Kenya promulgated a new Constitution in August 2010 which among other things provides for a devolved system of governance which system was ushered in by the March 2013 General Elections. This system of governance is supposed to bring governance closer to the people and enhance participation of all population groups including women and youth. However, for citizens to effectively participate, their capacity needs to be strengthened especially the historically marginalized groups like women and youth. This is the basis of theWomen and Devolved Governance project which is supported by GIZ (CPS) and which seeks to strengthen the capacity of both women and Members of County Assemblies (MCAs) to facilitate effective civic engagement by women. The project is piloting in Kandara Sub County of Murang’a County, Central Kenya where CEEC trained 30 women drawn from all the six wards on devolved governance from26th to 28th February 2014. In addition to devolved governance, the women were trained on gender to help them understand the reasons behind women’s general marginalization and specifically their lack of participation in governance. The training will be followed by a two days’ training of MCAs on their mandate under devolved governance. The MCAs will also be trained on ways of promoting women’s participation after which six ward based women’s forums will be held to facilitate engagement between women and their MCAs.
Women and Devolved Governance Project
