International Day of the Girl Child
CES Canada is passionate about and actively
supports girl’s rights and gender sensitivity. The difference education makes
in the life of a girl is monumental.
Investing in youth is a social justice imperative. It is also a key
strategy to fight poverty and to lift a society above the levels of mere
survival. The inclusion of girls is essential to integrating human rights with
progress and development.
All children have the right to a quality
education in a safe environment in which they can learn and thrive and fulfill
their potential. For girls in particular this means an investment in education
and in health, including comprehensive sexuality education in and out of school.
Discrimination against girls includes
health inequities, harmful traditional practices, gender-based violence, and
social and economic discrimination. Girls are less likely to be literate and to have completed
secondary schooling, and they are less likely to have the means to defend their
rights and access justice.
Eliminating all forms of gender-based
violence against women and girls and sexual abuse of children including child
or early marriage and female genital mutilation is essential. So too is justice
and access to health, social and legal services for all victims of exploitation
and human trafficking.
The effect of secondary schooling on the
health of mothers and children is well-documented. Girls in Kenya who achieve
the KCSE have a better chance to access employment and medical care for
themselves and their families. Equal access to land, property and inheritance
however remain a cultural problem for women.
In Kenya, most schools do have gender
responsive sanitary facilities. Toilet areas are usually separate for both boys
and girls but they do not offer any sense of privacy. In these bathrooms, there
is a bucket and soap to be used by girls should they start menstruation while
at school.
Over 100 girls sponsored by CES Canada are given basic needs like
soap, uniform, sanitary pads, anti-malaria mosquito nets, writing materials and
school bags to ensure their regular attendance in school. Students who can only
access latrines have a greater risk of getting worms, diarrhea and other
diseases such as cholera.
CES Canada in partnership with UNICEF’s
Wash in Schools (WinS) Program is actively encouraging schools to push the
agenda of washing hands with soap. In addition, the addition of sources of
clean water through the provision of wells at 10 schools has helped to create
healthier school communities.
These basic provisions not only raise the
status of the girl child in school, they ensure a healthier student capable of
meeting the demands of secondary school education. Improved school attendance means increased retention rates
and higher grades. Equal
opportunity with boys to learn and create a future of their choice is the ideal
to which CES Canada in Kenya strives to achieve.
