By Matilda Atieno
After weeks of meticulous preparation, the 6th edition of the Girls Summit 2024 in Kisumu finally arrived.
The Girls Summit hosted by the county government of Kisumu in collaboration with courageous organizations who work with underserved girls to strengthen their programs, learn practical ways to build girls’ power in their communities, and network.
The Summit is an annual convening of girl-centered conference for knowledge-sharing and targeted training with local and global insights on best practices for supporting girls’ rights. The girls summit is more than just a summit but rather a powerful movement of girls who are focused, passionate and ready to put in the hard work to bring about a more gender-equal world.
The Summit was a beehive of activities including the breakout sessions discussing thematic areas and was the perfect opportunity to see the power of girls’ voices in action. The thematic areas included sessions on Mental Health, Drugs and substance abuse, Effects of Climate change on girls and Women, Access to Justice and Sexual Reproductive Health Rights (SRHR) legal frameworks, Livelihood and economic empowerment, Leadership, good governance, and Access to SRHR information and services.
The 2-day Summit, held from the 10th to the 11th of October, brought together girls between the ages of 11 and 18, young people and adults working with adolescents across the county, under the theme “Girls Vision for the Future”.
Addressing the opening session of the summit, the CEC member for Sports Culture Gender and Youth Affairs Hon Beatrice Odongo encouraged the girls to be the change makers noting that they have the best ideas on what works to address their issues.
The summit gave participants practical tools and unique strategies to engage girls and support them in leading the change that the county collectively desires.
One of the key sessions of the Summit was a mental health conversation. These conversations centered around self-awareness for girls as well as the mental pressure that they often face with advocating for and resisting discriminatory practices towards themselves and their peers. The girls openly shared how often because of economic pressures on their families, they are tasked with taking up the responsibilities to provide for themselves and their other siblings, often without emotional and mental support.
Day 2 of the summit presented a panel discussion, and feedback from the breakout session held on day one. The participants expressed hope through the memorandum that the ideas exchanged would inspire further initiatives at the county level.
At the close of the Girl Summit 2024 the CEC member urged all stakeholders to continue to push for decisive action and to create meaningful progress towards girl rights. She reminded participants not to lose sight of ongoing challenges including economic and the sufferings of those deprived of their rights.
