Democracy Today.indb - Universidade do Minho

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DEMOCRACY TODAY
level education on to tertiary educational levels. Remarkable was
the increased number of females taking on science related subjects,
changes in curriculum, especially at tertiary levels to include feminist
epistemologies and the embrace of gender sensitive issues by many
who were hither-forth gender blind. The report further pointed out
the gains made in the health sector singling out some of the successful
reproductive rights campaigns on to the increased access, by women,
to crucial health care systems.
The treatise acknowledged that despite the entry of many women
in the economic sector, the continued informalization of the market and
the non-recognition of women’s contribution to this critical sector had
served not to lessen the burden of poverty but rather to accelerate its
vicious cycle. Such a dismal gain was also noted in yet another critical
arena in society and that is the political sphere. The report recognized
that despite an increased number of women in critical political economic
positions, no meaningful gains have been realized. It is on these
identified lacunae that my contributions rested. Here in, I singled out
the participation or continued non-participation of young women in
critical social-economic and political spheres with examples drawn
from the Kenyan context.
Contextualisation:
Analysing the changing African Demographic Make-up
The African environment is currently facing what is defined as an
intergenerational shift. This, in demographic terms, is basically defined
as a demographic transition brought about by a population change
whereby the age structures of especially the labour force experiences a
change either because of a low or a high fertility rate (Hirschman 1994,
Lucas 1994). For example, The United Nations Economic Commission
for Africa-UNECA (2001) report discusses the state of Africa’s population
and asserts that because of the high fertility rate coupled to low
infant mortality rates due to better and accessible health care systems,
Africa’s population is changing to comprise of a more youthful population
(UNECA 2001:4). Socially, economically and politically, it necessarily
means that a different generational age-set takes up positions of