The Chief Administrative Secretary (CAS), Ministry of Public Service and Gender, Hon. Rachel She- besh visited Nyamira, Kisii, Narok, Kisumu, Ka- kamega, and Embu counties to engage the county leadership and administrators in monitoring imple- mentation of the Government’s programme to end FGM by 2022.
The meetings were pursuant to President Uhuru Kenyatta’s vision to end FGM by 2022. Relevant Government ministries were tasked with monitor- ing, coordination and oversight of the campaign against FGM in keeping with Kenya’s ICPD25 Nairobi Summit commitments on ending gender based violence and all harmful practices. Senior Officers from the State Department for Gender and the Anti-FGM Board, in collaboration with county governments and UNFPA have been touring the counties to monitor efforts towards realizing the President’s pledge that he had also made during the Women Deliver Conference in Canada in 2019.
Hon. Shebesh has reached out to over 200 admin- istrators during her county excursions, emphasiz- ing their accountability as duty bearers in address- ing FGM. The CAS has been categorical on the role that national and county leaders and admin- istrators should play in ensuring the existing laws and policies on that prohibit the FGM practice are fully implemented “We have laws and policies enacted and formulat- ed in our country that call upon your diligent action to ensure efficacious implementation. As a Gov- ernment committed to elimination of FGM by 2022, we recognize and anchor success on your dedi- cation to the President’s vision. It is your cardinal duty to ensure those subjecting women and girls to FGM including in health facilities face the full and vigorous application of the law,” said the CAS while addressing the administrators in Nyamira, al- luding to medicalization of the FGM practice that has been identified as an emerging trend.
Alarmed by the mutilation of infants in Taita Taveta County dubbed ‘clitoral pinching’, Hon. Shebesh visited the county twice within a span of two weeks to draw the attention of duty bearers to the heinous act that has led increased infant mortality affecting mostly girls who haemorrhage to death during the act. She requested community members to be vig- ilant and report cases to the authorities for prompt action to save the children.
The CAS has distributed close to 500 dignity kits provided by UNFPA during meetings with commu- nity members in the rural counties and informal settlements in Nairobi to cushion girls against in- creased vulnerability during Covid-19. She also uses the opportunity to counsel girls who are out of school due to the pandemic on sexuality and reproductive health issues that define their devel- opmental milestones as adolescents and youth.
The UNFPA Representative, Dr. Ademola Olajide, who has been on most missions conducted by the CAS has consistently relayed the message of readiness to translate the President’s vision of ending FGM by 2022 into the reality of life for wom- en and girls.
“His Excellency President Uhuru Kenyatta has inspired us to denormalize our targets and seek achievements that are enormously transformative. It is his statement of faith in the results that our partnership can achieve and we can’t seek a dif- ferent yardstick,” said Dr. Ademola, in Kisii County.
The Ministry of Public Service and Gender under the leadership of Prof. Margaret Kobia, the Cabinet Secretary, has taken lead in the coordination and convening of stakeholders to adopt a harmonized all-inclusive approach in the 22 counties with a high prevalence of FGM in Kenya.
