Kenya stands at a pivotal moment. The rising cost of living, youth unemployment and widening inequality are testing the country’s resilience. In June 2025, thousands of young Kenyans protested poor governance and rising prices. This was a renewed wave of demonstrations on the first anniversary of the “Gen Z” protests that opposed what was seen as punitive tax hikes. Earlier, in January 2025, more than 100 female MPs launched the nationwide Komesha Dhuluma campaign against gender-based violence and femicide—the recent rise attributed to a lack of female financial independence exacerbated by rising living costs and unemployment. The campaign mobilised tens of thousands across the country. These movements reflect the growing demand among women, youth and marginalised groups for genuine inclusion, dignity and opportunity.
Against this backdrop, the transformative path outlined in the 2024 Earth4All: Kenya National Engagement report feels more relevant than ever. Co-authored by PEP, KIPPRA, the Millennium Institute and the Club of Rome, the report identifies empowerment as one of five extraordinary turnarounds that can move the country from its Too Little, Too Late trajectory towards a Giant Leap. From the current path of incremental advances without strong collective action, to extraordinary decisions and investments for a future defined by dignity, fairness and wellbeing for all.
Empowerment as a foundational pillar of sustainable transformation
In Earth4All’s analysis, empowerment means equal access to education, healthcare and lifelong learning; financial independence through decent work and fair pay; and economic security through inclusive social protection and pension systems. Kenya’s policies to promote empowerment in these areas have made some important advances.
In education, programmes such as Free Primary Education and Elimu Tuitakayo have dramatically increased enrolment. The gender parity index in primary schooling stands at 0.97, a near balance between girls and boys. Initiatives like the Jielimishe GEC, which help teenage mothers in marginalised communities return to education, prove that barriers can be dismantled.
In health, initiatives including Linda Mama and Beyond Zero have reduced under-five mortality from 52 to 41 per 1,000 live births between 2019 and 2022. Addressing the problem that only 25% of Kenyans have any form of health insurance, universal healthcare is being prioritised through the new Social Health Insurance Fund. The fund aims to extend accessible coverage to the millions currently excluded.
Additionally, Kenya’s ongoing Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA) directly supports the empowerment turnaround by prioritising inclusion, decent work, and access to opportunity. Its focus on agriculture, entrepreneurship, education and skills, and affordable healthcare aims to address some of the key economic and social challenges and empower individuals and businesses to contribute to the nation’s economic prosperity. These areas are especially important for uplifting the lives of those who are currently the least empowered: women, youth and the poor.
Steps forward, push-back
Empowerment is also inherently political. It challenges the structures that determine who has a voice and who benefits from growth. Kenya recognised this in its 2010 Constitution: providing that no gender should take more than two-thirds of government and elective positions. But implementation has lagged. Only seven out of 47 governors elected in 2022 are women and women hold less than 8% of elected County Assembly seats.
Beyond leadership and representation, in work and at home, women remain overburdened and undervalued. Data from the Kenya Time Use Survey (2021) shows that women spend up to seven times more hours on unpaid care and domestic work than men. The government has responded: the Kenya National Care Policy is being developed with a mandate to “recognise, reduce and redistribute” unpaid care and domestic work, in recognition that heavy care burdens limit women’s participation in paid work and the economy. Nevertheless, significant push-back and structural obstacles persist. Media-reports highlight that the culture in many counties remains “retrogressive”, with domestic work still viewed as a “woman’s duty” and men less willing to share unpaid care responsibilities.
Additionally, women still earn less than men, even when they are formally employed and working longer hours. Despite efforts to boost women entrepreneurs and professionals through support, training and networking opportunities with initiatives such as the Women Enterprise Fund and the Affirmative Action Fund, and organisations like Kenya Association of Women Business Owners and the Federation of Women Lawyers in Kenya, there is a long way to go to attain gender parity.
These disparities underscore the challenge before us: Kenya has implemented progressive laws and policies, but the social and institutional systems that sustain inequality are deeply entrenched.
Five policies towards empowerment in Kenya
The Earth4All empowerment turnaround calls for a structural shift in how societies distribute opportunity and recognise human potential. Evidence from Earth4All shows that societies with higher gender equality are more cohesive, prosperous and resilient to shocks. As such, spending on empowerment is an investment in inclusive growth. In Kenya’s current socio-political climate, the empowerment agenda is therefore both urgent and transformative.
To accelerate Kenya’s empowerment turnaround, the Earth4All: Kenya report identifies five policy actions that can deliver visible results by transforming social systems:
- Affirmative action and equal opportunity enforcement.
Employers must uphold Vision 2030 gender and disability inclusion targets and ensure equal pay for equal work. Regular audits and transparency mechanisms should back these commitments.
- Catalyse women-led enterprise growth.
Expand catalytic funds such as the Women Enterprise Fund and Affirmative Action Fund, complemented by capacity-building, mentorship and digital financial inclusion.
- Invest in girls’ and women’s education.
Scale up scholarships for girls from marginalised counties and promote girls’ participation in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) from an early age. Expand return-to-education pathways for teenage mothers.
- Strengthen universal healthcare access.
Expand healthcare insurance coverage and affordability. Deploy community health workers to strengthen preventive and maternal health care.
- Recognise and redistribute unpaid care work.
Introduce flexible work arrangements, social protection schemes and shared-care campaigns to reduce women’s unpaid labour burden and rebalance family responsibilities.
The next decade offers Kenya a historic opportunity to turn empowerment from aspiration to action. If Kenya can embed empowerment into every pillar of policy—from BETA to county-level planning—it can deliver the Giant Leap, providing not just growth, but dignity, fairness, and true wellbeing for all.
