U.N. calls for gender parity in Kenya’s corporates ahead of #InternationalWomensDay
Ahead of the International Women’s Day, a U.N official has called for greater participation of women in senior management positions in Kenya’s corporates in order to promote inclusive growth.
Arjmand Banu Khan, UN Women’s Programme Specialist for Women Economic Empowerment programme, said in Nairobi that the low participation of women poses a challenge to the country’s development efforts.
“Studies globally have indicated that firms that have gender parity tend to perform better compared to their peers that don’t have strong representation of women in senior positions,” Khan said during a forum to raise awareness on the importance of Gender Equality to the Capital Markets.
She noted that Kenya has made tremendous strides in the appointment of women to boards of state owned enterprises, but “the private sector is still lagging behind in gender parity.”
According to Khan, the amount of men and women who join corporate annually is almost similar. “However men tend to rise the corporate ladder much faster as compared to women,” she said.
The International Women’s Day will be celebrated on Wednesday 08 March, with the theme for this year being #BeBoldForChange.
