Musalia Mudavadi: How to achieve gender inclusivity in public institutions

Many men are embarrassed to admit they are ill-suited to champion gender inclusiveness, hiding their reluctance in the excuse that it is the shoe wearer who knows where it pinches. However, years of gender activism have been instilled in men with defensive fear. Instead of opening up to speak freely to the realities of our women folk, they have adopted indifference.

Recently, I addressed a conference on the empowerment of women from Western. My topic was: "Enabling greater gender inclusiveness in governance institutions and processes". By mobilizing their own resources to mount the first-ever Western Region Women Conference, the women crossed the first Rubicon on empowerment and commitment to organize themselves. I saw in this conference the building blocks for a viable women's economic bloc. Why?