ECONOMIC GOVERNANCE AND WOMEN EMPOWERMENT IN SELECTED COUNTY GOVERNMENTS KENYA
Main Article Content
Abstract
Women are the single largest demographic group in Kenya and thus constitute the majority of the Kenyan population. Women empowerment is not only a human right but also essential in a democracy. Governments around the globe are increasingly supporting women ministries, policies and programmes, and there seems to be greater appreciation that women are the future of their country’s development. Devolved governance is increasingly being pursued across the world as a means to improve the women empowerment in the devolved states. The general objective of this study was to examine the relationship between devolved governance practices and women empowerment in selected county governments in Kenya. The study pursued the following specific objectives; to establish the influence of economic governance on women empowerment in county governments in Kenya and to examine how gender mainstreaming moderates the relationship between devolved economic governance and women empowerment in county governments in Kenya. The study was based on the Empowerment Theory. A conceptual framework was developed which was used in the study and depicted the interrelationship between the study variables. The independent variables is; Economic governance. The Economic governance is moderated by the gender mainstreaming. The dependent variable is the women empowerment. The study adopted a descriptive research design. For the purpose of this study, the unit of observation was 252 (women representatives, opinion leaders, Women entrepreneurs and chairpersons of women groups) drawn from the selected county governments in Kenya. The study findings showed that each of the independent variable (Economic Governance) had a strong positive significant influence on the dependent variable, Women Empowerment in both cases i.e., when alone and when they were combined. The findings further indicated that Devolved Governance (Economic Governance, Political Governance, Socio-cultural Governance, and Administrative Governance) positively and significantly explained 78.7% to the total variability in the dependent variable, Women Empowerment. Therefore, considering that only 21.3% of the total variability in the dependent variable, women empowerment could not be explained, this study recommends the implementors of women empowerment engage more devolved governance through Economic Governance, Political Governance, Socio-cultural Governance, and Administrative Governance in their implementation.
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References
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Edwards, D. M., & Meagher, L. R. (2020). A framework to evaluate the impacts of research on policy and practice: A forestry pilot study. Forest Policy and Economics, 114, 101975.
Ejumudo, K. B. O. (2023). Gender equality and women empowerment in Nigeria: The desirability and inevitability of a pragmatic approach. Developing Country Studies, 3(4), 59-66.
Gichuhi, D., & Njuguna, I. M.(2019) An assessment of the Impact of Devolution on Women Empowerment in Nakuru County.OSR Journal Of Humanities And Social Science (IOSR-JHSS), 22(4), 53-68
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Headley, M. G., & Plano Clark, V. L. (2020). Multilevel mixed methods research designs: Advancing a refined definition. Journal of mixed methods research, 14(2), 145-163.
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Leke, O. K. E. (2021). Democracy, Women’s Political Participation and the Policy Environment in Nigeria. Democracy, 5(10), 1-8
Lorello, James, A, Ed, (2019) Disrupting Masculinity and Patriachy: Stories of men, Transforming
Malinga, B. (2019). Women’s empowerment and gender mainstreaming in post-apartheid South Africa: an analysis of governmental policy frameworks and practices (Doctoral dissertation).
Martin, V. Y. (2020). Four common problems in environmental social research undertaken by natural scientists. BioScience, 70(1), 13-16.
Milligan, L. (2020). ‘They are not serious like the boys’: gender norms and contradictions for girls in rural Kenya. Gender and Education, 26(5), 465-476.
Mlambo, C., Kapingura, F., & Meissner, R. (2019). Factors influencing women political participation: The case of the SADC region. Cogent Social Sciences, 5(1), 1681048.
Mumbi, A., & Gikandi, J. (2019). Effect of equality rule on women empowerment in political parties in Nairobi, Kenya. European Journal of Gender Studies, 1(1), 1-10.
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Obayelu, O. A., & Chime, A. C. (2020). Dimensions and drivers of women's empowerment in rural Nigeria. International Journal of Social Economics.
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Ogunyemi, S. Y., Adisa, A. L., & Adenuga, A. O. (2020). Justice Development and Peace Commission (JDPC) on women empowerment. Journal of Gender and Power, 13(1), 83-97.
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Onditi, F., & Odera, J. (2019). Gender equality as a means to women empowerment? Consensus, challenges and prospects for post-2021 development agenda in Africa. African Geographical Review, 36(2), 146-167.
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Ponge, A. (2023). Gender mainstreaming and women empowerment in political party processes in kenya: Implementing the new constitution in earnest. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 3(3), 62-71.
Prasad, D. R. (2020). Women empowerment in urban governance in India. Indian Journal of Public Administration, 60(3), 426-442.
Prevost, E. (2019). On Feminists, Functionalists, and Friends: Lobola and the Gender Politics of Imperial Trusteeship in Interwar Britain. The Journal of Modern History, 89(3), 562-600.
Repko, A. F., & Szostak, R. (2020). Interdisciplinary research: Process and theory. Sage Publications.
Salama, R., Uzunboylu, H., & El Muti, M. A. (2020). Implementing online questionnaires and surveys by using mobile applications. New Trends and Issues Proceedings on Humanities and Social Sciences, 7(2), 48-70.
Saqib, N. (2019). Women empowerment and economic growth: Empirical evidence from Saudi Arabia. Advances in Management & Applied Economics, 6(5).
Shah, I. A., Aziz, A., & Ahmad, M. S. (2021). Women councilors for women's empowerment in Pakistan. Journal of International Women's Studies, 16(3), 203-219.
Sen, R. (2019). Participatory Decentralised Governance and Women Empowerment. Educreation Publishing.
Sivi-Njonjo, K. (2019). The path towards inclusive democracy in Kenya. Gender and Political Processes in Kenya, 67-90.
Silverman, D. (Ed.). (2020). Qualitative research. Sage Publications Limited.
Simbiri and Bernadette Wanjala(2019) Women and power shaping the development of Kenya’s 2010 constitution Overseas Development Institute 203 Blackfriars Road London SE1 8NJ, © Overseas Development Institute 2019
Thongo M.N. (2019). Gender And Children On Liberation Movement: The Role
of Women In Liberation Movements. Academy of Social Science Journal 1 (5).
Wambua, E. K. (2023). The Role of womens’ organizations in empowering women in Mwingi District, Kenya (Doctoral dissertation, University of Nairobi).
Ahmad, I., & Ahmad, S. (2018). Multiple Skills and Medium Enterprises’ Performance in Punjab Pakistan: A Pilot Study. The Journal of Social Sciences Research, Special, (4), 44-49.
Allan, G., & Skinner, C. (Eds.). (2020). Handbook for research students in the social sciences. Routledge.
Amadi, E. I. (2019). Implementation of Nigeria's National Gender Policy: An Appraisal of Empowerment and Gender Equality Programmes and Projects in Rivers State,(2019 2021). Journal of Political Science and Leadership Research, 3(1), 25-39.
Amukowa, D. N. (2023). Constitution, gender and governance: A reflection on Kenya’s new constitution and the forthcoming general elections. European Journal of Academic Research, 1(4), 194-200.
Bawa, S. (2019). Paradoxes of (dis) empowerment in the postcolony: Women, culture and social capital in Ghana. Third World Quarterly, 37(1), 119-135.
Bayeh, E. (2019). The role of empowering women and achieving gender equality to the sustainable development of Ethiopia. Pacific Science Review B: Humanities and Social Sciences, 2(1), 37-42.
Bolarinwa, O. A. (2021). Principles and methods of validity and reliability testing of questionnaires used in social and health science researches. Nigerian Postgraduate Medical Journal, 22(4), 195.
Bouka, Y., Berry, M. E., & Kamuru, M. M. (2019). Women’s political inclusion in Kenya’s devolved political system. Journal of Eastern African Studies, 13(2), 313-333.
Campbell, S., Greenwood, M., Prior, S., Shearer, T., Walkem, K., Young, S., ... & Walker, K. (2020). Purposive sampling: complex or simple? Research case examples. Journal of research in Nursing, 25(8), 652-661.
Chepngetich, M. (2019). The role of County Government on Women Empowerment: a case study of Kericho County.
Chinwokwu, E. C., & Arop, S. K. (2018). Gender equality and women empowerment towards sustainable national development in Nigeria. Journal of Humanities Social Policies, 4(1), 43-57.
Dawson, M. (2021). The Legal and Political Accountability Structure of ‘Post‐Crisis’ EU Economic Governance. JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies, 53(5), 976-993.
Debusscher, P., & Ansoms, A. (2023). Gender equality policies in Rwanda: public relations or real transformations?. Development and Change, 44(5), 1111-1134.
D’souza, R. N., Huang, P. Y., & Yeh, F. C. (2020). Structural analysis and optimization of convolutional neural networks with a small sample size. Scientific reports, 10(1), 1-13.
Edwards, D. M., & Meagher, L. R. (2020). A framework to evaluate the impacts of research on policy and practice: A forestry pilot study. Forest Policy and Economics, 114, 101975.
Ejumudo, K. B. O. (2023). Gender equality and women empowerment in Nigeria: The desirability and inevitability of a pragmatic approach. Developing Country Studies, 3(4), 59-66.
Gichuhi, D., & Njuguna, I. M.(2019) An assessment of the Impact of Devolution on Women Empowerment in Nakuru County.OSR Journal Of Humanities And Social Science (IOSR-JHSS), 22(4), 53-68
Hans, V. B., & Shetty, M. S. S. (2019). Education and Women Empowerment in India-Study in Dakshina Kannada District. Principal's Message, 5.
Headley, M. G., & Plano Clark, V. L. (2020). Multilevel mixed methods research designs: Advancing a refined definition. Journal of mixed methods research, 14(2), 145-163.
Huq, S. M. S. (2019). Women’s participation in local Government: a tool for sustainable development of Bangladesh. European Journal of Business and Social Sciences, 4(11), 169-183.
Inter-Parliamentary Union. (2019). Women in National Parliaments. Inter-Parliamentary Union,
http://archive.ipu.org/wmn-e/classif.htm.
https://iwpr.net/global-voices/female-candidates-claim-discrimination-kenyanelections
(Retrived April 5 2018)
Jensen, K. B. (Ed.). (2020). A handbook of media and communication research: Qualitative and quantitative methodologies. Routledge.
Kabeer, N. (2021). Gender, poverty, and inequality: a brief history of feminist contributions in the field of international development. Gender & Development, 23(2), 189-205.
Kameri-Mbote, P. (2019). The quest for equal gender representation in Kenya’s Parliament: Past and present challenges. Gender and Political Processes in Kenya, 39-66.
Karogi, A. N. (2019). Factors Influencing The Role Of Women In Devolved Fundedprojects: A Case Of Njoro Subcounty, Nakuru County, Kenya (Doctoral dissertation, University of Nairobi).
Kaumbulu, A. K., Muathe, S. M., & James, R. (2020). Governance Issues, Quality and Sustainability: Fact or Fallacy in Youth Empowerment Projects in Kenya. International Journal of Economics, Commerce and Management, 8 (10), 426, 437.
Kyei, S. (2019). Empowering rural women for gender equality in Ashanti region of Ghana through programmes and projects. International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, 9(1), 830-840.
Kibe, N. (2019). Government And Program Implementation Bodies Policies On Performance Of Women Empowerment Projects In Dagoretti Area, Nairobi County, Kenya (Doctoral Dissertation, Kenyatta University).
Kivoi, D. L. (2020). Factors impeding political participation and representation of women in Kenya. Humanities and Social Sciences, 2(6), 173-181.
Kornberger, M., & Mantere, S. (2020). Thought experiments and philosophy in organizational research. Organization Theory, 1(3), 2631787720942524.
Leke, O. K. E. (2021). Democracy, Women’s Political Participation and the Policy Environment in Nigeria. Democracy, 5(10), 1-8
Lorello, James, A, Ed, (2019) Disrupting Masculinity and Patriachy: Stories of men, Transforming
Malinga, B. (2019). Women’s empowerment and gender mainstreaming in post-apartheid South Africa: an analysis of governmental policy frameworks and practices (Doctoral dissertation).
Martin, V. Y. (2020). Four common problems in environmental social research undertaken by natural scientists. BioScience, 70(1), 13-16.
Milligan, L. (2020). ‘They are not serious like the boys’: gender norms and contradictions for girls in rural Kenya. Gender and Education, 26(5), 465-476.
Mlambo, C., Kapingura, F., & Meissner, R. (2019). Factors influencing women political participation: The case of the SADC region. Cogent Social Sciences, 5(1), 1681048.
Mumbi, A., & Gikandi, J. (2019). Effect of equality rule on women empowerment in political parties in Nairobi, Kenya. European Journal of Gender Studies, 1(1), 1-10.
Musonera, A., & Heshmati, A. (2019). Measuring women’s empowerment in Rwanda. In Studies on economic development and growth in selected African countries (pp. 11-39). Springer, Singapore.
Mutanana, N., & Bukaliya, R. (2021). Women empowerment and gender related programmes implementation in Hurungwe District, Zimbabwe. International Journal of Research, 1.
Mwatha, R., Mbugua, G., & Murunga, G. (2023). Young women’s political participation in Kenya. Women’s Empowerment Link.
Nyadera, S. A. (2020). Determinants of women political empowerment in Kenya: A case study of Nairobi County (1992-2019) (Doctoral dissertation, University of Nairobi).
Obayelu, O. A., & Chime, A. C. (2020). Dimensions and drivers of women's empowerment in rural Nigeria. International Journal of Social Economics.
Obiero, A. M. (2020). Case study of the gender factor in devolved governance in Rwanda (1997-2003) and lessons for Kenya (Doctoral dissertation).
Odote C., Musumba L. (2019). Balancing the Scales of Electoral Justice: 2023Kenyan Election Disputes Resolution and Emerging Jurisprudence. Nairobi, International Development Law Organization (IDLO) and Judicial Training Institute (JTI).
Ogunyemi, S. Y., Adisa, A. L., & Adenuga, A. O. (2020). Justice Development and Peace Commission (JDPC) on women empowerment. Journal of Gender and Power, 13(1), 83-97.
Omondi, D. (2019). The role of political parties in promoting women’s political participation. Gender and Political Processes in Kenya, 91-114.
Omwami, E. M. (2021). Intergenerational comparison of education attainment and implications for empowerment of women in rural Kenya. Gender, Place & Culture, 22(8), 1106-1123.
Onditi, F., & Odera, J. (2019). Gender equality as a means to women empowerment? Consensus, challenges and prospects for post-2021 development agenda in Africa. African Geographical Review, 36(2), 146-167.
Opoku, M. P., Anyango, B., & Alupo, B. A. (2018). Women in politics in Kenya: an analysis of participation and barriers. Multidisciplinary Journal of Gender Studies, 7(1), 1506-1530.
Orisadare, M. A. (2019). An Assessment of the Role of Women Group in Women Political Participation, and Economic Development in Nigeria. Frontiers in Sociology, 4, 52.
Owuor, E. (2019). Women and political inclusion in Kenya: A historical overview, 1963–2019. Gender and Political Processes in Kenya, 7-38.
Ponge, A. (2023). Gender mainstreaming and women empowerment in political party processes in kenya: Implementing the new constitution in earnest. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 3(3), 62-71.
Prasad, D. R. (2020). Women empowerment in urban governance in India. Indian Journal of Public Administration, 60(3), 426-442.
Prevost, E. (2019). On Feminists, Functionalists, and Friends: Lobola and the Gender Politics of Imperial Trusteeship in Interwar Britain. The Journal of Modern History, 89(3), 562-600.
Repko, A. F., & Szostak, R. (2020). Interdisciplinary research: Process and theory. Sage Publications.
Salama, R., Uzunboylu, H., & El Muti, M. A. (2020). Implementing online questionnaires and surveys by using mobile applications. New Trends and Issues Proceedings on Humanities and Social Sciences, 7(2), 48-70.
Saqib, N. (2019). Women empowerment and economic growth: Empirical evidence from Saudi Arabia. Advances in Management & Applied Economics, 6(5).
Shah, I. A., Aziz, A., & Ahmad, M. S. (2021). Women councilors for women's empowerment in Pakistan. Journal of International Women's Studies, 16(3), 203-219.
Sen, R. (2019). Participatory Decentralised Governance and Women Empowerment. Educreation Publishing.
Sivi-Njonjo, K. (2019). The path towards inclusive democracy in Kenya. Gender and Political Processes in Kenya, 67-90.
Silverman, D. (Ed.). (2020). Qualitative research. Sage Publications Limited.
Simbiri and Bernadette Wanjala(2019) Women and power shaping the development of Kenya’s 2010 constitution Overseas Development Institute 203 Blackfriars Road London SE1 8NJ, © Overseas Development Institute 2019
Thongo M.N. (2019). Gender And Children On Liberation Movement: The Role
of Women In Liberation Movements. Academy of Social Science Journal 1 (5).
Wambua, E. K. (2023). The Role of womens’ organizations in empowering women in Mwingi District, Kenya (Doctoral dissertation, University of Nairobi).