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The Kenyan strategic country gender assessment
October 2003
The World Bank
Kenya is a country of great economic and social variation between geographic regions and among income groups. Over half the country’s population lives beneath the poverty line as illustrated by figures from the Economic Recovery Strategy for Wealth and Employment Creation, which states that the overall national incidence of poverty stood at 56% in 2001.” A UN survey has identified Kenya as coming second to Brazil in having the greatest gap between the rich and the poor. Applying a gender lens to analyse the economic and social disparities within Kenya makes the disparities even more extreme.
Ultimately, women are poorer than men and suffer more severely from the ill effects of recent economic down turn. 52.5% of Kenyan males in rural areas and 49.2% of those in urban areas live beneath the poverty line. In both instances the statistics for females are higher - 54.1% of rural and 63.0% of urban women and girls live beneath the poverty line. Whilst poverty has been identified as an area of concern for the country as a whole, it does wear a predominantly female face, with the patriarchal nature of Kenyan society inhibiting women’s attempts to escape poverty. By 1998, the number of femaleheaded households had grown to 31.7% of the population. Out of these, 79.5% are beneath the poverty line.
Keywords: Kenya, gender assessment
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