Kenya: Women Urged to Run for Seats

The Kenya Women Parliamentary Association (KEWOPA) is a membership association of all women parliamentarians drawn from across all political parties both elected and nominated in the Senate and National Assembly.

Our Vision

Women and men are equitably represented in parliarment and decision making in public and private spheres to promote sustanable development

Our Mission

To promote the advancement of parliarmentary democracy by enhancing knowledge & understanding of democratic governance and facilitate the networking of women parliarmentarians for the socio-economic and political development of Kenya

Our Strategic Directions

• To strenghthen the individual and collective capacities of members to develop gender responsive legislation and advance equality values and principles in their oversight and diplomatic roles.
• To strengthen members representatives roles in order to enhance constituency development and regular interaction with the constituents on policy & community issues
• To strengthen members capacities to effectively advocate for gender responsive and all inclusive political party governance
• To strengthen the capacity of KEWOPA Secretariat to effectively and efficiently achieve its mandate

• UN Women Mentorship Project for Women Members of County Assembly & Community Leaders

Legislative Function

• Contributed towards the realization of the family Bills:- Marriage Act 2014 and the Matrimonial Property Act 2013 and Protection Against Domestic Violence Act
• Spearheading the push for the realization of the two thirds gender principle as proposed by the Constitutional Amendment Bill 2015 (No. 4), that was previously introduced as a private members bill by KEWOPA Chair Hon. Mbarire in the National Assembly and Senator Sijeny in the Senate.
• Developed gender responsive budgeting guidelines for Parliament.
• Developed a Members Handbook on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights

Representative function

• Trained over 300 women members of county assembly and community leaders on the gender responsive budgeting guidelines and political party participation under the National Democratic Institute Programme.- Why don’t we add the successes that we have achieved like the stimulus fund for Lamu, the mileage claims for Mombasa, Homabay? and 3 million budget for Nairobi county for sanitary towels.
• Currently undertaking a mentorship and capacity building programme in  16 regions counties/constituencies across the country on women participation in politics under the UN Women programme that seeks to advance and encourage more women to take part in politics and run for office in accordance to the constitutional provisions of gender balance in political leadership.

Political parties function

• Leadership and mentorship training for KEWOPA Members including a peer to peer mentorship program where the more experienced members mentor the first time members of parliament, a mentorship programme for women member of county assembly, as well as mentorship training for community aspiring women leaders and youth. Add our pool of mentees that we can claim.
• Formation of 10 KEWOPA Chapters across the country that will support and push for increased number of women parliamentarians at the county level and the national level as well as to advocate for increased attention to issues affecting women at the county level.

Institutional strengthening function

• Increased technical staff (Programmes, Finance and Administration) at KEWOPA Secretariat from 5 to 9 to support the increased number of Women Members of Parliament.

• Order Paper – National Assembly [5-10 to 9-10]
• Order Paper Senate
•  Senate Order Paper 8th october 2015
• Order Paper – National Assembly 8th October 2015
• Senate Order Paper 14th October 2015
• Order Paper – National Assembly 14th October 2015

• The Persons with Disabilities (Amendment) Bill, 2013
• The Diabetes Management Bill, 2014
• The Traditional Health Practitioners Bill, 2014
• The In-Vitro Fertilization Bill, 2014
• The Pharmacy Practitioners Bill, 2014
• The Engineering Technologists and Technicians Bill, 2015
• The Access to Information Bill, 2015
• Reproductive Health Care Bill, 2014 (Sen. Bill No. 17)
• The Food Security Bill
• The Universities (Amendment) Bill, 2014
• The Employment (Amendment) Bill (Senate Bill No. 1 of 2015)
• The County Governments (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill, 2014
• The National Youth Service Bill(Amendment) Bill, 2014
• The Self Help Associations Bill, 2015
• The National Hospital Insurance Fund (Amendment) Bill, 2015
• The Natural Resources (Benefit sharing) Bill, 2014
• The County Library Services Bill, 2015