National Voluntary Presentation: Kenya’s Progress in Implementing Agreed Conclusions of the 47th CSW

Excellencies, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,

FAO thanks the Chief Administrative Secretary for the excellent presentation that demonstrates the immense progress that Kenya has made in ensuring the participation of women and girls in ICTs.

Kenya’s vision is an example of how ICTs can help to bridge the gender gap in access to important services, including markets, agricultural information, extension and finance, as well as networking opportunities.

We have seen how ICTs can be powerful tools for empowering women economically, political and socially when they are designed appropriately, and when they are accessible and usable to women.

However, rural women in developing and least-developed countries, find themselves on the wrong side of the digital divide: because they live in developing countries, because they reside in rural areas, and because they are women.

Close to 60 percent of women in developing countries do not own a mobile phone, and even those who do access fewer services beyond voice calls than men. While the statistics are better for Kenya, the Chief Administrative Secretary has highlighted gender disparities in mobile-cellular and mobile money penetration rates, still remain.

 

Ladies and gentlemen,

The Chief Administrative Secretary has highlighted the Government of Kenya’s efforts to promote access to ICT as catalytic tool for development with potential to empower women and girls and transform gender relations in the society.

The Food and Agriculture Organization congratulates the Government of Kenya for implementing several noteworthy programmes: ranging from designing a progressive policy and legal framework for ICTs, to the various innovative ICT programmes, to the ambitious Huduma Kenya programme, that is bringing much needed public services close to rural women.

It will be important for the Government of Kenya to establish a South-South exchange mechanism to share and disseminate these valuable and experiences with other countries in the region and beyond.

 

FAO offers several considerations with respect Government of Kenya’s Voluntary Contribution:

Far too often, ICTs are considered gender neutral – in other words, the assumption is that men and women have the same ability to access, use and control these technologies, when this is often far from reality. A detailed gender analysis needs to be carried out to identify the specific needs and requirements of rural men and rural women in their use of ICTs.

Secondly, the ICT applications content needs to be in local languages and allow users to choose preferred formats, including text, video and voice services. This helps to mitigate common barriers such as illiteracy and reach users with both smartphones and feature phones.

Thirdly, improving women’s access to ICTs is important but not sufficient because we need to address the socio-cultural norms that hinder women and girls’ access to ICTs. Therefore, ICT programmes need to be accompanied with awareness creation activities aimed at transforming gender relations in the household and community. 

Forth, while an inclusive and gender-sensitive policy and legal framework is important, the implementation is equally so. In the implementation of the policy explicit measures to ensure that the specific needs, priorities, and constraints of rural women are taken into account and addressed, are important.

Fifth, the collection of sex disaggregated data on rural women’s access and use of ICTs at local and national level, is crucial. Sex disaggregated data of who has access, who is using the information and for what purposes, will help design the most appropriate ICT applications.

Finally, FAO would like to highlight the importance of capacity development to enhance the skills and knowledge of various ICT stakeholders in formulating and implementing gender sensitive policies and programmes.

 

Ladies and gentlemen,

From the perspective of FAO, ICTs offer great opportunities to foster gender equality and rural women’s empowerment.

The key to success, however, lies in applying these solutions in a participatory and inclusive manner, ensuring that they address local needs and that all relevant actors work together.