Children
The County Government of Homa Bay in partnership with two Non-Governmental organisations, Child Fund Kenya and Katag, have launched a policy for protecting child rights.
The County Executive Committee (CEC) Member for Gender Sarah Malit said that the policy, dubbed Homa Bay County Child Welfare and Protection Policy, has been launched to help address challenges facing development of children. Malit said amongst the challenges was the triple threat which refers to teen pregnancies, HIV infection, and sexual and gender based violence.
She noted that defilement cases were rampant in the region which highly violates the sexual rights of many girls in the county. According to the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey (KDHS) of 2022, the county has a teen pregnancy prevalence of 23.2 per cent compared to the national prevalence rate of 14.8 per cent.
The teen pregnancies force many girls to drop out of school to take care of their babies or opt for premature marriages. Malit presided over the launch of the policy Friday at Omiro Health Center in Kabondo Kasipul Constituency to mark the International Day of the Girl Child.
The CEC who was accompanied by the Director of Gender Evelyn Ododa and her counterpart for Inclusivity Lucy Odwar, said the policy is going to strengthen strategies for fighting the triple threat in the county. She expressed optimism that the policy had proper strategies for curbing the triple threat.
The official noted that many girls in the county were vulnerable to defilement but expressed hope that the policy will help address the vice. “This county used to have a teen pregnancy prevalence of 33 per cent before 2022 but today it has 23.2 per cent. The policy we have launched today is going to help to reduce the vice significantly because it has a concrete action plan to curb the vice,” Malit said.
The policy also focuses on other forms of boys’ and girls’ rights violation and how to address them. Other issues addressed in the policy include inadequate funding for child protection platforms and gaps in addressing online violation of child rights. The leaders who attended the function expressed commitment to advocate for protection of children’s rights in the county.