• They also committed to integrating GBV services into the essential package of the Universal Health Coverage.
• State launched the POLICARE policy in October as part of honouring its commitments.
Image: FILE
During this year’s United Nations’ Generation Equality Forum in Paris, Kenya stood out among many countries in attendance.
President Uhuru Kenyatta put forward 12 bold commitments to end gender-based violence (GBV) by 2026 and Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) by 2022.
So far, very few of those commitments have been fulfilled.
Better4Kenya, a lobby working to enhance gender equality, started an online petition to make the government implement the 12 Actions to end Gender-Based Violence.
The petition hosted on the global online petition platform, Change.org, began during the 16 Days of activism against GBV.
On the Change.org website, Better4Kenya said that the time for the State to act was now.
“Kenya has been plagued by GBV for far too long. More than 40 per cent of Kenyan women are likely to face physical or sexual violence in their lifetime and one in five girls still face FGM,” they said.
2020 and 2021 have been particularly difficult for women and girls as the pandemic exacerbated cases of GBV.
The government reported an increase of reported GBV cases by 92 per cent.
Better4Kenya said for every news headline case, there are hundreds of other cases taking place in the shadows.
“Our leaders outlined 12 actions designed to address the environment in which GBV thrives, and to create a structure of law, accountability, financing, and resources to prevent and address GBV in Kenya,” they said.
Among the commitments was to fully implement GBV laws and policies by tracking duty-bearers work to enforce the laws by 2022 as well as track GBV through the Kenyan Demographic Health Survey.
They also committed to integrating GBV services into the essential package of the Universal Health Coverage which the government committed to do by 2022 but many health facilities do not have well-trained personnel to handle such cases.
It also committed to investing in the fight against gender-based violence, including establishing a GBV survivors fund.
“Invest 23 Million US Dollars for GBV prevention and response by 2022 and up to 50 Million US Dollars by 2026 through co-financing and invest 1 Million US Dollars annually for GBV research and innovation by 2026,” they said.
The State launched the POLICARE policy that is meant to streamline the response to GBV cases by putting services for victims in one place, back in October as part of honouring its commitments.
However, there are still no government-run safe houses for victims across the 47 counties, which they committed to setting up by 2026.
Media personality Janet Mbugua, Kenyan artiste King Kaka, Gospel Artiste Kambua, and organsiations such as Equality Now and Plan International have signed the petition and shown support to get the State to act upon its commitments.
According to Change.org, over 8700 people have signed the petition so far.
They have a target of 10,000 signatures in order to start getting the attention of the change-makers.
Better4Kenya urged Kenyans to make their voices heard by taking part in the online petition.
“If we are truly going to end GBV by 2026, there is no time to waste. As citizens, we have a role to play. We can make our voices heard,” they concluded.