Contents -- Foreword -- Acknowledgments -- Acronyms and Abbreviations -- Overview -- Matrix of Recommendations -- Chapter 1 Overview of Kenya's Legal Framework -- How Does Kenya's Legal Framework Impact on Gender Issues? -- International Obligations Have Impacted Little on Domestic Law -- Kenya's Constitution Entrenches Gender Inequality -- Kenya's Statutory Legislation Reflects This Discriminatory Framework -- The Constitution Permits Discriminatory Customary Law Practices -- Government Recognizes the Need to Address These Barriers -- Input into the Private Sector Development Strategy and Other Initiatives -- Note -- Chapter 2 The Gender/Economic Growth Nexus -- Women Start from a Disadvantaged Position -- Women Predominate in Agriculture, but Their Contribution Tends to Be Unpaid -- Women Are Less Predominant in Formal Sector Employment and Tend to Have Lower Wages -- Kenyan Women Constitute Almost Half of Micro and Small Business Owners -- Women's Dual Roles and Time Burden Affect Economic Productivity -- Women Are Particularly Impacted by HIV/AIDS and Are Victims of Gender-Related Violence -- Inequalities in Access to Education Have an Adverse Impact on Growth -- Equal Access to Formal Employment and Agricultural Inputs Positively Impacts Economic Growth -- Notes -- Chapter 3 Access to Property Rights and Land -- Denial of Property Rights in Relation to Land Impacts on Poverty -- The Formal Legal Framework for Land Market Regulation Is Unsatisfactory, but Does Not Prevent Women from Owning Land -- Women's Property Rights Are Often through a Man -- Formal Statute Law Gives Property Rights to Married Women -- The Married Women's Property Act of 1882 Gives Married Women Equal Rights to Own Property -- The Law of Succession Act Gives Women Inheritance Rights -- A Cohabiting Woman Has No Rights under Either the Formal Legal System or Customary Law.

It Can Be Difficult to Establish Marital Status -- Formal, Established Legal Principles Are Not Applied in the Vast Majority of Cases -- In Practice, Many of Those Dispensing Justice-from Judges to Chiefs-Are Unaware of the Legal Position -- Formal Registration Practices Have Excluded Women -- Allocation of State Land Has Excluded Women -- Family Land Can Be Disposed of without a Wife's Consent -- Women Can Be Ineligible for Cooperative Membership -- The Developing National Land Policy Is an Opportunity for Reform -- Recommendations -- Notes -- Chapter 4 Access to Finance and Collateral -- Access to Affordable Finance Is a Key Constraint -- Informal Savings and Microfinance -- The "Missing Middle" in Financial Services -- The Legal and Regulatory Framework for SME Finance Is Incomplete -- Women Entrepreneurs Are Not Rewarded for Their Repayment History -- Law Reform Could Enable Nonland Assets to Be Used as Collateral -- Recommendations -- Notes -- Chapter 5 Access to the Formal Sector: Business Entry and Licensing -- The Government of Kenya Recognizes the Importance of the MSME Sector to Employment Creation and Economic Growth -- Yet Many Women Are "Stuck" Running Micro Enterprises in the Informal Sector -- Registration Is an Important Step for Business Growth -- Women May Respond Well to Simplified Registration Procedures -- Registration of Business Names Act: Fundamental Reform Required -- Companies Act Registration: Best-Practice Business Entry Reform Required -- Companies Act Registration Facilitates the Pooling of Resources -- Business Licensing Requirements Are Onerous -- An Ambitious and Badly Required Overhaul of All Business Licenses -- Current Business Licensing Reforms Should Have a Gender Lens -- Results So Far Are Promising, but More Is Needed -- Recommendations -- Notes -- Chapter 6 Access to Justice -- Limited Access to Formal Courts.

Limited Justice in Informal Courts -- Government of Kenya-Led Reform Efforts Are Underway -- Civil Society Organizations Are Having an Impact -- Recommendations -- Note -- Chapter 7 The Impact and Opportunities of International Trade and Labor -- Gender Influences the Impact of International Trade -- Trade Liberalization Can Attract Foreign Investment and Has Resulted in Increased Employment Opportunities for Women -- New Employment Opportunities Bring Both New Challenges and Opportunities -- Significant Gender Discrimination Exists in Kenya's Formal Labor Market -- Discriminatory and Outdated Labor Laws Fail to Address Gender Issues and Decrease Women's Ability to Fully Benefit from International Trade -- Female Entrepreneurs Have Yet to Fully Benefit from International Trade -- Trade in Textiles, Cut Flowers, and Tourism: Impacts on Employment,Wages, and Working Conditions for Women in Kenya -- Recommendations -- Notes -- Chapter 8 The Way Forward: Ensuring That Women's Voices Are Heard -- Institutional Framework: The National Machinery for Implementing Gender and Development Goals -- The Role of Civil Society -- Building Capacity to Meet the Challenges Ahead -- Incorporate GGA Recommendations in the Government of Kenya's Reform Processes -- Need for a "Joined-Up" Policy on PSD, with Gender Mainstreamed -- Recommendations -- Appendix 1 List of Key Kenyan Organizations Focusing on Issues Covered in the GGA -- Appendix 2 Methodological Note on Gender Inequalities and Economic Growth in Kenya -- References -- Index -- Boxes -- 1.1 The Constitution Appears to Provide for Equality -- 1.2 Discriminatory Statutes -- 1.3 Broad Principles of Customary Laws in Kenya -- 2.1 Women's Businesses Differ from Men's -- 2.2 HIV/AIDS Is Undermining Land Tenure Security -- 3.1 Attitudes to Land Run Deep -- 3.2 Some of Kenya's 75 Land Laws.

3.3 Case Study: The Treatment of a Widow -- 3.4 The MWPA Gives Married Women Equal Rights in the Ownership of Property -- 3.5 Law of Succession Act: Main Provisions -- 3.6 Muslim Inheritance Law -- 3.7 The Succession Act Can Have the Effect of "Disinheriting"Wives -- 3.8 Case Study: Community Sensitization and Will-Writing Campaigns in Rural Malawi -- 3.9 Factors That LCBs Must Take into Account When Determining Whether to Authorize a Land Transaction -- 3.10 There Is Potential for LCB Performance to Improve -- 3.11 What the "National Land Policy Issues and Recommendations Report" Says about Gender -- 3.12 Potential of the Kenya Land Alliance to Influence the Debate -- 4.1 Kenya Women Finance Trust -- 4.2 United Women's Savings and Credit Cooperative Society (UWSACCO) -- 4.3 Women Can Face Discrimination When Approaching a Bank for Financing -- 4.4 The Legal Framework for Using Nonland Assets as Collateral Is Not in Place -- 4.5 Law Reform on Using Nonland Assets as Collateral Has Worked Well Internationally -- 5.1 Registration and Licensing Are Time-Consuming, Expensive, and Unpleasant -- 5.2 Reducing Compliance Costs Increases Compliance-Especially among Women -- 5.3 Business Names Registration Is Time-Consuming and Costly -- 5.4 Current Business Name Registration Reform Could Do More -- 5.5 Outdated and Cumbersome Procedures to Incorporate a Company -- 5.6 Companies Act Reform: Recommendations on Entry Procedures -- 6.1 Negative Attitudes toward Women in the High Court -- 6.2 Examples of Customary Justice -- 6.3 GJLOS Vision for Improved Justice Service Delivery -- 6.4 What the GJLOS Reform Programme Says about Gender -- 6.5 Initiatives Are Taking Place across the Sector to Improve Justice Service Delivery to Women -- 6.6 Law Reporting Makes the Law More Transparent -- 6.7 Initiatives to Improve Justice for Women.

7.1 Kenya and International Trade -- 7.2 Alltex EPZ: An Example of Best Practices in Female Worker Policies -- 7.3 Reaching the Export Market for Flowers -- 8.1 The Private Sector Development Strategy (PSDS) at a Glance -- 8.2 What the Draft PSDS Says about Gender -- 8.3 Gender Initiatives in the MSE Sessional Paper -- Figures -- 2.1 Women's Time Burden in Kenya -- 2.2 HIV Prevalence Rate, 2003 -- 4.1 Women's Access to Resources in Kenya -- 5.1 Women Perceive Tax and Customs as a Greater Constraint to Business Growth -- 7.1 Occupational Gender Wage Gap versus FDI Net Inflows, by Country -- 7.2 Wages in Kenya's EPZs Are Lowest for Textiles and Spinning, but Similar to Those in the Informal Sector -- 8.1 Positioning of the Private Sector Development Strategy, 2006-10 -- Tables -- 1.1 International Treaties on Women's Rights -- 1.2 Significant Exceptions to the Equality Provisions -- 2.1 Gender Profile of Kenya -- 2.2 Formal Sector Employment in Kenya by Industry and Sex, 2004 -- 2.3 Ownership and Location of MSMEs in Kenya -- 2.4 Education Enrollment by Gender, 2000-04 -- 6.1 Cost of Enforcing a Contract in Selected Commonwealth Countries -- 7.1 Performance of Textiles and Clothing Firms in Kenya's EPZs.