The Presidential Advisor on Women’s Rights Harriette Chiggai has affirmed the government’s commitment to end the triple threat of new HIV infections, adolescent pregnancies, and Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) among young people.
Speaking during the closing ceremony of the 5th Women in Human Resource convention in Mombasa Thursday, Presidential Advisor Chiggai called on sustained multi-sectoral collaboration to step up efforts to end HIV as a public health threat and all forms of SGBV.
The National Syndemic Diseases Control Council estimates that 98 new HIV infections occur weekly among adolescents aged between 10-19 years.
Every single day, the Presidential Advisor revealed that 256 girls get pregnant, and since they cannot deliver naturally the government spends up to Sh6.1 billion to cater for the cesarean births.
Chiggai noted that most SGBV-related cases are societal originated like Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), a cultural practice that the government has committed to end by 2026.
The Head of State, she said, is the number one champion for women, girls, and children’s rights. “The President pronounced himself on matters FGM which is very important for this country,” she stated.
“For us to end FGM the society must participate, the rural women must say we must end FGM because it is a bad cultural practice. The men must also say we are supporting our women and girls.”
She termed FGM as a selfish space for sexual pleasure where women are curtailed in a small box and men are the ones who have the right for the day.
She stressed the need for society to change their mindsets to embrace women and girls. The Presidential Advisor advocated for a whole society approach to tackle challenges facing women, girls, and children.
“We need to be the haven for these children. What is the society doing to end the atrocities that are being met on women, girls, and children?” She asked, urging the church to join the advocacy campaign.
She took a swipe at the courts because “They have made the child cases to be a cash cow. I don’t understand why courts are entertaining conflict-inflicted cases against children”?
The Presidential Advisor said she can’t fathom why court cases involving children take up to eight years to be solved. She asked the Chief Justice to conduct an audit of all court cases involving children to discern why they are being conducted at a snail’s pace.
“We have fathers who fail to take responsibility for their children, some of them are big men driving big cars, and they look smart but are in court fighting over taking care of children. Why do you give birth to children who you don’t want to take care of?” she said.
She decried that children have been made tokens for playing games. On Women’s empowerment, she said the government has prioritized empowerment initiatives as espoused In the Bottom-up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA) and Vision 2030.
“BETA recognizes that empowering women is a strategic pathway to unlocking Kenya’s full economic potential. By prioritizing women’s access to education, skills training, financial services, and entrepreneurial support, BETA aims to dismantle systemic barriers and create an enabling environment for women to thrive,” said Chiggai.