Presidential Advisor on Women’s Rights Harriette Chiggai has affirmed the government’s commitment to end the triple threat of new HIV infections, adolescent pregnancies, and Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) among young people.
Speaking during the closing ceremony of the 5th Women in Human Resource convention in Mombasa, Chiggai called on sustained multi-sectoral collaboration to step up efforts to end HIV as a public health threat and all forms of SGBV.
The National Syndemic Diseases Control Council estimates that 98 new HIV infections occur weekly among adolescents aged between 10-19 years.
According to Chiggai,256 girls get pregnant each day and since they cannot deliver naturally, the government spends up to 6.1 billion shillings to cater for caesarean births.
Chiggai noted that most SGBV-related cases are societal originated like Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), a cultural practice that the government has committed to end by 2026.
“The President pronounced himself on matters FGM which is very important for this country, it has never happened. For us to end FGM the society must participate; the rural women must say we must end FGM because it is a bad cultural practice. The men must also say we are supporting our women and girls.” she stated.
On Women’s empowerment, she said the government has prioritized empowerment initiatives as espoused in the Bottom-up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA) and Vision 2030.
“BETA recognizes that empowering women is a strategic pathway to unlocking Kenya’s full economic potential.” Said Chiggai.
