USAID 4TheChild Commemorates International Day of the Girl Child
Caroline Ojenge Ogot addressing the girls during the International Day of the Girl Child Commemoration in Kisumu County, where she pledged to be the face of change and to raise awareness about factors that hold girls back.
USAID 4TheChild marked the International Day of the Girl Child in early October at the Angola Craft Center – a safe space for adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) in Kisumu County. The chief guest was Prof. Tom Ojienda, the Senator for Kisumu County, who was joined by Caroline Ojenge Ogot, a women's rights activist.
The theme of International Day of the Girl Child this year is “Our time is now – our rights, our future.” Girls in Kenya continue to face unprecedented challenges to their education, physical and mental wellness, and the protections needed for a life without violence. To eliminate such challenges, USAID 4TheChild is aiming to reach 14,467 AGYW across five sub-counties of Kisumu County with DREAMS (Determined, Resilient, Empowered, AIDS-free, Mentored, and Safe) interventions that seek to address key factors that make the girls particularly vulnerable to HIV.
Prof. Tom Ojienda, Senator for Kisumu County, engaging graduates of a 6-month tailoring course supported by USAID 4TheChild at Angola Craft Centre during the International Day of the Girl Child Commemoration.
USAID 4TheChild is a five-year PEPFAR-funded program, through USAID/Kenya and East Africa,
implemented by AMPATH partner Moi University College of Health Sciences (MUCHS) in a consortium with Make Me Smile-Kenya (MMS-K) and Kenya Community Development Foundation (KCDF).
“I call upon the national and county governments to make more targeted investments that tackle inequalities experienced by our girls,” Prof. Tom Ojienda said during the celebration. “I commit to playing my part as the Senator for Kisumu County to ensure that resources targeting the girls are put to proper use and are accounted for.”
Caroline Ojenge pledged to be the face of change and to raise awareness about factors that hold girls back.
During the celebrations, 39 AGYW graduated from Make Me Smile Kenya’s Angola Craft Centre after completing a 6-month tailoring course with support from USAID 4TheChild. The program also supported the girls with business start-up packs, giving them a chance to begin their businesses and achieve their DREAMS.
USAID 4TheChild Trains Youth Leaders to Harness Social Media to Disseminate COVID-19-related Messages and Mobilize Youth to Get Vaccinated
Many young people in Kenya find comfort in believing false information related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Misinformation regarding COVID-19 is prevalent on various social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and WhatsApp, which act as information hubs for youth.
The claims that the virus only kills old people with low immunity; that young people are resistant to infection; or that alcohol and dawa (medicine) cocktail can protect against it, have left young people vulnerable to being misled about the pandemic. Fearmongering COVID-19 vaccine stories that go viral online have added to the confusion and anxiety of an already pressured population, thereby threatening to derail government efforts to fight COVID-19.
Concerned by this emerging phenomenon, USAID 4TheChild devised strategies to mitigate the dis- and misinformation on social media while mobilizing communities to get vaccinated. USAID 4TheChild worked through the USAID-funded COVID-19 Response project that seeks to create demand for COVID-19 vaccination and support the county governments of Kakamega, Kisumu, and Siaya to accelerate widespread and equitable access to and delivery of safe and effective COVID-19 vaccinations.
USAID 4TheChild is a five-year PEPFAR-funded program, through USAID/Kenya and East Africa,
implemented by AMPATH partner Moi University College of Health Sciences (MUCHS) in a consortium with Make Me Smile-Kenya (MMS-K) and Kenya Community Development Foundation (KCDF).
The project has rolled-out a series of workshops to equip 340 youth leaders with skills and competencies to use social media to disseminate accurate and verifiable COVID-19 messages, combat dis- and misinformation, and mobilize people to get COVID-19 vaccines.
A section of youth leaders work together during a training on using social media to combat COVID-19 misinformation and encourage youth to get COVID-19 vaccines
A total of 217 youth leaders between 18 and 35-years-old have taken part in the workshops since February 2022. Participants were drawn from youth-led community centers, youth organizations, and community learning places across Kakamega, Kisumu, and Siaya counties.
The youth leaders received training on basic information on COVID-19; dispelling rumours, myths, and misconceptions about the disease; and prevention and containment measures. These sessions further enlightened the youth leaders on the status of COVID-19 in their areas/counties and exposed them to online platforms delivering reliable COVID-19-related messages to build their knowledge base. USAID 4TheChild equipped the youth champions with skills to use Canva to create and share accurate and verifiable COVID-19 information within their community through social media platforms.
“Stamping out misinformation about COVID-19 is critical to preventing infections and encouraging people to get vaccinated,” said Robert Onyando, the officer in charge of the USAID 4TheChild COVID-19 Response project in Siaya County. “It is best to fight misinformation regarding COVID-19 where it has been prevalent--the social media platforms.”
“Thank you for this opportunity. The training was very insightful and enlightening. I will improve my designing skills to create posters with COVID-19 messages to encourage my peers to get vaccines,” said Fred Ong’era, a training participant.
The trained youth leaders have since shown commitment to the COVID-19 response. They have become active producers, consumers and disseminators of factual and verifiable information on digital media. The information they produce and use have shaped attitudes and beliefs, eventually influencing their behaviours, as well as those of their peers and people around them.
Marion Atieno, a math student at Maseno University and a participant in the Kisumu training, highlighted her group’s innovation to use dance in raising awareness. The group uses TikTok, YouTube, and Facebook Reels to share dance videos with COVID-19-related messages.
“This opportunity allowed us to do something in our community so that they can take the issue of coronavirus seriously,” she said after posting her first ever video with COVID-19-related messages on TikTok. “The reactions from my peers tell it all, that infodemics impede access to COVID-19 vaccination services.”