Nakuru County Director for Gender has raised a red flag over an increasing number of boys dropping out of school and joining organized criminal gangs due to lack of mentorship and empowerment.
Mr Clement Gisore, attached to the State Department of Gender expressed concern that stakeholders including the family unit, religious, learning institutions, policymakers and mentors have placed greater emphasis on the empowerment of the girl-child to the disadvantage of the boy-child.
Speaking during a training workshop at a Nakuru hotel on strengthening documentation of Gender-Based- Violence (GBV) for the County Gender sector working committee, the Director advocated for the empowerment of both in order to achieve equity.
“Young men are literally “on their own” in this world. They maneuver their way in life with little or no mentorship. We need the right guardians who will give young boys platforms to learn from the most experienced and assist them to develop holistically,’’ he said.
He urged men to deliberately make themselves visible and available mentors in their families and communities for the sake of the boy-child instead of just watching and criticizing them for their shortcomings and yet they lack proper guidance.
He expressed concern that the Covid-19 pandemic had contributed to increased cases of Gender-Based Violence, early marriages and teenage pregnancies, which the media has highlighted.
However, he noted that as the world empathizes with the grim situation of the girl-child and formulating programs for their rescue, little attention was focused on the boy-child who has equally been affected, but lacks articulators of their issues.
The director appealed to NGOs and other benefactors to make it a habit of donating inner clothes and soap to the boy-child whenever they donate sanitary pads to the girl-child so as to make the formers feel appreciated by society.
In addition, he said the government is working with the civil society, NGOs, security agencies and health care providers on detection, documentation, prevention and legal remedies for GBV survivors.
He said security agencies were concern at the high-rate young boys were being recruited to gangster groups in the town and urged parents to protect and meet their daily needs instead of encouraging hustling.
By Veronica Bosibori
