Nyamira South Sub County Deputy County Commissioner, Julius Otieno has affirmed that teamwork was needed to end outdated Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in the region.
Addressing the County Anti-FGM steering Committee members in Nyamira, Otieno said the fight against FGM is not a one-man or department show but rather a synergy by all relevant stakeholders who should team up and craft ways to end the vice.
“The President’s directive of ending FGM by 2022 requires people to pull together towards a common course so that we can preserve the dignity of our girls in this area and give them opportunity to attain optimum potential in their education and career dreams,” the DCC emphasized.
“Gusii region has for a long time practiced FGM as a rite of passage for girls from childhood to adulthood but in the recent past the practice is administered to minors who have neither understood how their bodies work nor able to reject the cut as decisions are solely made by their parents,” Mr. Otieno said.
Nyamira County Gender Officer, Ronald Mang’aa said the steering committee launched on Friday would campaign against FGM by sensitizing the community on the adverse effects of FGM to girls.
“Medicalization of FGM in Gusiiland has made it difficult for administrators to arrest perpetrators of FGM but we shall now start engaging the entire community leadership in training and sensitizing residents to shun the practice,” said the gender officer.
He further observed that rising sexual abuse among girls has pushed many of them into unplanned motherhood forcing them to drop out of school and opt for early marriages.
While presiding over the launch of the County Anti FGM Steering Committee on Friday Mr. James Sang’ori, Director at State Department for Gender, had emphasized that the committee must engage meaningfully to clearly understand its role in the president’s directive to end FGM by 2022.
By Deborah Bochere
