Parents in Samburu County have been urged to enrol their daughters in school in order to save them from retrogressive cultural practices such as beading, child marriages and Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).
Speaking at the Maralal polytechnic during a celebration to mark this year’s International Day of the Girl Child, Samburu County Executive for Gender, Culture, youth Affairs, Sports and Social Services, Evelyne Lentaano, said that some aspects of the Samburu culture were retrogressive towards girls and women, limiting them in leadership and decision-making spaces.
The International Day of the Girl-Child is observed annually on October 11th and it is meant to celebrate girls everywhere amplifying their voices, actions and leadership. This year’s theme was ‘The Girl I am, The Change I Lead: Girls on The Frontlines of Crisis’.
Lentaano noted that enrolment and retention of girls in school were still very low because of beading and child marriages, while some are just left at home to graze while boys attend school.
“Girls are still viewed as a source of wealth through dowry payments; this means it is taken as a loss for the parents if they educate all their daughters,” she said.
However, the county executive noted that the Samburu government had put up measures to ensure that the girl child is protected by passing the Gender Policy, aimed at promoting gender equality by addressing harmful traditional practices and integrating gender considerations into all aspects of County development.
“The Policy aims to ensure women, men, girls, boys and persons living with disabilities have equal opportunities and rights, it also aims at combating gender-based violence, improving access to education and economic opportunities for women and girls and ensuring their participation in decision-making,” she added.
Kenya Red Cross Gender-Based Violence Officer Lydia Maina reiterated the need to educate girls in the region to ensure their voices are heard at the decision-making table.
Maina added that the celebration was meant to embrace modern trends in education while calling on the members of the Samburu community to enrol their daughters in school and stop subjecting them to negative cultural practices.
“Through such activities, we are empowering girls by teaching them reproductive health and how they can abstain until they finish school. When they are out of school, they cannot be in leadership and decision-making spaces,” she said.
By Robert Githu
