Educate girls and fight poverty in Kenya

Since 2007, WGEP has worked in rural Kenya to provide access to quality education and supplemental programs to empower women and girls to build better lives and foster equitable and sustainable communities. Recognizing that educating girls in marginalized and impoverished communities is a multi-faceted challenge, WGEP employs a holistic approach by involving entire communities and finding solutions for the varied contextual barriers that may keep girls from accessing an education.

As part of our support to help girls thrive in school, WGEP offers reproductive health education to lower incidences of HIV and teen pregnancy.Our targeted workshops and seminars inform scholars on a range of important topics including: anatomy, puberty & development, sexually transmitted infections, contraception and family planning, consent and decision-making.

This is important because Kenya has one of the highest prevlances of HIV in the world. Moreover, women are disproportionately affected by HIV in Kenya, with 7.6% of women living with HIV compared with 5.6% of men (UNAIDS, 2017). Young women (age 15-24) account for up to 21% of all new HIV infections with a prevalence of between 4-6 times higher than males of the same age. However, only 56% of women and 66% of men have comprehensive knowledge about HIV and AIDS prevention and transmission (Kenya Demographic Health Survey, 2014). Teenage pregnancy is also a major issue. Across Kenya, 18% of adolescent women (age 15-19) are already mothers or pregnant (KDHS, 2014).

Our reproductive health education workshops have proven greatly effective in expanding our scholar's base of knowledge. WGEP scholar Jacklyn said of the workshops: "I learned so much that I never knew before. I feel now that I have the knowledge I need to stay healthy and safe."

Thank you for supporting WGEP programs like our reproductive health workshops!

Links:

• WGEP Facebook page
• WGEP website