1.1 This is the report of a Gender Audit of the Ministerial Policy Statements of key sectors of the economy for FY 2010/11. The purpose of the audit was to generate proposals and recommendations for effective integration of gender and equity issues in sector activities as a measure to promote efficient application of budget resources. The study make proposals to inform the various sectors on how to comply with the Government's Budget Call Circular (BCC) which requires explicit measures of integrating crosscutting issues (such as gender and equity) in their implementation strategies. Furthermore, it contributes to strengthening the advocacy role of stakeholders in the budget process, and evaluating the gender compliance and its impact on service delivery in the sector.

The report is sub-divided into thirteen chapters as follows:- Chapter One includes the Executive Summary, which highlights the key findings in each of the sectors that was analysed.

1.2 Chapter Two is the Introduction which outlines the purpose of the study and its scope. The aim of the study is to provide the analysis necessary for informing the sectors on how to integrate gender and equity issues in their sector strategies. The study is initially focusing on policy statements of key sectors of Finance and Planning, Justice and constitutional Affairs, Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries, Tourism, Trade and Industry, Education, Health, Water and sanitation, Energy and Minerals, Public Service and Works and Transport.

1.3 Chapter Three deals with the gender analysis of the Finance and Planning Sector. It which highlights gender concerns in the sector and the Ministry's efforts to address them. While efforts are generally acceptable, suggestions have been made on how the critical gender issues in the sector can be addressed. The key gender issues in the sector that have an impact on gender include:-

• Improving revenue collection with the focus on progressive taxation,
• Relaxing the inflation target beyond 5%,
• Limiting supplementary expenditures,
• Making responsible use of external resources to boost productive capacity to generate capacity to repay,
• Strengthening government's role in price management,
• Improving financial management and control,
• Strengthening incentives for private sector growth and export promotion

1.4 Chapter Four deals with the gender audit of the Justice and Constitutional Affairs Sector.

It identifies critical gender issues in the sector that are the greatest impediment to accessing justice for vulnerable members of society most of whom are women and children.

These include:

• physical inaccessibility,
• financial constraints,
• Technical complexities involving many trips and complex legal language used in courts and police.

Other critical issues in the sector include but are not limited to:-

• Corruption in the system,
• Lack of access to the justice infrastructure, courts and lawyers,
• Poor quality representation of Government and loss of public resources in court awards,
• Inapplicable and/or obsolete laws,
• Poor records and management systems especially in the Administrator Generals Department.

1.5 Chapter Five analysed the Agriculture Sector. It identifies Agriculture as a sector with the largest employment potential, but a sector that is faced with the following critical concerns:-

• poor agriculture marketing and processing infrastructure
• poor quality seeds and planting material
• high disease and pest infestation
• deteriorating soil fertility
• perennial shortage of water for production
• lack of investment capital/credit and largely subsistence production
• shortage of extension and outreach
• heavy reliance on rain fed agriculture
• poor fishing gears leading to stock depletion

Agriculture is important to women's livelihoods as it is a major source of employment, is relied on for provision of essential food for the family and is also source of income from food crop and cash crop sales. Investment in the sector requires that funding is directed to these areas stated above.

1.6 Chapter Six concerns the Tourism, Trade and Industry Sector. The Sector's mandate is to provide trade facilitation services such as provision of market access and other services such as SACCOS and promotion of Cooperative movements. The Tourism, Trade and Industry sector is mainly dominated by the private sector, with the Government only playing a regulatory and facilitative role. There is very good potential of employment in this sector especially for women.

The key issues in the Sector include:-

• Exploitation of farmers by middlemen,
• Collapsed marketing institutions and cooperatives,
• Lack of value addition and poor storage facilities,
• Underdeveloped SACCOs with an inadequate legal and institutional framework.

1.7 Chapter Seven is concerned with the gender audit of the Education Sector. It was noted that the critical gender issues in the sector include:-

• high dropout rates especially of girls in the UPE and USE sections
• poor pay and facilitation of teachers
• congestion in classrooms
• shortage of funding for Science laboratories and exams
• absenteeism of teachers and pupils
• non-attendance of school by potential students due to various reasons such as house work and lack of compelling legislation
• Poor access to education i.e distance from schools and provision of complementary facilities e.g uniforms, books, food, etc.
• lack of fees for higher education

1.8 Chapter Eight deals with the gender issues in the Health Sector.There has been significant improvement in provision of health services in both rural and urban areas but a number of challenges in the sector still exist such as:-

• Poor pay for medical workers,
• Inadequate funding for reproductive health, drugs and medical equipment,
• Inadequate investment in non communicable diseases,
• Inadequate regulation of both private and public health provision.
• High maternal and infant mortality rates.

The health sector has to a large extent attempted to address gender issues but is constrained by underinvestment in the sector.

1.9 Chapter Nine deals with gender issuesin the Water and Sanitation sector. There has been significant improvement in the provision of clean water in both rural and urban areas but there are still a number of challenges in the sector.

• There is still lack of funds for water stressed areas
• Water remains unaffordable as a result of its cost of production and heavy debt overhang in the sector
• Poor water and environment management strategies coupled with lack of facilities for water conservation and exploitation
• Shortage of clean and reliable water sources

The water and sanitation sector has tended to concentrate on water leaving the sanitation sub sector unattended to the extent that it does not have a clear supervisory department.

1.10 Chapter Ten deals with the gender issues in the Energy and Mineral sector. This is a sector where minimal attention has been paid to gender and equity issues yet it is a very critical. Critical challenges in the sector include:-

• High energy tariffs,
• Lack of clean energy for the majority of the population,
• Poor distribution of energy,
• Dangerous power connections and poor safety management in mining,
• High costs of power generation
• Poor compensation of land owners and complex procedures for land acquisition.
• Inadequate framework for mining especially for Petroleum
• Lack of local capacity in the petroleum and mining industry

1.11 Chapter Eleven deals with the Public Service Sector where several gender and equity issues are prevalent and remain prominent despite attempts to address them. These include among others:

• Inequitable chances for training and employment opportunities and promotions for both women and men.
• Short duration of maternity and paternity leave
• Lack of resources to set up day-care centers for breast feeding mothers at the workplace,
• Lack of transparency in the execution of job transfers in relation to unique gender concerns;
• Weak enforcement of HIV/AIDS workplace policy;
• Lack of a minimum wage policy with informal employees heavily exploited by employers.

1.12 Chapter Twelve addresses the Works and Transport Sector The sector has made some progress in addressing gender and equity issues but there are still some gaps. These include among others:

• Lack of appreciation of the fact that women face more trade-offs than men and transport restricts their economic choices and increases their poverty;
• Institutions, structures and interventions largely prioritize men's needs and view points;
• Bias towards constructing the main trunk roads (national roads) as opposed to district roads and community access roads (DUCAR) which address gender concerns such as access to markets and medical services;
• Highly inadequate modes of transportation in the country.
• Traffic congestion and high transport fares.

1.13 Chapter Thirteen has Conclusions and recommendations that would contribute to enabling sectors attain the objective of strengthening the integration of gender concerns in sector strategies, in compliance with the Government directive contained in the Budget Call Circular of 2010/11. All policy makers including Cabinet and Parliament and Civil Society should rally behind the gender budget cause, as a means of making budgets equitable and improving service delivery.