Establish Girls' Empowerment Centre in Rural Kenya

In this quarter, we report on the girls’ forum conducted in Kuria West Sub County, Migori County. The Kuria community is one of the communities in Kenya that still vehemently believes in female genital mutilation (FGM) as a rite of passage. Other than the physical pain of undergoing FGM, the practise inadvertently contributes to school dropouts and early/child marriage.

The forum attracted 203 adolescent girls and young women (AGYW), both in-school and out-of-school girls, the in-school girls accompanied by their Life-skill teachers. The discussions covered topics on the Triple Threat (teen pregnancy, HIV and gender based violence), the demerits of FGM and how the two interconnect, contextualising them to realities in the community. Facilitations were done by invited stakeholders such as the life skill teachers, community health promoters, community health extension workers, Sub County Adolescent and Youth Coordinator and qualified representatives from NIGEE. There was also an open session where the AGYW expressed their fears, most of them around being forced to undergo FGM at the coming ‘cutting’ season, being forced into marriage as early as at 16 years because a girl’s value is quoted in terms of the bride price, girls being forced into child labour, specifically to gold-mining sites and to sell rice from Tanzania (the community lives along the Kenya/Tanzania border). The Q&A session addressed anonymised questions touching on the girls’ sexuality and sexual rights – the anonymity was encouraged for allow for questions to be asked without fear of reprimand from the stakeholders present as well as from peers. A safe, confidential space was designated for provision of counselling to survivors of gender based violence, FGM and those dealing with early marriage and other life’s pressures. The counsellors offered one-on-one support, emotional first aid and referrals to health facilities for further monitoring.

• GLOBAL_GIVING_JUNE_2026.pdf (PDF)