A recent study has investigated what factors have shaped one of the Kenyan goverment's most progressive frameworks, the 2019 Gender Policy, and what recommendations emerged from it.
The study Who has power over policy? The political economy of Kenya's 2019 gender policy in energy access, published by EfD fellows Isaac Kwamena Nunoo, Thomas Klug (SETI), Victoria Plutshack (SETI), Mawunyo Agradi, and Sarah Appiah, examines Kenya's 2019 Gender Policy.
According to the study, the 2019 Gender Policy emerged from "strong leadership" within the Kenyan Ministry of Energy. This policy prioritized health and time-poverty of women by focusing on clean cooking technologies. It created a concrete action plan to fulfill the gender quotas mandated by Kenya's Constitution which states that “not more than two-thirds of the members of electoral or appointive bodies shall be of the same gender”.
The objective of this research is to examine which political economy factors contributed to the development of Kenya's Gender Policy how differing narratives and concepts of gender equality interacted during the policy design process
The authors identified four major assets driving this framework: expanding electricity access, economic opportunity, clean cooking, and gender equality. Findings showed a coincidental alliance between government efforts to defend constitutional rights on gender equality, and advocacy by civil society to prioritize clean cooking and women's access to energy services.
A broader look through a multi-country perspective
“This study is part of a larger project on the political economy of gender mainstreaming in energy policies that began in 2021 with funding from SETI,” explained Victoria Plutshack.
There were four case studies in total, three on ECOWAS' Policy for Gender Mainstreaming in Energy Access in Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Ghana (yet to be published), and this one on Kenya's Gender Policy.
Find the published research papers below:
By Belén Pulgar.