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Gender

MAKUENI SHINES WITH THREE AWARDS AT GENDER JUSTICE GALA

Makueni County emerged as a top achiever during the inaugural Gender Justice Change Makers Awards held on Thursday night at a Nairobi hotel, bringing home three prestigious honors.

Makueni Governor Mutula Kilonzo Jr. was honored with the 2024 Gender Justice Award for Enabling Legal Environment, acknowledging his commitment to fostering policies that promote gender equity. The county’s Sector Working Group was recognized as the second runners-up, highlighting its collaborative efforts in advancing gender justice. Additionally, the County Director of Gender, Children and Social Services received an award for outstanding contributions to gender justice initiatives.

The event,organized by Equality Now, celebrated the transformative work of individuals and institutions in addressing sexual and gender-based violence while creating a platform to discuss persisting challenges in the fight for gender equality.

Receiving the awards on behalf of the county, Deputy Governor Lucy Mulili lauded Makueni’s progress in policy development, including the implementation of the Social Protection Policy, Gender Policy, Sexual Harassment at the Workplace Policy, and Children Policy, among others.

Mulili underscored the county’s commitment to ensuring a fair and inclusive society for all, adding that the awards gala brought together stakeholders from across the country, reaffirming a shared dedication to eliminating gender-based violence and advancing justice for vulnerable groups.

MAKUENI COUNTY STRENGTHENS COLLABORATION WITH AIRD TO BOOST DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVES

Makueni, through the Department of Gender, Children, Youth, Sports and Social Services has formalized its working partnership with Africa Initiative For Rural Development (AiRD) to enhance development co-creation.

The Non-Governmental Organization has been working in the county without any formal framework for collaboration with the county government, even though it has implemented highly transformative and impactful community projects and programs.

Some of the projects include drilling of a 50 cubic meters water borehole at Mutyambua and another in Kiima Kiu. Governor Mutula Kilonzo Jr has said the county government will inject funds for distribution to reach as many households as possible. Other projects include training of 785 young people on entrepreneurship; joint resource mobilization for socio-economic interventions; Research on emerging issues and possible interventions.

Governor Mutula Kilonzo Jr and AiRD Chief Executive Officer Fredrick Kasina signed the agreement in Wote, Tuesday, during a round table discussion to enhance the partnership.

MAKUENI HOSTS NATIONAL LAUNCH OF 16 DAYS OF ACTIVISM AGAINST GENDER VIOLENCE

Makueni County is hosting the 2024 National Launch of 16 Days of campaign against Gender-Based Violence.

The global campaign, observed annually from November 25 to December 10, aims to raise awareness and oppose violence against women and children.

The event is graced by among others:Principal Secretary for Parliamentary Affairs Aurelia Rono, Principal Secretary for Gender and Affirmative Action Ann Wangombe, Deputy Governor Lucy Mulili, Nairobi County MP Esther Passaris, Makueni Senator Daniel Maanzo and County MP Rose Museo.

As the World begins marking 16 days of fight against all forms of Gender-Based Violence, Makueni County has made strides in this fight through:

1. Development of key policies namely; Makueni County Sexual and Gender Based Violence policy, Makueni County Gender Policy, Makueni County Children Policy, Makueni County Sexual harassment at Workplace Policy, Makueni County Social Protection Policy and Makueni County Disability Policy,

2. Established a Makueni Gender Based Violence Recovery Centre at the Wote Level 5 hospital. The recovery center provides support to survivors of Gender Based Violence (GBV) and their families through the provision of comprehensive free medical treatment and psychosocial support to survivors of physical, sexual, emotional or psychological abuse;

3. Established an emergency safe shelter in one of the health centres with a 14-bed capacity each (8 for women and 6 for men) for short term placement of most vulnerable survivors of GBV;

4. Signed a 5-year MOU with Gender Violence Recovery Centre of Nairobi Womens hospital- to ensure prevention, reporting and quick response to GBV in Makueni;

5. Signed a 3-year MOU with Equality Now-Africa-to promote response, prevention and management of all forms of GBV in Makueni;

6. Organized safe spaces forums and children conferences targeting children between the ages of 10-17 years where 7,280 out of which 4,049 girls and 3,231 boys were empowered;

7. Developed walking galleries and gallery cards with children voices to enhance awareness on child protection;

8. Developed a duty bearers booklet and a children booklet on child protection and the need for creation of safe spaces;

9. Organized roadshows in all the major markets across the county to sensitize and create awareness on GBV;

10. Established and trained community-based child protection committees across the county that comprise of sub county administrators, social development officers, OCS, ECDE coordinator, volunteer children officers and children coordinators.

MAKUENI SET TO ESTABLISH MOBILITY DEVICES FITTING CENTRE IN PARTNERSHIP WITH HOPE INTERNATIONAL

Makueni is set to establish a wheelchair and other mobility devices fitting and modification centre in Wote town to address the mobility challenges of People with Disabilities (PWDs).

Governor Mutula Kilonzo Jr has said Hope Mobility Kenya, which has a 5-year working partnership with the Government of Makueni County, will offer the technical support needed to establish this centre as well as train identified persons on wheelchair modification.

Hope Mobility founder Michael Panther who toured Makueni for issuance of 400 wheelchairs said this centre will be key in addressing the diverse disability needs. On many occasions, people with mobility challenges have been issued the wrong chairs in relation to their condition, thus endangering their health.

Governor Mutula says this centre will be enhanced to become a one-stop point for all disability issues ranging from vocational training, assessment, fitting and capacity building.

On Thursday, Makueni and Hope Mobility concluded a 3-day fitting and issuance of 400 wheelchairs.

NEW LEASE OF LIFE FOR 400 PWDs AS THEY GET MODERN WHEELCHAIRS

The Department of Gender, Children, Youth, Sports and Social Services  in partnership with Hope Mobility Kenya  has kicked off a 3-day exercise to fit and issue wheelchairs to 400 persons  living with disabilities in the county.  

The Sh 20M worth of chairs are modified and assembled to fit the specific needs of the beneficiaries in relation to their disability. 

Governor Mutula Kilonzo Jr on Tuesday flagged off the exercise at the Makueni Integrated Vocational Education Centre in Wote.  He said this is part of his administration’s inclusivity agenda where no one is left behind in the county development agenda, their age, status in society or physical location notwithstanding.  

The county government has a five-year Memorandum of Understanding with Hope Mobility Kenya which will see more needy residents benefit from mobility assistive devices over the partnership period.

MAKUENI COUNTY DISABILITY POLICY DEVELOPMENT

The Department of Gender, Children, Youth, Sports, and Social Services on Wednesday held a stakeholders’ engagement forum to review the draft Makueni County Disability Policy.

The forum, supported by Women Challenged to Challenge and the United Disabled Persons of Kenya, aimed to address the needs and concerns of people living with disabilities in the county.

Key discussions focused on inclusivity, the welfare of persons with disabilities, and the protection of their rights, in a bid to improve outcomes for the disabled community.

PS GENDER, GOVERNOR KILONZO DISCUSS PLANS FOR GBV COURT IN MAKUENI.

The Principal Secretary for the State Department of Gender and Affirmative Action, Ann Wang’ombe, Dr.Sam Thenya, Founder Nairobi Women’s Group paid a courtesy call to Makueni Governor Mutula Kilonzo Jr. at his Wote office on Wednesday.

During their meeting, they explored a potential collaboration with the judiciary to establish a specialized court at the Makueni Law Courts dedicated to addressing gender-based violence (GBV) cases.

Governor Kilonzo emphasized the importance of law enforcement in ensuring GBV laws are strictly upheld.

PS Wang’ombe is in Makueni to attend a gender sensitization forum aimed at promoting gender mainstreaming for a more equitable society.

The forum brings together the county’s CECs, Chief Officers, directors, the Gender Assembly Committee, Makueni High Court presiding judge, County Police Commander, and other key stakeholders in gender and child protection.

MAKUENI DEPUTY GOVERNOR HANDS TOOLS OF TRADE TO 90 YOUNG PEOPLE.

Atleast 90 young people from across the county have been handed tools of trade by the County Government of Makueni to start their own businesses.

The 90 have undergone an intensive 8-week on-the-job training under the supervision of identified master craftsmen through a program dubbed UJUZI TEKE TEKE by the Department of Gender, Children, Youth, Sports and Social Services.

The program, according to Gender Executive Committee Member Eng. Peter Mumo, is geared towards bridging the capital gap in entrepreneurial development by young people.

Deputy Governor Lucy Mulili who graced the event held at the Makueni Integrated Vocational Education Centre, Wote, said the county government aims to create a critical mass of skilled man power who can steer the county economy through self-employment and provision of cheap skilled labour.

THE DEPARTMENT OF GENDER, CHILDREN, YOUTH, SPORTS AND SOCIAL SERVICES HAS CONCLUDED A HIGH-LEVEL STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT FORUM ON ULTRA POOR GRADUATION (UPG) POLICY IN WOTE.

The Department of Gender, Children, Youth, Sports and Social Services has concluded a high level stakeholder engagement forum on Ultra Poor Graduation (UPG) Policy in Wote.

The policy which is steered by the department in partnership with Village Enterprise aims to create a framework for resource mobilization to help ultra poor residents build financial capacity and graduate to socio-economic resilience and self sufficiency.

Once graduated, the beneficiaries will be in a position to acquire financial capacity to access banking facilities either from mainstream banks or the Makueni County Empowerement Fund (MCEF).

MAKUENI COUNTY PARTNERS WITH SAFARICOM FOR DIGITIZATION OF TETHEKA FUND.

On Tuesday, Makueni County’s Executive Committee Member for Gender, Eng. Peter Mumo, along with his ICT counterpart, Elizabeth Muli, led a multi-sectoral team of officers and stakeholders in reviewing the status of the Makueni County Empowerment Fund’s (Tetheka) new digital system, developed in partnership with Safaricom.

This digital system aims to automate the entire process of Tetheka loans—from application and processing to lending and payment. The primary goals are to enhance inclusion, efficiency, transparency, recovery, and overall accountability.

Eng. Mumo said the system is poised to revolutionize affordable credit access for women, youth, and persons with disabilities, improving their financial empowerment.

The review meeting in Nairobi was also attended by representatives of the Makueni County Assembly Committee on Gender, and representatives from the World Food Programme, our key development partner in social empowerment.