The Fortress of Hope GB Crew was at hand to curtain raise for the launch of a toolkit to develop, strengthen and expand adolescent girls programs. Their action packed South African song and dance set the stage for an intimate discourse on the Kenyan Girl child.
In his welcome remarks, the Population Council Country Director brought out the reality of vulnerability of the girl child amidst our society – “she lacks the necessary education and employability”. Without an education and income, the girl child is susceptible to abuse and easy prey for transactional sex. It is with this in mind that the population council worked with girl child organizations to develop tools to support the girl child’s empowerment.
The Guest of Honour for the event was Honourable Millie Odhiambo (nominated Member of Parliament). Hon. Odhiambo spelt out the many challenges facing girls in Kenya:
- lack of education and/or access to an education
- early marriages – a cultural issue that is also linked to economic challenges of a household where a girl is seen in terms of an asset
- early onset of sex and reproduction
- female genital cutting and other harmful cultural practices
- gender-based violence, especially sexual violence both at home and in school among 14-16 year olds.
The Chief Guest took issue with gender based violence meted at young girls. She mentioned the recent media story of a girl who was denied an opportunity to serve in the military allegedly due to pregnancy. “The Constitution is very clear on the rights of children”, she said. There is need to empower girls economically and socially so that they are able to access reproductive health information and services.
Karen Austrian, the program manager, made a presentation on making the case for girls where she gave the rationale for investing in the girl child. From the presentation, it was clear that vulnerabilities for girls set in from age 12 – at the onset of sexual maturity. Age twelve opens girls up for sexual abuse in schools and unwanted attention within the community; larger share of domestic chores and most likely dropping out of school and increasingly social isolation. Due to increasing personal needs as well as household demands, it is at this age that girls are likely to start transactional sex leading to unintended pregnancies and other health related complications including HIV and AIDS. Girls aged 15-24 are at increased risk of HIV infection: in Kenya and Uganda, these girls are four times more vulnerable to HIV infection compared to boys of their age. The situation is worse in South Africa where the HIV risk is eight times higher among girls than boys of the same age.
According to a study conducted by Population Council, majority of girls aged 6-17 in North Eastern region are not currently in school while over 15 percent of those aged 15-24 in Coast, Eastern and Nyanza regions reported forced sex. Unfortunately, youth initiatives and program do not reach the most marginalized and vulnerable girls. Yet, studies show that:
- investing in girls would potentially add 3.2billion USD to Kenya’s economy
- girls receiving seven or more years of schooling marry four years later thus have 2.2 fewer children
- every extra year of primary schooling boosts girls’ eventual wages by 10-20 percent while secondary school raises the wages by 15-20 percent
- with every year of girls schooling, infant mortality declines by 5-10 percent.
The toolkit was also presented and a call made to participants to implement, monitor and evaluate impacts and report accordingly. The toolkit can be downloaded at www.popcouncil.org/2010AdolGirlsToolkit/
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