First Lady Mama Rachel Ruto and Homa Bay Governor Gladys Wanga in Homa Bay/HANDOUTFirst Lady Mama Rachel Ruto and Homa Bay Governor Gladys Wanga have launched a youth mentorship and advocacy initiative aimed at strengthening efforts to protect children and adolescents from HIV infections, teenage pregnancy and sexual and gender-based violence.
The engagement, held in Homa Bay, is being implemented under Mama Rachel's Voice of Children Initiative and seeks to promote mentorship, child protection, reproductive health and youth empowerment.
Speaking during the launch, Rachel said protecting children and young people required adults to take greater responsibility in addressing the challenges they face.
“A mother’s instinct is to protect,” Rachel said, adding that her commitment as a champion was to ensure that challenges affecting young people were not ignored.
She spoke against sexual and gender-based violence and called for greater support for efforts aimed at preventing HIV among adolescents and young people.
Rachel said statistics on issues affecting young people should be viewed through the individual lives behind the numbers.
“Behind every number is a young person, a daughter, a son, a future,” she said, noting that looking at the issues from that perspective helps society understand what is at stake.
She further challenged adults to change the way they respond to children facing vulnerability and exploitation, insisting they should focus on protection rather than judgment.
“We can’t keep asking what is wrong with our children. We must ask what are we as adults doing to protect them,” Rachel said.
She added that a child vulnerable to exploitation does not need condemnation, but protection from adults and institutions responsible for their welfare.
The First Lady also highlighted programmes providing adolescent-friendly services, describing them as a national priority in efforts to address challenges affecting young people.
She cited the national campaign to end the “triple threat” of new HIV infections, teenage pregnancies and sexual and gender-based violence among adolescents.
However, Rachel cautioned that campaigns alone would not be sufficient to protect children, stressing the role played by individuals who interact with young people in their daily lives.
"Let us be clear, a campaign alone will not protect our children; people will. A teacher who notices, a parent who listens, a health worker who welcomes a teenager without judgement," she said.
Wanga said the launch marked an additional step in Homa Bay’s efforts to address challenges affecting its adolescent and youth population.
The governor said the county's young people were critical to its future but faced converging threats from new HIV infections, teenage pregnancy and sexual and gender-based violence.
“These forces drive school dropouts, entrench lifelong health risks, and trap families in generational poverty,” Wanga said.
She said the county would, with the backing of Mama Rachel, strengthen interventions focusing on HIV prevention, reproductive health, child protection, SGBV response and youth empowerment.
The governor said the partnership was aimed at creating a safe and supportive environment in which children could pursue their education and aspirations without being held back by circumstances that could affect their future.
