Enhancing Gender Equality as an Affirmative Action Sustainable Development.

Abstract

Affirmative action has been used internationally as a means to address gender and other imbalances in access to education, health, employment and politics. While it has improved the male and female ratios in primary education, it has been less effective for improving women's representation in political and public life. Gender equity is important for human development. This paper explored how gender inequality has hindered the full participation of women especially in key decision making levels and therefore affecting the progress towards achieving sustainable development. It argues that affirmative action can improve gender equity and indeed sustainable human development. In Kenya, there remains gross inequality between men and women in almost all areas of human life but especially at the political arena. Such gender inequalities are not just damaging to the interests of women but also to people’s livelihood strategies as a whole and sustainable development. Sustainable development being that which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs, gives a synopses of the needs of both women and men. The paper makes the case for enhancing affirmative action on grounds of attainment of broad developmental goal towards sustainability and traces gender history, achievements, limitations and continuing challenges, providing lessons from more successful cases of affirmative action in countries in the region. It gives recommendations to enhance affirmative action for gender equity for sustainable development.