KEPSA was on 14^th June 2022 recognized for its role in the promotion of gender equality as well as women empowerment and consequently awarded the Private Sector Award in the African Gender Award 2022 alongside the Centre for Rights Education and Awareness (CREAW) who received the Civil Society Award.

KEPSA was recognized during a meeting at the State House Nairobi to celebrate H.E. President Uhuru Kenyatta selection as the recipient of the African Gender Award 2022 by the ‘Gender is my Agenda campaign’, having led the country to achieving 11 out of 12 operative articles of the Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa. The award was presented to the President by Ms Benita Diop, the African Union Commission Special Envoy on Women, Peace and Security, representing the GIMAC selection committee.

Every year at the African Union, heads of state and their respective ministers meet twice to deliberate on key issues that affect the African continent. One of those pre-summit meetings is GIMAC – the ‘Gender is My Agenda Campaign’- bringing together over 50 entities that focus on women’s empowerment.

Other leaders who have previously won the African Gender Award include President Hage Geinob (Namibia) in 2017, former President Ellen Sirleaf Johnson (Liberia) in 2011, former President Armando Guebuza (Senegal) in 2009, President Abdoulaye Wade (Senegal) in 2005 and former President Thabo Mbeki (South Africa) also in 2005.

KEPSA was represented at the celebratory meeting by the CEO Ms. Carole Kariuki and the Chair Ms. Flora Mutahi. Other attendees included Prof. Margaret Kobia – Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Public Service, Gender, Senior Citizens Affairs and Special Programmes together with her Foreign Affairs counterpart Amb. Raychelle Omamo; Diplomatic Representatives; Kenyan Ambassadors and High Commissioners; among other dignitaries.

As the apex body of the private sector, KEPSA has embraced gender mainstreaming as a strategy towards realizing gender equality in both the private and public sectors by integrating a gender perspective to the content of different policies to ensure a balanced representation.  The organization recognizes that as much as gender mainstreaming is about addressing gender inequalities, it also defines organizations’ own ways of working and has already addressed the gender dimension of the organization structure and the working procedures by including women in its leadership. Currently, the leadership of KEPSA as a whole meets the 2/3 gender rule.  

Working with partners like Women on Boards Network (WOBN), an initiative aimed at promoting and encouraging women into Board leadership, has continued to ensure that the private sector organizations adopt gender responsive policies that ensure that the needs of all citizens, women and men, are equally addressed. Such initiatives have already been termed successful owning to the fact that in the boardroom today, gender diversity stands at 36% in comparison to the global average of women holding board positions which stands at 23.3% according to the Board Diversity and Inclusion report 2021 done by KEPSA together with the Kenya Institute of Management (KIM), Nairobi Securities (NSE) and New Faces New Voices (NFNV). Additionally, KEPSA lobbied for women to be included in the country’s leadership and Government boards which both have been successful.

To further re-affirm its commitment in gender mainstreaming, KEPSA established a Gender Sector Board an addition to its economic sector boards with the mandate to spearhead, coordinate and champion private sector diversity and advocacy to enhance gender responsiveness and advance the SDG goal 5 which calls for achievement of gender equality and empowerment of all women and girls.