Parents have been urged to protect girls' rights and stand up against female genital mutilation and early marriages.
This appeal was made on Friday by Alamitu Jattani, the wife of Marsabit Governor Mohamud Ali, who also said girls must be allowed to pursue their academic dreams without hindrances. She said those violating such rights must be punished as a deterrent measure.
More than 300 girls from Saku subcounty took p[aert in the programme. They were trained in peer counseling, role models monitoring, life skills and leadership, and measures against FGM, early marriage and unwanted pregnancies.
Jattani said education helps in discouraging backward cultural practices that derail individual and community development. Education is the best inheritance a parent, guardian or government can bequeath to a child in promoting development, she said.
"Empowering a girl should be a priority. Girls should remain in school so they attain their aspirations," she said.
Jattani spoke during the third girls' camp programme graduation ceremony at Sasura Girls' School, Marsabit. She said FGM is a manifestation of gender inequality that is deeply entrenched in socioeconomic structures of society. Eradication of FGM is crucial to the achievement of sustainable development goals, she said.
Circumcised girls suffer low self-esteem and develop serious medical complications, such as excruciating pain and excessive bleeding during childbirth, which ruin their lives.
Jattani said laws and policies alone will not stop the practice, as it has customary undertones that can only be eradicated when communities are taught to understand the consequences.
She expressed concern that about 60 per cent of Marsabit girls drop out of the school either to get marriage, help in domestic chores or to pave the way for their brothers to get financial support. More than 90 per cent of girls have undergone FGM and many young girls die while giving birth because of FGM-related complications, she added.
Jattani urged girls to take education seriously as it is the only treasure that cannot be stolen from them. She urged parents to provide better care and talk to their children.
"The more you engage them, the more their brains absorb," she advised
She said everyone has a responsibility to prevent and end violence against women and girls and ensure a peaceful living and working environment free from harassment or conflicts.
