Honourable Ministers,
Distinguished Delegates,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am pleased to be here today to officially open this Conference of the Forum of Ministers of Women's Affairs from the Great Lakes region. I take this opportunity to welcome you all to this Conference. I acknowledge Ministers and other participants from other countries and wish to warmly welcome you to Kenya. We are happy to host you in our country and hope your stay will be enjoyable.

I am encouraged to note that this Conference will deliberate on the important subject of the establishment of a Women's Research and Documentation Centre as well as dialogue on strategies for combating violence against women. This is a crucial agenda that will go a long way into advancing the welfare of women. I wish you fruitful deliberations and look forward to the implementation of the recommendations that this Conference will make.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is now accepted that mainstreaming of gender in development reduces poverty and generates higher rates of economic growth. In spite of this knowledge, however, women remain a marginalized group. For example, of the 1.2 billion people living in poverty worldwide, 70 per cent are women. Again, while women comprise the majority of the labour force in agriculture, they own around only 1 per cent of the world's land. In addition, while women do two-thirds of the world's work, they receive only 10 per cent of the world's income.

In the sphere of leadership, the same picture obtains with only 8 women amongst 192 heads of government as at January 2008. Indeed, despite quotas being in place in over 40 countries, average women's representation in national parliaments remains barely over 15 per cent. These statistics indicate that although we have witnessed great advances in terms of commitments to the empowerment of women, these commitments are not matched by actions on the ground.

Besides marginalization, women also continue to suffer gender-based violence. It is sad to note that at least one woman in every three in the world has been a victim of gender-based violence. The effect of domestic violence is often severe and is indeed the leading cause of injury and death among women worldwide.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am glad to note that violence against women is one of the main agenda of this forum. As you deliberate on this subject, it is important to remember that one of the key causes of violence stems from women's economic dependency on men. Indeed, economic dependency and insecurity are at the core of the gender dynamics of violence. The economic empowerment of women is, therefore, key to the eradication of gender violence.

In this regard, therefore, there is need to step up the agenda of women empowerment. In pursuing this agenda, we must bear in mind that the key measures that must be taken to empower women include ensuring the girl child has access to education, addressing social-cultural norms that discriminate against women, expanding the role of women in the political arena and enacting legislation that guarantees women equal access to opportunities and resources.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

In Kenya, I am glad to note that we have made considerable achievements in these areas. In education, for example, the provision of Free Primary Education has greatly improved access to education, especially by the girl child. Indeed, we have achieved gender parity, with girls constituting 49 per cent of the total primary school enrolment in the country.

With respect to the provision of equal opportunities, the Government announced a 30 per cent affirmative action on the recruitment of women in the public sector. I am glad to note that we have appointed gender officers in all Government Ministries and parastatals to ensure that they comply with this directive.

Although we now have a larger number of women in Parliament than before, much more remains to be done in expanding the role of women in the political arena. Indeed, like many other countries, we are far behind the Rwandan Parliament which is believed to have the highest representation of women in the world with over 50 per cent of women parliamentarians. I appeal to political organizations as well as corporate entities to increase the participation of women in decision-making at all levels. Most importantly, I challenge women to aggressively seek leadership positions.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

As will be appreciated, lack of adequate and accurate information regarding gender issues has affected the formulation of effective policies that would further improve the welfare of women. The proposal to set up a Regional Research and Documentation Centre on Gender and Women Affairs, upon which you will also be deliberating in this forum, is a welcome idea whose time has come. In the past, there has been limited human and institutional capacity to develop and address gender issues in a systematic manner.

The proposed Regional Centre and its associated centres in member countries will, therefore, play a critical role in bridging this gap and providing a platform for dialogue and exchange of experiences and best practices on gender issues. As you take stock of the progress made so far towards the establishment of the Centre, I urge you to remain focused on the concrete steps that will lead to its establishment within the envisaged period of three years.

In conclusion, I wish to thank the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Development and the United Nations Education and Scientific Organization (UNESCO) for hosting this Conference. I also thank UNESCO for undertaking to provide financial contribution to the initial endowment of the Regional Research and Documentation Centre.

With these remarks, it is now my pleasure to declare this forum officially open and to wish you fruitful deliberations.

Thank you and God bless you all.