Effects of gender mainstreaming efforts on rural transport institutions in Kenya
This paper reports on the institutions that deliver and support rural transport infrastructure and services in Kenya
Abstract
This paper reports on an investigation into the effects of gender mainstreaming efforts on the institutions that deliver and support rural transport infrastructure and services in Kenya. It comes at a time when the nation is implementing robust policies, supported by enabling legislative and institutional frameworks for gender mainstreaming as required by the Constitution of Kenya 2010. A multi-level case study was conducted at national and county levels where many institutions were surveyed. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected, covering gender analysis in staffing, decision-making and procurement for a sample of rural transport institutions. Results show that gender mainstreaming efforts have transformed rural transport institutions towards gender-responsive staffing, human-resource practices, budgeting, procurement and implementation of transport-related works. However, achieving the constitutional two-thirds affirmative action policy in staffing remains a challenge, more so in technical and decision-making bodies. The study found that the meaning and purpose of gender mainstreaming is not sufficiently understood by the majority of transport sector institutions. Additionally, gender-disaggregated data are neither readily available nor applied to rural transport programming and implementation. A change of strategy and long-term progressive efforts are required to realise gender equity in rural transport institutions in Kenya and beyond.
This work is part of the Applied Research on Rural Roads and Transport Services through Community Access Programmes in Africa and Asia (AFCAP2 and AsCAP)
Citation
Nyangueso SO, Orwa SO, Ombai M and Sheba S. (2019). Effects of gender mainstreaming efforts on rural transport institutions in Kenya. Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers – Transport. https://doi.org/10.1680/jtran.18.00146
Link
Effects of gender mainstreaming efforts on rural transport institutions in Kenya