SPEECH BY AMB. (DR). AMINA C. MOHAMED, EGH, CAV, CABINET SECRETARY SPORTS, CULTURE, AND HERITAGE ON THE OCCASION OF THE SAMBURU GIRLS RESCUE CENTRE CHARITY GOLF AT MUTHAIGA GOLF CLUB ON FRIDAY, APRIL 1 2022
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,
It gives me great pleasure to join you today for this noble charity dinner.
Today’s event is a reminder that as a society we have a great responsibility to correct the wrongs meted out against vulnerable groups and support the empowerment of girls and women.
As a ministry, we recognize that some cultural practices are detrimental to the lives of women and children, especially in pastoralist communities, and have put in place measures to eradicate such heinous practices.
In Samburu, for instance, law enforcement personnel have managed to stop several child marriages that would have thrown the future of our girls into an abyss.
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,
Sports play an important role in correcting ‘cultural mistakes’ by raising awareness around social issues that affect the sexual and reproductive health of our women and girls.
We have been able to use sports activities, including the Agnes Tirop Cross Country Championship as platforms to sensitize the public on the benefit of gender equity and equality. Further, I am thankful to the organizers of the golf tournament held today, for following suit in using sports as a tool to end Gender-based Violence.
I would like to recognize the efforts of organizations such as the Sisters of Mary Immaculate which shelters, rehabilitates, and educates girls rescued from the grips of perpetrators of Sexual and Gender-based Violence.
I am glad to know that, since its inception in 2002, the Mary Immaculate Sisters Centre in Suguta-Marmar has been home to more than 450 girls who have since progressed to become successful career women in different fields.
This evening, therefore, I would like to urge all of us to work together in support of such initiatives to ensure our girls from vulnerable communities have a conducive environment to succeed.
Thank you!