First Lady Rachel Ruto has called for more focus on women’s empowerment and gender equality ahead of the International Women’s Day celebrated on March 8.
This will enhance women’s capacity to contribute more to the country’s development while becoming financially independent.
The First Lady made the remarks during the launch of the women’s conference week at the Kenya School of Government, Lower Kabete, and at Murang’a Women Prison.
“Empowering every woman in the society has proven to be a key remedy for financial growth and development,” she said.
At Murang’a prison, the First Lady said programmes implemented in correctional services centres put inmates through a transformation journey that shapes their lives once they are out of prison.
She cited the Carakana programme – which she champions - that is implemented in five prisons and which has seen women earn an income while incarcerated.
“The participating women are taught the art of cross-stitching. There are women who, through the programme, earned money while in prison and are now economically independent after leaving the prison.”
These women, she said, are a testament that inmates’ lives can be transformed while still undergoing rehabilitation in prison. The programme also supports vulnerable women such as the disabled and recovering addicts.
She pledged to ensure the initiative is introduced in Murang’a prison to extend its impact and support more women.
“You can change your story such that when you come out of this place you will become stronger, wiser and ready to take new opportunities. You remain valued and essential in society despite what brought you here,” she told the inmates.
The First Lady also donated assorted items to the prison through her foundation, Mama Doing Good, including foodstuffs, dignity packs, blankets, water tanks and tissue papers.
Prisons Commissioner General Patrick Aranduh lauded Ruto for the kind gesture of spending the day with women inmates and her donations.
He affirmed the department’s dedication to gender inclusivity and their objective of ensuring women inmates are empowered to reclaim their lives through education, vocational training, counseling and sports.
Inmates are also equipped with skills for successful integration in he society. Aids Healthcare Foundation Kenya country director, Samuel Kinyanjui, underscored the need for the society to stand in solidarity with women and celebrate their achievements.
Despite decades of progress, women and girls remain heavily impacted by HIV and Aids especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, where women account for 60 per cent of all new infections.
Kinyanjui said this year, his organisation joined the global movement to demand an end to inequalities that hold women and girls back.
