Defenders Coalition joined NASARU Women- a women-led grass root organisation to support the 2020-Interventions to Protect and Empower Girls (IPEG) During Covid-19  Mentorship Program in Magadi Ward, Kajiado County.

The partnership also brought on board the Office of the First Lady in Kajiado County.

Through the partnership, Defenders Coalition facilitated a broad based advocacy forum where school-going girls and young mothers came together to be sensitised on  Covid-19, its effects and the possible ways of mitigating the effects.

The young girls were engaged in a peer-peer conversation which sought to interrogate and promote the culture of information sharing among the girls. Community leaders, including those from NASARU Women and Defenders Coalition held a mentorship and empowerment talk on vices including gender based violence, female genital mutilation, teenage pregnancies, bidding and early marriages.

Juliana Rono, Founder of NASARU Women addressing the young girls during the sensitisation forum in Kajiado

It is paramount to note that following the COVID-19 pandemic and the various government measures to contain the spread of the virus,  including closing of schools, human rights defenders and government institutions have warned of a spike in the number of teenage pregnancies in the country, with Kajiado County being named third in the reports released by the Kenya Health Information System— an online reporting platform present in most local health facilities since 2011.

The intervention also provided the young girls with sanitary towels, face masks and soap to facilitate a holistic response and combating the spread of corona virus disease.

The long-term aim of this intervention is to develop an effective advocacy effort from local networks of support and purposeful mentoring for girls themselves to develop their active and effective representation in advocacy efforts that advance and challenge harmful norms within their communities.