December 4, 2023 | Nairobi, Kenya
A team of local PEP researchers held a national policy conference to share their findings on how to overcome the barriers that women face in accessing decent work.
December 4, 2022 – A team of local PEP researchers held a national policy conference to share their findings on the barriers that are preventing Kenyan women from accessing decent work.
The project team brought together more than 25 policymakers and stakeholders for a discussion on how to help women overcome these barriers, in recognition of the critical role that decent work plays in advancing gender equity and economic growth.
Key policy stakeholders in attendance included representatives from the State Departments for Economic Planning, for Gender, and for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), the National Treasury, and UN Women.
Team leader Dr. Phyllis Machio presented the findings and recommendations from the team’s PEP project on Addressing context-specific barriers to female labour force participation in decent work in Kenya.
She explained how women with children under five years of age are especially limited when trying to access decent work. This is due to social norms that place much of the responsibility for childcare on women, she said.
The team also highlighted how a lack of compliance with laws that should ensure gender equality in employment prevents women from accessing decent work. “Workers are not aware of their labour rights, and the costs of redress are too costly for most,” said team member Prof. Anthony Wambugu.
Based on the project team’s analysis, Dr. Machio explained how government involvement to ensure safe, affordable, and good-quality daycare would be a key action to increase women’s access to decent work in Kenya.
Florence Chemutai, Deputy Director of the State Department for Gender, stated that the team’s research is timely as a National Care Policy is being developed to establish daycare facilities in each of Kenya’s 47 counties. The policy will also provide a comprehensive framework for mitigating unpaid care, domestic work, and other care issues. “In the policy, some jobs like the domestic work will be recognized and be rewarded well so that they can attract skilled labour,” she said.
“Ensuring many women access decent work starts with ensuring domestic work is decent work,” said Rosemary Kabathi, Deputy Director for Children and Rehabilitation Services, Nairobi City County Government. She underlined that the PEP study raises the important issue of the affordability of childcare.
The team also recommended implementing policies to formalise the economy.
“This is important policy research given the large share of the informal sector and that most of the workers in the sector are women,” said Dunstone Ulwodi, Deputy Director of the National Treasury, also noting that the team’s research could lead to policy changes.
“We must have a policy that is focused on improving the livelihoods of women by placing them in key positions in different organisations,” said Dr. Ulwodi.
Eight journalists attended the event and reports were featured in various publications—including the newspapers Business Daily Africa, The Star, and People Daily—underlining the public interest in the subject of decent work for women and the team’s findings.
The research team organized the event with financial and advisory support from PEP. PEP’s Executive Director, Prof. Jane Mariara, attended the event and provided opening remarks.
