Thesis:

Assessment of special interest groups paticipation in public policy formulation in the national gender and equality commission, Kenya

This report evaluates the role of Special Interest Groups in public policy formulation, focusing on the National Gender and Equality Commission. Special interest organizations play a crucial role in shaping public policy by raising awareness and championing their ideologies. They help vulnerable and minority members of society voice their concerns, share their ideas with policymaking institutions, and act as a link between citizens and government institutions by providing information on government actions. However, there is little representation of SIGs in governing bodies as well as decision making organs. The government is currently facing a serious governance crisis due to the SIGs inadequate inclusion in public affairs. The research thus investigated the involvement and inclusion of SIGs in public policy formulation within the National Gender and Equality Commission. The objectives were to ascertain how information sharing affects public policy formulation, to assess how fostering public support impacts development of public policy, to evaluate the influence of advocacy on the creation of public policy and to determine how identifying problems and generating solutions aids in creating public policies through the National Gender and Equality Commission. The system analysis approach, institutional approach and group theory served as the study’s foundation for elucidating the variables’ relationships. The study used 64 persons within the National Gender and Equality Commission drawn from the department of women and gender, youth and children, persons with disabilities and minority and marginalized groups as the target group. The research adopted a descriptive research design. For the unit of analysis, the study used the census technique. The primary means of gathering data were questionnaires, which underwent validity and reliability pretesting as part of a pilot project. The respondents were given the questionnaire by the researcher using the drop and pick approach. To facilitate analysis using SPSS, the gathered data was transformed into a quantitative format. Descriptive data, such as mean and standard deviation, and inferential statistics, such as correlation analysis and ordinal regression, were produced by the study. A 0.05 factor represents a unit progress in the part that special interest organizations play in the creation of public policy. The results showed that higher levels of information sharing, advocacy and building public support are associated with greater likelihood of more positive agreement with policy solutions. The study recommends that the National Gender and Equality Commission fosters more lobbying avenues, mainstream and social media outreaches, public participation and brainstorming with government institutions so as to ensure the involvement of special interest groups in decision making. Such efforts will further the positive steps already existent and promote the right of inclusivity of SIG’s as enshrined in the Kenyan constitution.