Women leaders held roudtable discussion on negotiating Common Women Agenda in Nairobi on 27th February, 2020. They vowed to unite and identify spaces for advancing their agenda for women equality and empowerment.

Cabinet Secretary Prof. Margaret Kobia in her remarks called on women to embrace the spirit of patience and persistence in negotiating the women agenda in order to ring fence, safeguard and fortify the gains already made by women and to scale up efforts for greater gender parity.

“Common Women’s Agenda will provide space to empower women and ensure Kenyan women access equal opportunities in every sphere of their lives,” remarked Prof. Kobia.

She noted that the Ministry of Public Service and Gender together with its partners had provided a platform for women from various sectors to discuss and agree on a common ground to advance gender equality since October last year.

“Indeed, this common ground is slowly bearing fruits and I wish to thank all our participants for their time and for their efforts in supporting this very important agenda,” the Cabinet Secretary said.

Lady Justice, Njoki Ndung’u urged women at the roudtable to seek for a lasting solution on the implementation of the two-thirds gender rule and close all doors that are likely to generate problems in the future.

“We must get it right on our current negotiations on the Common Women Agenda and ensure our gains are not taken away from us. We did it in the past and we need to seal the loopholes,” said Lady Justice Ndung’u.

UN Women Country Director, Ms. Anna Mutavati challenged women to continue negotiating for their agenda noting that no single country has achieved gender equality which is a continuous process.

Among those other women leaders present at the roundtable discussions were Hon. Rachel Shebesh, Mama Phoebe Asiyo, Hon. Zipporah Kittony, Hon. Nyiva Mwendwa, Justice Martha Koome, Hon. Safina Kwekwe, Ms. Faith Kasiva, Prof. Wanjiku Kabira Hon. Rosa Buyu, Hon. Gladys Wanga, among others.