Parliament will host a two-day regional dialogue next week to advance gender-responsive lawmaking and budgeting, promote equitable governance and strengthen accountability.
The forum, scheduled from Thursday, September 24, will be held by the Parliament of Kenya in partnership with the Canadian High Commission in Kenya and the Inclusive Legislatures for Gender Responsive Policies (ILGRP) Project.
It will bring together MPs, international delegates, senior administrators, human resource directors and civil society representatives from Kenya, Ghana and Togo.
“The regional dialogue will provide a platform for a multi-country knowledge exchange highlighting actionable insights, proven methodologies and lessons learnt by the aforementioned legislatures,” the National Assembly said.
The project is funded by Global Affairs Canada and implemented by the African Centre for Parliamentary Affairs (ACEPA) and the Parliamentary Centre (PC).
Held under the theme, “Sharing Achievements and Advancing Forward-Looking Gender-Responsive and Inclusive Parliaments,” the forum will be the final regional meeting under the four-year ILGRP Project, marking the conclusion of the initiative.
It will focus on strengthening legislative oversight and citizen engagement as well as provide an opportunity to develop and refine policies, tools and manuals aimed at improving parliamentary governance.
Participants will take part in interactive roundtables to discuss strategic alignment, good practices, common challenges and critical success factors that can be adapted to different parliamentary settings.
The programme will also feature question-and-answer and networking sessions.
These will facilitate engagement between donors and parliamentary representatives through rotating interactive World Café discussions on strategic alignment, donor coordination, parliamentary autonomy and long-term sustainability.
The second day will examine how participating parliaments are using innovative tools, digitalisation, institutional reforms and evidence-based frameworks to amplify citizens’ voices and strengthen relations between legislatures and the public.
The regional forum is expected to help institutionalise practices that promote inclusion, gender responsiveness, citizen participation and accountability in parliamentary governance.
Kenya’s National Assembly stands out as one of the most structurally autonomous and technically advanced legislatures on the African continent.
Re-engineered by the milestone 2010 Constitution, it transformed from a traditionally executive-dominated chamber into a highly independent institution that relies on in-house technical structures.
African peers seeking to strengthen parliamentary oversight, citizen engagement and technical capacity can adopt several highly successful innovations and frameworks established by the House
Ironically, the dialogue comes at a time the Kenyan Parliament is on the spot for failing to adhere to the two-thirds gender requirement for its composition.
Article 27(8) and Article 81(b) state that no more than two-thirds of members of elective or appointive public bodies shall be of the same.
Both the National Assembly and the Senate remain below the threshold, lacking the required number of women legislators.
