KENYA Maritime Authority (KMA) Director General Mrs Nancy Karigithu is calling for integration of women in the maritime sector. She told a high powered conference at the World Maritime University (WMU) in Sweden that women continue to face many challenges in that field. "We need to explore ways of enhancing women participation in the maritime management," she said.
The KMA boss said the presence of challenges did not mean there were no opportunities, which could be realized with the assistance of forums as the maritime women association.
In her keynote address, Mrs Karigithu, who is the current chair of the Women In The Maritime Sector In Eastern & Southern Africa (Womesa), noted with optimism the growing interest among women in joining the maritime industry although the ratio is still low.
"The number of Kenyan women graduates from this university and from International Maritime Law Institute (IMLI) testifies to this fact. On average the enrolment for maritime studies among female students at home is no more than 10 per cent of the total intake but their high scholarly performance proves their enormous potential to contribute to the advancement of the maritime industry in Kenya," she added.
Even though women hold less than 5 per cent of managerial positions of decision making and influence in the maritime industry which could imply that only half of the Kenyan women who trained for the maritime profession actually remain it the field.
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