The role of men in advancing women’s political rights

John Oduory Indimuli – Chairman, United Democrats of Kenya (UNDA-Kenya)

On capacity building for women

UNDA’s principle of equality and women’s empowerment permeate in all aspects of life. The party seeks to narrow gender inequalities that are manifested in the access, utilization, control and ownership of productive as well as political power. The party seeks to empower women to play an active and effective role within UNDA. The party enhances women’s knowledge and skills base in socio-economic and political spheres of life and to create favourable conditions for political and economic empowerment based on their demands contained in the Kenya Women’s Manifesto.

UNDA embraces gender mainstreaming as an institutional strategy and process of putting into motion or making operational the global gender equity and equality goals in all its structures of leadership and management. The programme focuses on women- specific training and skills building initiatives as a way of nurturing and sustaining their leadership potential in different fields. The process in turn validates women’s equality before the law to their men counterparts.

Role on Affirmative Action

The party fosters Affirmative Action aimed at redressing gender inequality in education, trade governance, economic development and other aspects of pubic life. Women will forever constitute a critical mass of 33% in UNDA’s planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation national, branch and local levels of its hierarchy.

The party’s gender policy articulates the philosophy, values, standards, scope and the party’s institutional commitment to engender governance and development through its Usawa(equality) and Uwezo(empowerment) principles.

The party deliberately builds partnerships and linkages between men and women as equals, in leadership, decision making, peace making and development. The programme mainstreams women’s political concerns as a strategy of showing respect, commitment and restoring hope to individual women and the women constituency as a whole who hitherto have been marginalized and treated as second class citizens.