Kenya and Zimbabwe invest in preventing violence against women and girls

“We believe that empowering women is not just a moral obligation; it’s an economic imperative”, said Phoebe Makungu, the Generation Equality Forum focal point at Kenya’s State Department for Gender and Affirmative Action emphasizes. 

“Our policy reforms, local initiatives, and strategic investments are laying the groundwork for a society where women thrive, not just as survivors but as active contributors to our nation’s progress”, she said.

In coordination with the Generation Equality Forum, the country’s government has rolled out localized programmes targeting gender-based violence in nine towns and counties, including toll-free lines to report gender-based violence and clinics to provide services to survivors.

The government has also supported the Anti-Female Genital Mutilation Board, a UN Women partner. In 2021, a council of elders in the Samburu region signed a declaration committing to champion the end of this harmful practice, and a council in the Mt. Elgon region has committed to signing a similar declaration this year.

In a statement made at its 2021 signing ceremony in Samburu, the Supreme Council of Elders acknowledged that such rites of passage “no longer depicted positive values and norms. They have ended up causing more harm to our girls in the long run”.

“From now, we are going to take measures to protect girls and prevent FGM from taking place in our community”, the statement said.