http://erepository.uonbi.ac.ke/handle/11295/161343 2026-04-08T21:02:09Z 2026-04-08T21:02:09Z Ngunjiri, Margaret Wanjiku Birech, Jeniffer Muleka, Joseph http://erepository.uonbi.ac.ke/handle/11295/163758 2023-08-12T11:04:24Z 2023-01-01T00:00:00Z

Assessing the Contributions of the Women’s Movements & Women’s Self-Mobilization, to Women’s Economic Empowerment in Kenya Between 1963 and 2010 Ngunjiri, Margaret Wanjiku; Birech, Jeniffer; Muleka, Joseph This study focused on Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) in select counties in Kenya. These were Busia, Kakamega, and Kisumu in the Western region; Kajiado, Nakuru and Baringo in the Rift Valley region; Nyeri, Muranga, and Kiambu in the Central region; Nairobi region; Machakos, Kitui, and Makueni in the Eastern region; and Kwale, Mombasa and Kilifi in the Coast region. The research aimed at evaluating the contributions of the women’s movement and self-mobilization, to WEE in Kenya between 1963 and 2010, with the following specific objectives: 1. To map out a historical perspective on the contribution made by grassroots women’s groups and associations to WEE, between 1963 and 1975 which are the initial years of Kenya’s independence; 2. To examine the contribution of grassroots women’s groups and associations to WEE between 1963 – 1976, and 1976 – 1997 when the affirmative action fund started; 3. To establish the extent to which the national women’s movement influenced national policies on WEE between 1990 to date and lessons learned, including those around women’s care work, and 4. To establish what strategies work in women’s self-mobilization for WEE that can be scaled up to similar contexts and inform policy dialogue. The study adopted a predominantly qualitative research approach in its design of data collection, synthesis and analysis. The concept of women’s self-mobilization was measured using the Feminist Mobilization Index (FMI). The research also used the Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI) which was used to assess women’s collective, instrumental and intrinsic agency. Besides, Sarah Longwe’s Women’s Empowerment model was used in combination with the WEAI to analyze various aspects of women’s empowerment that the feminist organizing efforts sought to achieve. The overall question that the study sought to answer was: To what extent has selfmobilization by the women’s movement in Kenya resulted in Women’s Economic Empowerment? The study used the FMI to assess the existence of the women’s movement, its dynamics and strength as well as the autonomy in the context of the political and economic environment in post-independence and subsequent spells that saw government involvement in women’s empowerment. Technical Report

2023-01-01T00:00:00Z Njiraine, Dorothy Kanyi, Mary Wambui Khamala, Dorothy http://erepository.uonbi.ac.ke/handle/11295/163757 2023-08-12T11:19:40Z 2023-01-01T00:00:00Z

Examining Strategies that Women’s Movement Used to Realize Gains in the Kenya Constitution 2010 Njiraine, Dorothy; Kanyi, Mary Wambui; Khamala, Dorothy Women have been excluded from decision-making institutions and processes. To eliminate gender discrimination in laws, secure equal rights for women and enact legislations that promote gender equality, women have since the 1960s strived for political, economic, and cultural emancipation, with more returns being realized in the formulation and enactment of the Constitution of Kenya (2010), where progressive provisions for women’s empowerment were enshrined in the supreme law. This study aimed at examining strategies women and women’s movements used during the constitutional review process in Kenya between 1997 and 2010 to strengthen women’s self-mobilization for Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE), as well as to identify best practices for women’s self-mobilization. The objectives of the study were to: identify the strategies women’s movements used during the constitutional review process in Kenya, document emerging best practices for women’s self-mobilization from the strategies identified, explore the strategies used by women in selfmobilization for WEE, and identify policies and legislation gaps for advocacy for WEE. The research applied feminist and grounded theory approaches. The secondary and primary data were collected using qualitative methods. The research was carried out in three regions, that is, Nairobi, Coast and Nyanza with respondents chosen purposively to participate in the study. The Nyanza (conducted in Kisumu) interviews drew the respondents from Kasipul Kabondo, Homabay, Mbita, Migori, Busia, Mount Elgon, Kisumu, Kakamega, Mbale, Siaya, Bungoma, while the coast region (interviews conducted in Mombasa) was represented by respondents from, Kilifi, Malindi, Kwale, Lamu, and Taita Taveta. The Nairobi interviews drew participants from all over the country. This is because they had active grassroots women groups and other women’s movements that participated in the constitution-making process. A desk review targeting existing global, regional, and national literature and databases on women’s self-mobilization towards economic empowerment and political participation with a special focus on women’s self-mobilization in the review of the Kenyan constitution was conducted. Primary qualitative data were collected through in-depth interviews of autobiographical narratives with selected women who participated in the Kenya constitution-making process (pathfinders); semi-structured questionnaires with women purposively drawn from women’s organizations and civil society organizations (CSOs) such as GROOTS, WPA, FIDA, CRAWN TRUST/NWSC, Women Political Caucus, Collaborative Centre for Gender and Development (CCGD), League of Women Voters, Education Centre for Women in Development (ECWD) among others; and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) with select women, who were involved in the making of the constitution 2010. The primary qualitative data were analyzed using NVIVO whereby dominant themes were transformed into codes with guidance from the research tools. The data were categorized according to the thematic areas before patterns were drawn for analysis. Major findings from the study established that women and women’s movements used various strategies during the constitutional review process such as uniting for a common constitutional agenda; engaging different stakeholders including government officials; advocacy; collaborations between women leaders, educating women about the constitution through the women groupings as well as through the media; mobilization; a collection of views, and having male allies to agitate for women issues to be adopted in the constitution. Emerging best practices for self-mobilization include the use of women groupings for economic emancipation, lobbying, advocacy, and pushing for the implementation of policies in parliament that support women’s self-mobilization initiatives. The study found policy and legislation gaps for WEE including a lack of goodwill from the politicians, individualistic competition, lack of accountability and dissemination channels, poverty, ethnic divisions, and jeopardy from the courts. The study recommends the provision of statistics to back up the gaps in channelling the discourse of policy change for WEE, consultations with policy experts in developing policies for WEE, revitalizing the women’s movements to ensure full implementation of the constitutional gains, setting timelines for achieving the constitutional gains, provision of more women economic empowerment programs by the government to women, especially in the rural areas, provision of continuous checks and balances to ensure accountability of the women leaders in office, involvement of women in decision-making, especially in matters pertaining to women and holding of intergenerational fora to ensure passage of knowledge to the young women leaders. Final Report on the Project

2023-01-01T00:00:00Z African Women's Studies & Research Centre, Women's Economic Empowerment Hub http://erepository.uonbi.ac.ke/handle/11295/161353 2022-09-02T14:15:58Z 2022-01-01T00:00:00Z

Priority Agenda for Women’s Economic Empowerment African Women's Studies & Research Centre, Women's Economic Empowerment Hub The Priority Agenda is informed by the research carried out by the University of Nairobi (UON) WEE Hub researchers under different thematic areas, including affirmative action funds; women in informal and formal employment; child care, and women’s work; and women collectives. The studies were carried out in partnership with the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics. The Priority Agenda, particularly Agenda 1 and 6, is informed by the UN Women, Kenya Office study on ‘Engendering fiscal stimulus packages and recovery efforts adopted in response to the COVID-19 health and economic crises. Priority Agenda

2022-01-01T00:00:00Z Kabira, Wanjiku Mukabi Auma, Elizabeth Akoth, Brender Wamuyu, Ruth http://erepository.uonbi.ac.ke/handle/11295/161351 2022-09-02T11:20:34Z 2022-01-01T00:00:00Z

Strategies that Work - Women in Politics & Constitution Making in Kenya Kabira, Wanjiku Mukabi; Auma, Elizabeth; Akoth, Brender; Wamuyu, Ruth

2022-01-01T00:00:00Z