On 22^nd August 2024, KEPSA Foundation, in collaboration with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), co-hosted a Kenya2Equal briefing session at the World Bank Offices in Nairobi. The forum provided an overview of the Kenya2Equal program, which aims to unlock opportunities for women in the Kenyan workforce by addressing the barriers that hinder their access to these opportunities. The session also sought to secure commitments from private sector representatives to join the Kenya2Equal platform. As a result of the forum, six companies committed to signing up for the program, while others are in various stages of exploration.

While presenting an overview of the Gender Equality Journey, KEPSA Foundation Executive Director, Ms. Gloria Ndekei appreciated the gains the private sector had made towards gender equality, demonstrated by an increased number of women in top company leadership and boards. Ms. Ndekei also highlighted the ongoing challenges the majority of women faced in accessing opportunities for entrepreneurship and employment. She pointed out that barriers such as limited access to markets, information, exposure and partnerships/networks with industry players hindered the growth of young women in sustainable businesses. Additionally, lack of gender-sensitive workplace environment contributed to "leaky pipelines," where women dropped out of the workforce, hindering their upward mobility on the career ladder.

To tackle these challenges, Ms. Ndekei emphasized the importance of embracing the Kenya2Equal Program, ensuring that seasoned professionals would mentor, coach, and offer understudy programmes for technical involvement to women to build their capacity. This would help to attract, retain, and promote women's employability and upward mobility.

Ms. Ndekei also encouraged companies to conduct internal assessments to evaluate how different organizational aspects impact both male and female employees, clients, and beneficiaries. She advised companies to review their procedures to ensure that structures are gender-friendly, assess the allocation of resources to programs for women and youth, and examine childcare and parental policies. Furthermore, she emphasized the importance of integrating gender responsiveness into company strategies and plans to harness the potential of women in the workplace fully.

She underscored the need for a good organisational culture that promotes gender balance as well as the allocation of dedicated resources for women's empowerment and supportive policies.

Ms. Wendy Okolo, the IFC Kenya Gender Lead for Women’s Economic Inclusion, presented an overview of the Kenya2Equal program and made a compelling business case for why private sector companies should join the initiative. She emphasized that the program aims to enhance the capacity of private sector companies to attract, recruit, retain, and promote women, while also increasing awareness of the business benefits of investing in women as leaders and employees.

Ms. Okolo further highlighted that the program is organised to provide a peer learning platform to catalyse action and change at scale, access to exclusive learning series and global training, access to diagnostic tools for bilateral gender advisory, and a platform to share best practices and celebrate progress.

Ms. Okolo also shared case studies of similar models that have been tested in Nigeria and Tanzania, showcasing the positive impact of these initiatives. The outcomes included an increase in the number of women hired and promoted, the development of gender-related policies at the organisational level, and improvements in overall operations, reputation, and image. Additionally, these initiatives led to enhanced employee skills, satisfaction, and productivity, all of which positively impacted the companies' bottom lines.

Further discussions emphasised the need to refocus efforts in light of the evolving world of work driven by technological advancements.