NMS launches gender-based violence centre in Eastleigh

NMS Director General Mohammed Badi at a past interview in his Nairobi office. He says the INSTITUTION has embarked on integrating SGBV centres in various health facilities across Nairobi County.

Photo credit: Francis Nderitu | Nation Media Group

What you need to know:

  • NMS Director-General Lieutenant General Mohamed Badi, commissioned a centre, dubbed ‘Tumaini Clinic’,  at the Eastleigh Health Centre in Nairobi, last week.
  • The facility will serve residents of Kamukunji Constituency, a high risk area, for incidences of sexual and gender-based violence where 2,449 SGBV cases have been reported this year.

A gender-based violence (GBV)/ Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) centre has been launched at the Eastleigh Health Centre in Nairobi.

Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) Director-General Lieutenant General Mohamed Badi, commissioned the centre, dubbed ‘Tumaini Clinic’, last week.

Speaking during the launch, Lieutenant General Badi took cognisance of the rising cases of SGBV cases in Nairobi exacerbated by Covid-19 pandemic.

“NMS has undertaken a number of interventions to curb the rise of SGBV cases in Nairobi. We have embarked on integrating SGBV centres in various health facilities across Nairobi County including Baba Dogo Level 3 Hospital, Kasarani Level 3 Hospital, Mukuru Health Centre, Ushirika Dispensary, and Mama Lucy Kibaki Hospital among others,” he said.

The facility brings the total number of SGBV centres in Nairobi County to 46 with 22 of them being under the NMS.

The Eastleigh Tumaini Clinic is set to serve residents of Kamukunji Constituency, a high risk area, for incidences of sexual and gender-based violence where 2,449 SGBV cases have been reported this year.

Sexual violence

The centres are a timely intervention given that Kenya's capital city had been flagged as one of the most hostile counties to women in an earlier Federation of Women Lawyers-Kenya (Fida-Kenya) study.

Furthermore, in a 2020 landmark judgment, the High Court found that the government had an obligation to protect women from sexual violence and provide appropriate remedies to women whose rights are violated.

According to the NMS, Tumaini clinics across the country, have so far served 5,440 survivors with the promise to convert more idle county government houses into safe houses.

The NMS has, therefore, committed to work in collaboration with Nairobi City County Government to ensure proper welfare of survivors and victims of SGBV.