January 23, 2024 (Public Communications and Media Relations)
There is hope that Turkana will soon have a Gender Policy document to streamline interventions aimed at women’s empowerment, gender mainstreaming, and promotion of gender equality in line with the Kenya National Policy of Gender and Development.
At a consultative meeting with sector players to fine-tune the gender policy proposal, the Deputy Director for Gender and Youth Affairs Mollen Onderi confirmed that significant progress had been made towards completing the process in partnership with USAID Funded Livestock Market System (LMS), UN Women, state and non-state actors in Turkana.
“The Gender and Youth directorate is committed to creating a localized policy that will address Turkanas’ gender concerns, a policy that relies on homegrown solutions. That is why we are actively consulting with all the sector players in this meeting,” said Director Mollen Onderi
Director Mollen Onderi divulged that Turkana was looking forward to a policy that provides a framework for coordinated interventions by various sector players on financing gender mainstreaming efforts, combating SGBV, and empowering women.
The effort comes at a time when the County has put in place a Women’s Empowerment Fund to enable women groups in Turkana to access grants, business start-ups, and expansion loans.
During the meeting, stakeholders deliberated on the need to use the policy as a guiding tool for gender inclusivity during employment and other processes that require affirmative action.
The team lead for USAID-funded LMS Humphrey Dianga reiterated the organization’s support towards the process.
The discussions were led by Simeon Odek, a project consultant on matters of gender who emphasized the critical role of gender policy in addressing in accelerating inclusion of women and girls in the socioeconomic space.
Upon completion of the policy document, Turkana will join the league of counties such as Makueni, Meru, Migori, Kisumu, and Isiolo that have made significant strides in laying robust policy and legal frameworks on matters of gender equality and SGBV as related concerns.
