The Forum for African Women Educationists (FAWE) has joined in the fight against teenage pregnancies and rampant school drop-out in Narok County.
Speaking during a stakeholders meeting in Narok county, FAWE representative Monica Morara said the organization has come up with a programme dubbed ‘Tamatisha’ that aims at empowering teenagers to curb early pregnancies in Kenya during, and beyond the Covid-19 crisis.
“We are in the process of making an assessment on current teenage pregnancies and school drop outs and advice apt solutions while laying the groundwork for future assessments by providing a detailed overview of the situation at the beginning of the Tamatisha,” said Ms. Morara.
The organization is holding similar programmes in Nairobi, Kajiado and Machakos Counties where they are advocating for 100 per cent transition from primary to secondary schools.
The meeting was held in a Narok hotel and attended by Narok North Deputy County Commissioner Silas Gatobu and various heads of department among them gender, children, education and youth affairs.
Gatobu called upon the stakeholders to consolidate their efforts so as to avoid duplication of activities in order to be effective in ending teenage pregnancies.
“All stakeholders fighting teenage pregnancies should come out in the open to show what they are doing so that we can avoid a repetition of the same activities. We need to speak in one voice to help our girls complete their education,” said Gatobu.
At the same time, he called for the active involvement of village elders, cultural leaders and religious leaders in the fight to end the vice.
The meeting observed that the main challenge faced in fighting teenage pregnancies is that efforts to address sexual and reproductive matters are restricted by parents, religious leaders, political leaders and other stakeholders despite the mounting evidence of earlier sexual debuts.
According to statistics released by Kenya Demographic and Health survey, 2014, Narok County was leading with teenage pregnancy at 40 percent above the country average of 18 percent.
By Ann Salaton
