Kakamega county first lady Janet Barasa has launched a campaign meant to rescue and reintegrate teen mothers in the region.
The campaign dubbed ‘A Helping Hand to Teen Mothers in Kakamega County’ is also meant to discourage and advise against adolescent pregnancies.
The event which took place at the Bishop Stam residence in Kakamega on Saturday also witnessed the unveiling of Teen mother champions who will among other things, play a pivotal role in the initiative by advising their fellow teenagers.
The campaign will also see the young mothers, most of them school dropouts, reintegrated back to school through the county first lady’s efforts in collaboration with partners among them USAID, KCB, Butali Sugar, Masinde Muliro University of Science & Technology and Khetias Supermarket among others.
According to data provided by the Department of Health, there is a reduction of teen pregnancies between 10-19 years from 16,969 in 2018 to 12,057 in 2022 with Malava Sub-County leading with 1,361.
“These statistics call for concerted efforts from all stakeholders to join hands in ending the vice and ensuring that our girls are equipped with the right knowledge on the same. We however want them to know that it’s not the end of the road and one can go back to school and succeed still,” said Barasa.
The launch which saw 60 teen mothers identified from all the sixty wards to become the Champions in the County marked the beginning of the initiative which will be rolled out in all the Sub-Counties.
The champions received assorted foodstuffs and other personal effects from the First Lady who urged both the National and County Governments as well as Social Development partners to support the initiative.
Last week Thursday, teenage moms and pregnant teens from Malava, Lurambi, Mumias East, Butere and Matungu Sub-Counties were reintegrated back to school by the first lady who equally supplied them with assorted foodstuffs and sanitary towels to cushion them from their vulnerable status.
The county first lady who has been at the forefront in highlighting the plight of the girl child in Kakamega County implored partners to support the initiative whose major objective is to scale down the soaring numbers.
Kakamega County, the second-highest County nationally after Nairobi in teen pregnancies, records an average of 12,900 cases annually.
