Abstract: In the last decade, Africa has experienced unprecedented increase in unemployment and poverty rates. The situation has worsened especially in the urban areas due to COVID-19 pandemic containment measures and increased rural urban migration in search of opportunities which have been shrinking over time. Consequently, many urban dwellers opted for street vending as the main source of their livelihood. Despite this fact, street vendors seem to struggle for recognition. The Aim of this study was to examine the contributions of government policies and regulation on socio-economic empowerment of Street vendors in urban areas of Kenya. It was guided by Development as Freedom Approach. Descriptive cross-sectional survey research design was adopted. A sample size of 384 street vendors from Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu Cities. Multistage sampling was employed. Primary data was collected using face to face questionnaire survey, interview guide, and observation guide. Data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics with the help of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 24. The study revealed a negative significant relationship between government rules and regulations on socio economic empowerment of street vendors. It recommended that policy makers should enact supportive policies that will lead to improvement in working conditions of street vendors especially trading on public space; identification and legislation of all street vendors and tracking systems for street vendors in hostile working environments to enable them meet their roles.

Abstract: Women form majority of the world’s population, two-thirds of the world’s labour, majority of uneducated and earn one-tenth of the world’s income and possess less than one tenth of global property. Efforts to empower women have born less fruits. The establishment of women enterprise funds has seen fewer women benefiting from the same making their empowerment to remain low. The study’s’ broad objective was to investigate women enterprise fund uptake and socioeconomic empowerment in Kisumu West Sub County, Kisumu County, Kenya. Specific objectives were; to explore the disbursement procedure of Women Enterprise Fund in Kisumu West Sub County, to determine how culture influences utilization of women enterprise fund in Kisumu West subcounty, to examine how education level determines access to Women Enterprise Fund in Kisumu West Sub County, and, to propose a strategy that can be deployed by women to ease access to women enterprise fund in Kisumu West Sub County. A transformative worldview was adopted with a focus on mixed methods research approach. Descriptive research design was adopted. Questionnaires and Interviews were utilised in the collection of data. Quantitative data was analysed using SPSS while thematic content analysis used for qualitative data. The findings revealed that although women enterprise fund uptake and socio-economic empowerment in Kenya remain low and a great puzzle to understand, its effectiveness and uptake can lead to realization of sustainable development goals in Kenya. The government should be proactive to ensure a larger proportion of women take up the fund to realize their socio-economic empowerment.