Distinguished Guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am pleased to join you all for this important forum to reflect on the progress that has been achieved on women empowerment since the adoption of the Nairobi Forward Looking Strategies in 1985. As you all know, Kenya hosted the 3rd World Women Conference in 1985. The Forum brought together 1,500 official delegates from 150 nations and adopted a wide range of resolutions aimed at empowering women.

Our convergence here, 21 years later, provides an opportunity to take stock of what we have achieved since then, and to commit ourselves to remain focused in addressing the various challenges that women continue to face. I am confident that this conference will come up with practical resolutions that will push the agenda of women empowerment further.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Over the last 21 years, some progress has been made towards gender equality and empowerment of women. In spite of this progress, there is still much more that remains to be done. This conference, for instance, provides an opportunity to identify those areas where progress has been slow and take corrective measures.

As a government, we will continue to implement concrete policies that will mainstream gender in all development processes and uplift women from positions of disadvantage. Indeed, we have remained committed to empowering women. The philosophy behind this commitment is clear and simple: Women constitute more than half of our population. They are the most vibrant block of workers and producers who contribute to our expanding GDP and have made a big impact especially among our rural communities. Any efforts to uplift the quality of life of women will make a big contribution to the improvement of the welfare of all Kenyans. I am therefore encouraged by the progress we have so far made in fulfilling the resolutions of the Nairobi Conference of 1985.

With respect to regional and international Human Rights Covenants on the rights of women, for example, Kenya has ratified the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women. My Government has also ratified the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights. The process of ratifying the protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa has started. In view of the importance of this protocol, I am directing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Attorney General’s office to hasten the ratification process. We have also remained committed to all other covenants ratified by Kenya in respect of women. We have been careful to engage all stakeholders in the public and private sector, together with local and international N.G.O.s in the periodic reporting on these international instruments, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

A landmark call in the Nairobi Forward Looking Strategies was the need for every country to establish a high level Government body to implement and monitor policies on gender equality. In this regard, my Government created a Ministry responsible for gender mainstreaming in the year 2003. We have also established the National Commission on Gender and Development through an Act of Parliament as a leading National Institution central to the realization of gender equality and equity in all national processes. In order to further push ahead women’s agenda in Kenya, my Government has put in place the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights.

One of the greatest concerns of women all over the world is gender violence, which remains a big problem. In Kenya, we have stepped up measures to stamp out cases of violence against women, particularly sexual violence. In July this year, I signed into law the Sexual Offences Bill. This law provides punitive penalties for sexual offenders. In addition to this, a Task Force working on the National Framework on Gender Based Violence is expected to release response guidelines to gender based violence. We have also established desks in police stations to handle cases of gender violence. Officers manning these desks have been trained to handle the information they receive in confidence. Furthermore, the Government created the Family Division of the High Court to provide greater protection for women and children in matters of adoption, custody, divorce and inheritance.

Our Children’s Act protects the rights of children in the spirit of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and outlaws Female Genital Mutilation that has for a long time negatively impacted on the health of the girl-child.

Indeed, the most effective tool for overcoming the challenges facing the girl-child is education. My Government is fully aware that education provides a unique avenue of empowering women to overcome the socio-economic challenges they face. It is for this reason that my Government introduced Free Primary Education for all girls and boys in this country. The introduction of free primary education has resulted in improved girl enrolment nationally to 48 percent of all primary school pupils.

The Government has also introduced Affirmative Action in Education by lowering girls’ cut off points for entry in all public universities. I am glad to note that 32 percent of students in the public universities are females. To ensure that the girl child gets uninterrupted access to education, the Government has zero-rated all taxes levied on sanitary wear. Besides education, we are seeking to push the empowerment agenda further by appointing more women into decision-making offices. Today, there are many more women holding decision-making positions as permanent secretaries, ambassadors, directors and parastatal heads. To ensure that more women rise to these levels, I recently directed the Public Service Commission to apply affirmative action in all future employment by ensuring that a minimum of 30 percent of all future recruitments and appointments in the public service establishments are women.

At the political level, top leadership by women has been negligible in Africa. It is only this year that Liberia produced the first African woman head of state. Though on a smaller scale, the Kenyan women have made commendable progress in the political arena. Our current Parliament has the largest number ever of women parliamentarians in the history of Kenya. However, with 18 women Members of Parliament out of 222, we must work harder to increase the proportion of women in Parliament. I therefore urge that more women vie for parliamentary seats.

It is also imperative that a requisite Affirmative Action Strategy be put in place to secure more seats for women not only in Parliament, but also in other public offices where their presence is minimal. In this regard, political parties should work closely together to ensure greater participation by women at all levels.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

As we seek ways and means of raising the status of women, we must acknowledge emerging challenges like HIV/AIDS among girls and women, the trafficking of girls and women and the increasing rates of violence on women both in the private and public domain. All our strategies must aim at giving women a secure environment where they have the right to live in dignity and peace.

I conclusion, I commend the Ministry of Gender, Sports, Culture and Social Services, together with the National Commission on Gender and Development and their partners for organizing this conference.

With these remarks, I declare the Nairobi + 21 Conference officially open and I wish you all successful deliberations.

Thank You And God Bless You All.