bill of Rights is the central underpinning of Kenya’s democratic state and serves as the framework for all other legal reforms and legislation. Given its recent promulgation and despite the provisions enshrined in the Bill of Rights, women continue to be largely underrepresented at higher-level decision-making positions and institutions, and have made little progress in attaining political and economic power. The attainments of targets provided for in the constitution (namely that women comprise not less than one-third representation in elective and public institutions) have yet to be fully realized. Although Kenyan women are almost half of the electorate and have the right to vote and hold office, women remain underrepresented as candidates or representatives of political parties, parliament and/or local authorities. Owing to limited access to avenues of electoral and political power, including political parties, women in Kenya have gained power through alternative structures, particularly in the non-governmental and grassroots sector. Through these alternative structures, women have placed women’s issues on the national agenda. Socialization, cultural norms and the stereotyping of women and men, including through the media, has reinforced the tendency for decision-making and conflict management initiatives to remain primarily in the masculine domain. The low proportion of women filling political and decision-making positions at the local- and national-levels reflects structural and attitudinal barriers that need to be addressed via positive measures.14 Moreover, women’s organizations are the only ones addressing women’s issues in the Constitution regarding leadership, peace and reconciliation.