On 30^th May 2024, KEPSA Foundation took part in the launch of the Kenya2Equal (K2E) Program by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group and Federation of Kenya Employers (FKE) in collaboration with KEPSA Foundation, and Strathmore Business School.

This program aims to enhance gender equality in the private sector to increase women's participation by supporting companies in the adoption of workplace policies and practices that attract, recruit, retain, and promote female employees and women entrepreneurs.  The project will assist private sector companies in implementing gender-smart policies, such as family-friendly workplace policies, addressing pay and promotion gaps, and investing in leadership development for women.

While officiating the launch, the President’s Advisor on Women’s Rights, Hon. Harriette Chiggai, applauded the initiative. She highlighted that the government has increased affordable funding for women through the National Government Affirmative Action Funds (NGAAF) to enhance Women's Economic Empowerment through the Hustler Fund, Women Empowerment Fund, and Uwezo Fund. She also emphasized the need for robust organizational policies that empower women in entrepreneurship, noting that Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) are crucial in achieving inclusive growth. She emphasized the need to support the Kenya2Equal program which will lead to economic empowerment and address inherent gender gaps to foster an inclusive society.

In her remarks, KEPSA Foundation Executive Director Ms. Gloria Ndekei underscored the Foundation’s commitment to partnering with IFC and FKE to mobilize, champion, raise awareness, and facilitate capacity building among private sector members to encourage the program's adoption.

Ms. Ndekei urged the private sector companies to conduct self-assessments on gender mainstreaming. She emphasized the need to carefully examine their clientele and beneficiaries to gauge if they benefited female operated Enterprises or female employees; to check the accessibility of their activities and services to women; evaluate their business approach and outreach; to determine the suitability of their procedures and structures to women and allocation of adequate resources to women programs. Ms. Ndekei further impressed upon the private sector companies to evaluate the effectiveness of their strategies, plans, policies and Objectives to see if they were gender-responsive.

The IFC team was led by East Africa Regional Director Ms. Mary Peschka, Africa Regional Gender Lead Ms. Anne Kabugi, and Women’s Economic Inclusion Program Manager Ms. Wendy Okolo. Ms. Peschka emphasized the critical role of the private sector in closing the gender gap. She highlighted the importance of supporting more jobs for women, ensuring companies maintain or improve business continuity, and training individuals to enhance companies' capacity to address workplace bullying and harassment. She called for the support of various stakeholders to achieve the project's objectives.

The FKE team was led by the Executive Director and CEO, Mrs.  Jacqueline Mugo who provided the business case for gender equality by highlighting existing interventions that FKE runs while highlighting and gaps to be addressed towards closing the gender gap in Kenya.  Other speakers at the event included the Chair of Women in Manufacturing, Kenya Association of Manufacturers, Dr. Gacheri Mugao, Deloitte East Africa CEO, Ms. Anne Muraya, Absa Bank People and Culture Director, Ms. Mumbi Kahindo, Safaricom PLC Head of Acquisition, Talent and Capability Mr. Peter Njioka.