Grace Akinyi ‘not her real name’ cuddles her baby looking intently at his eyes as he suckles away. Grace has gone through a lot of pressure from her family. Her mother is a single mother

A policy evidence report to strengthen the Sexual Offences Amendment Bill 2016 will be presented to Parliament by Nairobi Women Representative, Esther Parssaris.

“I am a born again Christian, born and has a lived here in Kibera. We lost our father in 2006 and so my mum raised me and brother single handed.  Life has been challenging but through

The thought of being mutilated sends shivers down my spine. As I read the stories online and see the young girls cry and wince in pain, I can only cringe in pain with them. This is immeasurable pain. This is gruesome cruel pain. I can only imagine the cries of the young girls who have to go through this heterogeneous practice.

Sometime back, I did not understand what FGM was but I met someone and she explained to me the different types of mutilation that our women and girls go through. Her description was horrendous. On further query she says that most cultures that practice it, say the woman is not meant to enjoy coitus.

Then I asked her, what will happen at birth, honestly, won’t this woman feel pain giving birth naturally? We stare at each other in disbelief. Maybe because she has not thought about that or she has the answer but she cannot explain further.

Years later, I build up the passion of engaging adolescent girls and women from Kibera informal settlements.  Some of the communities that reside in the slum actually practice female genital mutilation as a cultural requirement. When I glance at all these young beautiful faces, I can only decipher what some have faced. That is, if they have undergone FGM.

We as an organization have offered extensive mentorship to our adolescent girls within 50 primary schools. We have focused more on sexual reproductive health and rights. However, we have never encountered an adolescent girl willing to share her experience. This may be either for fear of stigmatization or fear itself.

According to UNICEF Data, at least 200 million girls and women alive today living in 31 countries have undergone FGM. The exact number of girls and women worldwide who have undergone FGM remains unknown there has been an overall decline in the prevalence of the practice over the last three decades, but not all countries have made progress and the pace of decline has been uneven.

Amongst the 17 commitments made by the Government of Kenya at the Nairobi Summit on ICPD25 was the elimination of female genital mutilation (FGM) in Kenya by 2022, ahead of the global target of 2030.

With the support of partners including the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the government through a multi-stakeholder approach has made progress on this commitment, including the training of over 4,000 law enforcement officers and community leaders on FGM prevention.

This is a great commitment by the Government towards using a multi-Sectoral approach. However, the Government needs to note that the urban areas need this form of advocacy and lobbying. We noted that most girls once they close school for long holidays often go to their rural areas to undergo the ‘cultural rite of passage.’

The question is how far has the Government of Kenya gone towards ending FGM? 2022 is just around the corner, have we managed to influence the mindset of that rural woman who still strongly believes this young girls need to be cut? What about those in urban centers who still believe in following their culture to the latter despite their harmful practices?

A friend of mine once said, some cultures in Kenya will not marry a lady who is not circumcised. I looked at her in disbelief.

According to WHO, Female Genital Mutilation comprises all procedures involving the removal of the external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons.

On average girls are subjected to FGM between birth and age 15. FGM is not prescribed by any religion and has no health benefits. On the contrary the practice can cause life-lasting physical and psychological trauma.

Immediate consequences of FGM include severe pain and bleeding, shock, difficulty in passing urine, infections, injury to nearby genital tissue and sometimes death.

When giving birth, the scar tissue might tear, or the opening needs to be cut to allow the baby to come out. After childbirth, women from some ethnic communities are often sown up again to make them “tight” for their husband (re-infibulation). Such cutting and re-stitching of a woman’s genitalia results in painful scar tissue.

In addition to the severe pain during and in the weeks following the cutting, women who have undergone FGM experience various long-term effects – physical, sexual and psychological.

We need to speak out as a country as a community as women as adolescent girls. We need to end this violence against women and girls.

Silence only allows FGM to continue. We must speak out and let our voices be heard. We can lead the change so that everyone walks with us.

#TowardsZeroToleranceonFGM

#EndFGM

#TheMarchContinues

#ICPD25+1

As the world marks the day on February 6, 2021, From commitment to action should be our focus as Civil Societies, Government and the Community.

FGM has to end.

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“We are so proud that POLYCOM DEVELOPMENT PROJECT is an active member of the Global Giving community.” A statement from Micheal Gale from global giving.

In 2020, Polycom Development

Raised

$ 6,033

on Global Giving to fund our vital work, at least $1,710 of which was raised by the Global Giving team through corporate partnerships, gift card redemptions, and/or our marketing efforts

Polycom Development Activated

58

donors to support our work on Global Giving.

Raised an average of

$52

from each donor this year

Polycom Development Raised

$1,111

in recurring donations from 8 monthly donors

Polycom Development Participated in

2

Global Giving campaigns and contests

We look forward to a more giving 2021 from all our partners and friends.

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COVID 19 has had a major impact in the economy of Kenya. The pandemic has largely affected various sectors and most affected is health. Kenya is ranked a middle-income country albeit its dwindling resources. The country suffered a heavy blow due to its unpreparedness in handling a pandemic. In this line, various hospitals such as Mbagathi District Hospital was converted to a COVID 19 response unit. This greatly affected the other services offered by the hospital and one critical area was the maternal and Neonatal clinic.

This resulted to many pregnant adolescent girls and mothers from Kibera area affected by the lack of such essential services within Nairobi. To survive, the women had to look for alternative service providers. Unfortunately, most resorted to giving birth at home for fear of contacting the disease. Most of the mothers avoided hospitals and preferred using mid-wives.

This posed a great risk for the mother and the unborn baby.

Various Organizations, working in Urban informal settlements have converged together to form a coalition that will voice the concerns of maternal health and neonatal health risks within Kenya. Through this coalition, maternal health as well as neonatal health will have a strong voice and base for championing the rights of women, adolescent girls as well as children in Urban informal settlements.

Polycom Development project, an NGO working in Kibera has gracefully joined the other civil societies. Together we believe that our voices will have a stronger effect and will push the agenda for the sake of our mothers and children.

This process has been supported by E4A Mama Ye and Options Consultancy. E4A-MamaYe catalyzes change by bringing together groups (including government, civil society and health practitioners) to use existing information and resources to:

1. Identify the reasons why women and babies are dying.  
2. Agree on how available resources can be used most effectively to address these reasons.  
3. Advocate for the changes needed.

As a result, government and health practitioners are better able to respond appropriately to the issues causing unnecessary deaths and injuries. This means women and children have better access to improved quality health services, more women having safe births.

The third Global grassroots women’s congress commenced on January 26^th and ends on January 28^th 20201. This is a platform where network members meet to collectively share and reflect on their achievements during the previous year and make important strategic decisions for collective action in the year. Polycom Development has been at the forefront championing for the empowerment of women in a world where the voices of women often go unheard. This year we focus on highlighting the plight of women as we strategically align all the activities for a more liberated woman.

Polycom family wishes you a successful 2021

2021 is a year filled with many prospects. 2020 provided a different avenue through which we saw our program activities from a different perspective. We look forward to more engagement with you as we strive as an organization to ensure a community that has empowered liberated women.

We look forward to more powerful engagements.

Thank you for showing your encouragement in our projects and funding them. We look forward to work harder and touch new heights.

Best wishes from Polycom family