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    "id": 600635,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/600635/?format=api",
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    "content": "parliamentarians. Tanzania comes in as No.21 with 36 per cent and Uganda ranks 23rd with 35 per cent of women parliamentarians. These are neighbouring countries with almost the same socio-economic cultural backgrounds and status yet we have not even achieved 30 per cent in Kenya. It a very sad scenario when you notice a resistance at achieving the constitutional 30 per cent after such extensive debate. One only has to look at the attendance in this Senate this afternoon. When all the male Members realized that the next order in the Order Paper was an issue that touches on women issues, they walked out. This is a glaring issue because actions speak louder than words. Apart from the Speaker and Sen. (Dr.) Obure who was on his way out. All the sitting Members of the Senate who are present as this order is being debated are all female. It speaks volumes to all the women of the nation watching out there. Having said how we rank and noticing what is happening in the “Upper” House, one is not shocked why we are ranking so poorly. This is a House of representation. We represent the views that we espouse out there. The formation of the IPU’s expert mission was aimed at building consensus on how best to operationalize the constitutional quotas on gender. This was the most popular proposal. More specifically the objective of the IPU mission was to, among others: 1. Identify challenges that women face in Kenya to be elected in Parliament. 2. Identify expectations vis-a-vis the 2010 Constitution. 3. Explore options of actions and measures to enhance the representation of women. 4. Identify key actors and strategic partners. 5. Advocate for ensuring the closest possible balanced participation of men and women in Parliament and more generally, in politics. 6. Explore options to enhance the representation of youth. During the scheduled meetings of the IPU, they interacted with participants from different regions and agencies and with different stakeholders from all over the country. They shared ideas on implementing the gender quota and highlighted the various country encounters and strategies that may be adopted to address these challenges. They further made recommendations to enable Kenya operationalize the gender provisions in the Constitution as detailed in this report. Allow me at this point to quote verbatim what the expert mission concluded in their report. The expert mission was of the view that among the different proposals made and Bills tabled, the most suitable ones are the proposed Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill, 2015 and the Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2015, both introduced to Parliament by the National Assembly Majority Leader, Hon. Duale. This agreement was reached collectively under our umbrella bodies KEWOSA and KEWOPA after thorough consultations with the leadership of both Houses, the Attorney-General’s Chamber, National Gender and Equality Commission (NGEC) and other stakeholders. That is a big voice adding to the way forward for the women of Kenya. It is a confirmation that we are on the right track. This is an international body which does not have local interests because it does not draw its membership locally; it is a global body. It gives us a lot of hope for them to endorse the way forward presented by the women of The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}