Calls for the reinstatement of the gender mainstreaming indicator in the government’s performance contracts dominated the launch of the National Gender and Equality Commission (NGEC) Strategic Plan 2025-2029 in Nairobi. 

Its value in promoting gender prosperity in the country was showcased at the USAWA Awards, as five ministries were recognised for maintaining it in their operations. 

Speakers called on the government to reinstate the gender mainstreaming indicators within its performance contracting guidelines, with various speakers arguing that removing them was a mistake.

This saw a decade-plus of gains eroded. 

National Government Coordination Principal Secretary in the Office of the Prime Cabinet Secretary, Ahmed Abdisalan, set the tone for the discussion.

“The removal of the gender mainstreaming indicator from the performance contracts totally undermined efforts to promote equality within the public sector,” said the PS. 

He said the Ministry will take deliberate efforts to ensure the reinstatement of the indicators. 

“We will ensure that the gender mainstreaming indicator and all the other tools that promote gender equity are mainstreamed in our performance contracting,” the PS said, calling on the Cabinet Secretary, Gender, Culture, the Arts, Heritage and Children Affairs, Hanna Cheptumo to ensure that this call goes beyond just a discussion. 

It was recognised that the inclusion of the gender mainstreaming indicator in performance contracting is not a new concept in Kenya, but an initiative that was adopted by the government in 2004, following a process of negotiation with key public sector stakeholders. 

According to the NGEC, this tool is used to monitor gender mainstreaming across all ministries, departments and agencies in the national and county governments. 

However, in the financial year 2023/24, the government dropped the gender mainstreaming indicator in performance contracting. 

“This move has seen 15 years of progress towards attaining equality and equity in the public sector backtracked,” noted Abdisalan. 

At the Ministry of Defence, and perhaps the reason it scooped the top USAWA Award, its gender policy has recorded a significant gender equality impact. 

Soipan Tuya, the Defence Cabinet Secretary, outlined some of the gains the Ministry has made through its gender policy, the first being the promotion of Kenya’s first female Major General, Maj. Gen. Fatima Ahmed, who went on to become the first female Air Force commander in Kenya. 

“We are also celebrating the elevation of another female military officer to the same rank as Maj. Gen. Joyce Sitienei, who was promoted to the rank and appointed Deputy Vice Chancellor of the National Defence University, Kenya,” the CS said in a statement delivered by Maj. Gen. Sitienei, adding that the Ministry has also seen promotion of more senior officers across the Kenya Defence Forces. 

Some of these efforts, such as at the Peace Support Operations Front, have seen KDF making remarkable footprints and impact around the globe. 

In aggregate, the CS said the Ministry has either deployed 16 per cent of female personnel in peace operations, a scenario that makes KDF the highest female peacekeepers contributor in the world.

Tuya noted that gender mainstreaming outcomes at KDF include the presence of command commitment towards gender mainstreaming, a fundamental prerequisite for success in any institution.