FIDA’s Work for Gender Equality in Kenya

The Federation of Women Lawyers – Kenya (FIDA Kenya) is the leading women’s rights organization whose vision is a society free from all forms of discrimination and injustices against women.

With partial funding from the MDG3 Fund for Gender Equality FIDA is working to strengthen government’s efforts in addressing inequalities through Vision 2030 and the achievement of MDG goal number 3 of promoting gender equality and empowering women by the year 2015.

In the first nine months of FIDA’s project, women representation in leadership positions within public institutions has increased. Notably are recent appointments in the Truth Justice and Reconciliation Commission, Committee of Experts, National Cohesion Commission and the Interim Independent Dispute Resolution Court.

Thanks to this project, FIDA has been able to strengthen its position with the Constitutional Review Process and leverage gender equality provision in the proposed Constitution. Significant progress in monitoring implementation of the new labour laws and advocacy around the proposed social protection legislation in Kenya have been made as well.

The grant has supported provision of legal redress to a total of 4180 indigent women nationally. In particular, 146 cases were filed in court and 71 cases were concluded. The nature of cases presented at the legal aid clinics were mainly maintenance, succession, domestic violence, custody, divorce, division of matrimonial property, labour and defilement. The concluded cases enabled the women get various court reliefs.

MDG3 funding also supported the successful conclusion of 56 mediation cases. Mediation services provide an alternative forum for dispute resolution and is often a faster and cheaper method for indigent women to access justice as compared to litigation.

FIDA’s project supported the training of 30 community action groups on human rights with specific focus on labour, property rights and gender based violence as well as capacity building approaches towards community development.

Three regional forums on transitional justice where held. Here 160 women leaders’ skills were enhanced to participate in the truth, justice and reconciliation process.

The first ever Kenyan Gender Festival was held from 3 to 5 June 2009. The festival was an open forum focusing on issues of post election violence, men involvement in the gender discourse and consolidating women’s gains in the women’s movement in Kenya. The event brought together more than 750 men and women from different parts of the country. Significantly, the festival highlighted the problem of gender based violence besides providing an opportunity for advocacy on the enactment of the Family Protection Bill.

The grant also enabled FIDA Kenya to monitor government’s commitment on International Human Rights Instruments such as CEDAW, Beijing Plan of Action and the Millennium Declaration. A shadow statement to the 53rd Session of the Commission on the Status of Women at the U.N. headquarters in New York was prepared and submitted. The statement highlighted the status of women property rights and reproductive health in the context of sharing responsibilities between women and men. During a side event attended by 76 participants from all parts of the world FIDA presented papers on women and property rights in Kenya.

The Executive Director of FIDA, Patricia Nyaoundi, participated in the second IPS Africa MDG3 seminar, in Nairobi from Aug. 3-7, 2009, with a presentation on how the prevalent forms of Gender Based Violence are addressed by Criminal Justice. Read the presentation on IPS Seminar page.

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