Long walk to gender equality for Samburu girls

Josephine Naserian (not her real name) sits pensively in her mother’s

manyatta, nursing her three-month-old baby.

Next to her in this quiet and cramped bedroom that also serves as

the living area is her mother, equally absorbed in thought.

This is Kisima village, near Maralal town, in Samburu County, a place

that has become Naserian’s home after the man who impregnated

her absconded his responsibilities.

“This is not what I bargained for. But I have to accept and support my

daughter,” says Naserian’s mother.

Naserian’s world crumbled when she had to drop out of school in

2023 while in Form Two due to pregnancy. Her dream of becoming a

teacher was shattered.

Today, her fate lies in her father’s hands.

Naserian’s only consolation was that the perpetrator, a moran, paid

a penalty to the family for the troubles he caused her. This was after

elders adjudicated the matter and asked him to pay the fine.

“I don’t know what the future holds for me and my baby because my

fate is in the hands of my father,” says Naserian, “I have observed

them holding several meetings but we are not privy to any of the

discussions.”

According to 18-year-old Naserian, going back to school is the best

option for her to realise her dream. But there are many challenges

she has to overcome, especially after being in a boarding school.

“The nearest school from here is about 10 kilometres away and I am

unable to commute due the distance,” she says.

“On the other hand, I have no one to take care of my baby because

my mother is overwhelmed with household chores, which include

taking care of livestock.”



Naserian is among many girls in Samburu County whose future hangs

in the balance due to unplanned pregnancies and child marriages.

This has impacted on the efforts to increase the number of women

and girls empowered in this communities. It is no surprise that

Samburu County is one of those lagging behind in gender equality

ratings.

It is equally sad to note that while Kenya celebrates remarkable

progress towards gender parity in institutions of learning, the story is

different for girls from pastoralist communities. For young women

like Naserian, the theme for the 2024 Women’s Day of Investing in

Women to Accelerate Progress is a must do.

According to Milcah Lolkurum, the Executive Director for Community

Safety Initiative based in Maralal, the pastoralist girl child faces

myriad challenges on their pathway to empowerment. These include

retrogressive cultures such as Female Genital Mutilation and child

marriages.

“The education of the girl child is not prioritised by families since

they are looked at in terms of the number of livestock they will bring,

in terms of bride price when they are married off to older men,”

laments Lolkorum.

Lolkorum adds that many girls are denied justice when they face

violations as their cases are resolved by elders as was the case with

Naserian. A modest penalty in form of livestock and cash is paid and

that is it.

She says the county is yet to recover from the effects of Covid-19

when many girls were married off to morans who had just graduated

during the lock down.

According to a study conducted by the Kenya Institute for Public

Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA) titled: Towards Attainment of

Gender Equality in Kenya’s Education Sector, Kenya has made

progress in achieving gender parity with successes in areas such as

pre-primary and primary education. However, gender disparities

persist in secondary and tertiary education.



However, in marginalised communities, these gains have been

eroded by some of the socio-cultural practices.

Like other countries, Kenya has committed to ensure inclusive,

quality education for all by 2030 in line with the Sustainable

Development Goal (SDG) No. 4. The enactment of the Constitution of

Kenya in 2010, and the Basic Education Act of 2013, emphasises the

right to education for all children, regardless of gender.

Reports from the World Bank indicate that literacy rate in Kenya

currently stands at 83%, only a 4% increase from the 2014 literacy

rate of 79%. Enrolment in primary schools was 10.3 million in 2021,

against a total population of 24 million children; with a completion

rate of 49.8% at primary school level and 24.5% at high school level.

These are worrying trends.

For girls like Naserian, there is need for a collective and deliberate

action to promote girl child education in marginalised communities,

including improving infrastructure and ensuring young mothers are

given a second chance to pursue their education.