Progress made in teen pregnancies, early marriages - Garissa girlchild crusaders

Stakeholders in Garissa are reporting progress in the bid to promote girl child education which has for decades been under threat due to several factors.

Teenage pregnancies and early marriage are some of the issues that hinder girl child education in the area with research conducted in 2022 showing that only 11 per cent of girls are in school.

Somali community is largely patriarchal with many especially in the rural areas preferring to educate boys and marrying off girls at a tender age.

However, a campaign to promote Girl Child that has been spearheaded by the Forum for African Women Educationalist[FAWE] Kenya in partnership with the MasterCard Foundation for the last four years has started bearing fruit.

In the program, those trained are sent back to their respective communities to continue with the advocacy of sensitizing the community on the need to give girls a chance to access education.

They also ensure girls are free from all the retrogressive cultural practices that happen within the community.

Harrison Ochola, FAWE Kenya county coordinator for Garissa and Machakos said that the programme dubbed Imarisha Msichana which has roped in several stakeholders has seen the number of teen pregnancies and early marriages significantly drop.

He spoke on the sidelines of a two-day meeting that was held at a Garissa hotel dubbed ‘voice and young men training’.

The meeting brought together Religious leaders, teachers, bodaboda riders, local administrators, male students as well as opinion leaders.

“I am happy to report that since 2022 up to date we have not reported a single teenage pregnancy incidence in the entire schools that we are working with as FAWE. That one alone tells you that we have made progress,” he said.

He was however quick to point out that the fact that the number of girls in school was still low calls for a concerted effort among all stakeholders.

“We are calling upon the Somali men and boys especially those who are yet to embrace girlchild education to please get out and allow their daughters and women to participate in education and community matters,” he said.

He said that FAWE with the help of other stakeholders is working hard to make sure that all girls currently out of school are re-amitted.

“Our main aim is to empower boys and our young men to be our champion when it comes to girl child issues, especially education. Give them the space to speak and the opportunity to go to school. We want equity and equality where each and everyone is given a space in the society,” he said.

Chrispus Mukumbu, the program coordinator Imarisha Mschina project said that everyone has a role to play in helping girls acquire quality education for sustainable development.

He said that one of the key objectives of the Imarisha programme is to deliberately engage young men to be champions of girl child education noting that the advocacy has started bearing fruits.

“And that is why we are holding such meetings. To impact skills and knowledge in the minds of these young boys and men and have a mindset change. I am happy to report that the boys in Garissa have started to understand why they need to give our girls a chance to access education something that was not there before,” he said.

Joseph Muthui a teacher at Banane Primary said that the biggest challenge hindering girl child education was illiterate parents who are yet to appreciate the importance of educating a girl in the family.

“When you interact with parents, especially in the villages you hear them telling you that educating a girl is useless. So to change the mind of such a parent requires a collective effort from all stakeholders,” he said.

Sheikh Hussein Hamisi while thanking FAWE Kenya for the programmes called on fellow religious and political leaders to show commitment and sincerity in promoting girl child education noting in most cases the words are not backed with actions.

Ismail Bille Yusuf a student from County Council secondary school in Ijara sub-county regretted that gender equality remains far from being achieved blaming it on the failure of the community to embrace girl child education that has seen only a few empowered.

Maxwel Otieno, the chairman of the bodaboda sector lauded the initiative saying that many bodabodas have since become champions of girlchild education.

He said cases of teenage pregnancies that had been linked to bodaboda riders have since reduced calling for more bodabodas to be engaged.