Samburu County banks on new drives to end FGM
Anti-FGM Board members and local administrators during the launch of Pasha app in Maralal town, Samburu County on October 25, 2022. The government is banking on the digital mobile application to help in the war on FGM.
What you need to know:
- Samburu is the second county after Migori to witness the launch of the Pasha mobile app, which supplements the other communication channels used to save girls in distress.
- Elders last year signed the Kisima Declaration to end FGM and child marriage in the community. To show their commitment, they lifted a cultural curse on girls who do not undergo the cut.
Samburu County is moving swiftly to end decades-old female genital mutilation that has caused untold suffering to girls and women.
It is among the 22 hotpot counties with the highest female genital mutilation (FGM) prevalence at 86 per cent, according to the 2014 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey (KDHS). Samburu also has a 50 per cent child marriage prevalence.
And now, the government, through Anti-FGM Board and other state agencies, and gender activists have partnered to heighten the FGM fight. A team from the Ministry of Public Service, Gender and Affirmative Action and the Anti-FGM Board visited the county to monitor and evaluate interventions and their outcomes to ascertain the efficacy of the campaigns.
Many programmes have been undertaken in the county, resulting in behaviour change on the perception of FGM. One of the programmes entails mentoring boys and involving men through a HeforShe campaign, which is meant to remove social and cultural barriers that perpetuate harmful cultural practices that prevent women and girls from achieving their full potential.
Speaking during a meeting with stakeholders in Maralal town, Emily Opati from the Gender ministry, stressed the importance of synergies to enable the #EndFGM campaign to gather momentum. She enumerated plans under the Generation Equality Programme through which Kenya has committed to ending harmful cultural practices by 2026.
“We need to evaluate our programmes to see where there are gaps and seal them. To end FGM, the commitment has to come from within. I ask you to ride on each other to have more strength and impact on the ground. Our agenda is to end the vice in the small way we can,” said Ms Opati.
Digital fight
Samburu is the second county after Migori to witness the launch of the Pasha mobile app, which is aimed at supplementing the other channels of communication used to save girls in distress.
Anti-FGM Board CEO Bernadette Loloju, who officially launched the mobile application, termed it a game changer in the reporting of FGM incidents either in emergency or non-emergency situations.
She urged locals to put it to good use to save girls in distress. “You have been called here because you have a duty and some influence to help the community move forward. Please, educate other people around you on this app. Our girls now face the triple threat of teenage pregnancies, HIV/Aids and harmful practices like FGM.”
Also read: FGM war in Samburu gets Sh709m boost
Ms Loloju said the app does not in any way replace the existing hotlines, such as 116 for children services or 1195 for gender-based violence reporting, but supplements them to enhance reporting of cases.
A user can report by identifying themselves or remaining anonymous. The alerts are received at the central database at the Anti-FGM Board, the police, community-based organisations (CBOs), a trusted person, government officials, psychosocial support providers around the area of report who then respond promptly to save the girl in distress.
The involvement of men is bearing fruit after elders last year signed the Kisima Declaration to end FGM and child marriage in the community. They denounced the two harmful cultural practices and affirmed their resolve to end them as directed by the government.
The elders were drawn from the six sacred mountains of Samburu. To show their commitment, they lifted a cultural curse on girls who do not undergo the cut. The curse has been one of the drivers of FGM in the community as girls opt to undergo the cut for social acceptance. Its lifting now means girls who have not been cut are accepted and allowed to participate in cultural events.
Former President Uhuru Kenyatta witnessed the signing of the declaration. John Lekamparish, the Suguta Mur-Mur location chief, said the initiatives are bearing fruit as cases have drastically dropped.
“We now have a scenario where more girls than boys are in local primary schools. The local administration and Nyumba Kumi officials have been working tirelessly to ensure the girls who are in danger of being cut and married off are rescued and taken to rescue centres,” he said.
