Kenya has pledged a Ksh.2.4 billion investment in the fight against Gender Based Violence (GBV) programme by the year 2022.
There will also be an increase in budgetary allocation to the tune of Ksh.5.3 billion come 2026 to eradicate the irking matter in Africa which has been exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic.
Speaking on Wednesday while in France, President Uhuru Kenyatta also said the investment will include an annual investment of Ksh.107.9 million for a research fund and a GBV survivors kitty.
“To meaningfully deliver on these commitments will require substantial funding. It is my hope that a key outcome of the GEF will be a significant increase in funding from international partners to boost domestic efforts to eliminate GBV,” President Kenyatta said.
The President also announced Kenya’s elaborate plans to introduce data supported policies in her anti-GBV efforts.
This will include a specific module in 2020 annual demographic health survey, the rollout of an electronic information management system, and integration of GBV in the country’s Universal Health Coverage programme.
President Kenyatta assured the global leaders that Kenya was committed to ending all forms of GBV by the year 2030 with a continued tightened anti-GBV policies by adopting relevant international treaties including the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention 190.
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“Kenya has made significant progress in addressing Gender Based Violence. I have made a personal commitment to end Female Genital Mutilation during my tenure and to end all forms of Gender Based Violence by 2030 as envisioned in the Sustainable Development Goals,” he said.
To enforce the policies, President Kenyatta said Kenya will implement an integrated national police service response mechanism dubbed ‘policare’ as well as establish GBV recovery centres in all the 47 counties in Kenya.
GBV is a global concern that has affected over 36 percent of women aged between 15 and 49 years with Africa having recorded a spike in GBV in the past year.
According to President Kenyatta, Kenya, Liberia, Central African Republic recorded a spike in GBV at 50 percent followed by South Africa at 37 percent then Cameroon at 35 percent in the last 12 months.
“COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the situation, and turned Gender Based Violence into a global emergency. Emerging data indicates a surge of at least 25 percent in violence against women around the world,” President Kenyatta said.
The Kenyan Head of State spoke on Wednesday evening during a panel discussion at the opening session of the Generation Equality Forum (GEF) in Paris, France. GEF is a global gender equality gathering convened by United Nations Women and co-hosted by Mexico and France.
It was hosted by French leader President Emmanuel Macron and graced by several global leaders among them UN Secretary General Antonio Guteress and EU Council President Charles Michel, President Kenyatta rallied the international community to commit more financial resources to the global fight against GBV.
US Vice President Kamala Harris, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa as well as German Chancellor Angela Merkel also addressed the opening session of the three-day global conference.
Other notable speakers were Prime Minister of Finland Sanna Marin, President of Mexico Andres Obrador and his Argentina counterpart Alberto Fernandez as well as former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Melinda Gates of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and President of the African Development Bank Akinwumi Adesina.
In their speeches, Prime Minister Marin and Mrs Gates announced financial commitments of Ksh.19.1 billion (150 million Euros) and Ksh.225.6 billion (2.1 billion US Dollars) in new funding for the global gender equality agenda.
