By Karanja Njoroge
Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s wife, Ida, wants women to use education to fight inequality.
Ida said the war on gender bias would be lost if women remained in the periphery of leadership and education.
"At the very basic, education should play a key role in not only informing women of their human rights, but also empowering them to stand up against violation of rights," she said.
Ida made the remarks in a speech read by Mrs Tessie Musalia at the Gender Awareness Day at Egerton University Njoro, at the weekend.
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Ida urged the university to facilitate gender financing through comparative study of other countries. She said national and regional consultations should be held to engage gender advocates in the planning process.
UNFAIR POLICIES
Ida said domination of politics by men had led to the formulation of policies insensitive to the needs and priorities of women.
She said it was time women competed for public offices to change skewed legislations and fight for protection of their rights and freedoms as contained in the Constitution.
"Many financial policies do not take into considerations the special needs of women and this has been caused by a political arena that is gender insensitive," she said.
Ida urged the Government to increase funding to women projects. She said failure to empower women had subjected them to all manner of ills.
She said the State needed to promote equitable, effective and appropriate resource allocation to bridge inequality.
"The ills touch not only on their honour and dignity, but also on their physical health," the Prime Minister’s wife said.
VIOLENCE
She said women experienced rape, defilement, domestic violence and poor educational opportunities because of their debased economic, social and political power.
Mrs Musalia called on women not to give up on challenges affecting them.
"We should always strive for the best even in situations that seem to be difficult. Nothing really is difficult, with the right effort," she said.
