Ndoto Halisi, initiative to empower girls

A few minutes to 8am, Aisha, who prefers to be identified by her first name, arrives at Juwaba Social Hall at Kilifi North sub-county, Kilifi County on a motorbike. To her chest, the 18-year-old has wrapped her four-month old son.

She is a Class Eight pupil at a local primary school in Kilifi South Sub-county, 20 minutes away from the hall.

Today, the teenage mother opted to skip school to attend the youth forum because the community mobilisers informed her that she would learn how to achieve her dreams.

The forum has been convened by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) under the Kenya Ni Mimi Youth dialogue platform spearheaded by the Ministry of ICT, Innovation and Youth Chief Administrative Secretary (CAS) Nadia Abdalla.

It is December 7, a Tuesday, which at the time of the interview, she would be attending an English or Mathematics lesson but she preferred to be here.

“My mother allowed me to come. She gave me Sh250 for transport,” she says as she takes off her son's beanie hat. He is becoming fussy under the searing sun.

“I am here because I want to know how Nadia made it. I want to be a lawyer," she says.

Gender-based violence

CAS Abdalla is here today to meet young men and women to not only speak to them about their role in ending gender-based violence, but to also popularise her Ndoto Halisi campaign born out of her book, Of Dreams and Whatever.

The book gives insights on self-development, self-identity and women in leadership. With the support from UNFPA, Ms Abdalla seeks to empower girls to overcome their challenges such as teenage pregnancy to realise their dreams.

Aisha was impregnated by her fellow classmate with whom they had been in a one-year intimate relationship. But when she informed him of the pregnancy, he denied responsibility and warned her against associating with him from then onwards.

Her mother has been very supportive of her. She attended school until a day before she delivered.

It is her mother who went to the school to inform the head teacher that she had delivered. The administration allowed her to stay with her baby for two weeks.

“I wasn’t ready to go back to school at the end of the two weeks, so I stayed home for another two weeks,” she says.

“My mother looks after my son and she is always encouraging me to work hard to become whatever I want to be. That’s why I am here,” she says with a smile.

She would benefit from the initiative as CAS Abdalla targets marginalised girls in Mombasa, Kilifi, Lamu, Garissa, Isiolo and Nairobi counties.

She seeks to recruit champions in each of the targeted counties to amplify the campaign through grassroots forums and digital platforms.

“I want to reach every girl and let them know their dreams are legit and they should hold onto them until they achieve them,” she said during an interview at the social hall.

UNFPA representative for Kenya, Dr Ademola Olajide said the campaign furthers the agenda of the past and existing initiatives promoting elimination of GBV such as recent Iten End GBV 10km road race and online campaign #NitasimamaImara, which targets men as allies in ending violence against women.

End of GBV

Dr Olajide said: “Athletes unite Kenyans. It, therefore, helps to use them to pass the message. They are also vulnerable and the race is meant to champion for end of GBV among them and across Kenya.”

“We need to have a holistic approach in the fight against GBV. Men and boys must stand firm against any form of violence,” he added.

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