Women, girls left behind as counties fail on gender-responsive budgeting
Director Gender, State Department for Gender and Affirmative Action Jackline Makokha during an interview at her office on January 29, 2024. She says the new report will help improve gender budgeting, resource mobilisation and allocation.
What you need to know:
- Counties are also failing to institutionalise gender-responsive budgeting in their CIDPs and annual development plans.
- Funding and formal recognition for the care economy remain critically low, invisibly shifting the burden of labour, water scarcity and domestic support onto women.
Many county governments have been criticised by oversight bodies and civil society groups for failing to integrate gender-responsive budgeting into their County Integrated Development Plans (CIDPs) and annual budgets.
According to investigations by the Institute of Public Finance, most counties do not use gender-responsive budgeting tools and often lack foundational gender mainstreaming policies.
The latest Gender Budget Analysis report, released on Wednesday by the SDG Kenya Forum, has exposed what is delaying gender equality at the county level. It shows that allocations for gender equality, women’s empowerment and SDG 5 targets often fall short of commitments in CIDPs and annual budgets.
The findings indicate that county revenue mobilisation and spending decisions rarely integrate gender-disaggregated data, leaving key areas such as women’s economic empowerment, gender-based violence response and health with huge budget deficits, and women and girls suffering most.
Counties are also failing to institutionalise gender-responsive budgeting in their CIDPs and annual development plans. Funding and formal recognition for the care economy remain critically low, invisibly shifting the burden of labour, water scarcity and domestic support onto women.
The study focused on Makueni, Nakuru, Laikipia, Uasin Gishu, Kilifi, Taita Taveta, Kitui and Bomet. It examined inconsistent gender budget tagging across departments, limited use of sex-disaggregated data in sector planning, weak alignment between allocations and measurable performance indicators, and insufficient coordination and late public participation in the budget cycle.
Florence Syevuo, executive director of the SDGs Kenya Forum, emphasised the gap between progressive gender policies and actual financial allocations. She noted that while Kenya has a robust constitutional foundation under Article 27 and legal frameworks favouring equity, a persistent disconnect remains between policy commitments and budget lines.
She said how national resources trickle down to counties is the only way to measure real impacts on women, girls and vulnerable groups.
“The report highlights how county governments can strengthen their resource allocation in public finance to promote gender equality and advance the leave no one behind agenda,” said Syevuo. She called on counties to ensure gender-inclusive budgeting for mitigating gender-based violence, women’s economic empowerment and health.
Benson Kimani of the United Nations Development Programme said Kenyans must ask whether devolution is working equally for women, youth and people living with disabilities.
“There is a need to interrogate whether county budgets reach women, girls, the elderly and other marginalised populations. Gender-responsive budgeting is not about how counties spend; it is about when they raise their revenues, who benefits from facilities and financing, and whether women are part of the decisions made,” he said.
Jackline Makokha, director at the State Department of Gender, said the report will help improve gender budgeting, resource mobilisation and allocation.
“Gender budgeting will see equitable development and accountable public finance that meets the needs of every Kenyan. The report will help us see where development disparities persist and why they exist,” said Makokha. She urged counties to integrate gender budgeting into CIDPs and annual development plans.
According to the National Gender and Equality Commission (NGEC), county budgets directly determine access to essential services, and financial allocations remain a key driver of inequality or inclusion in Kenya’s devolved system.
Most public expenditure remains “gender-blind” or broadly “gender-sensitive” rather than intentionally “gender-targeted,” NGEC said. Despite constitutional guarantees of equality, budgeting processes often do not systematically integrate gender or inclusion analysis.
“In many cases, allocations are made without detailed assessment of how different population groups are affected by public spending decisions. This gap has contributed to persistent inequalities in access to services, particularly affecting women, persons with disabilities, youth and communities in arid and semi-arid regions,” NGEC said.
Under devolution, counties control major service delivery sectors including health, water, agriculture, early childhood education, local infrastructure and markets.
While Kenya has progressive gender guidelines, the national gender-responsive budgeting guidelines are not legally binding. Because there is no strict statutory requirement such as a mandatory “gender certificate” or penalty under the Public Finance Management Act, county planning departments treat gender-responsiveness as optional rather than a compliance checklist. Counties are also not legally obligated to submit gender impact reports on their expenditure.
