By Habil Onyango
Homa Bay County has always faced challenges regarding the triple threat, and it is one of the country’s leading counties in tackling this menace.
The County Government of Homa Bay has, however, been implementing combative measures to ensure that teenage pregnancies, gender-based violence, and the spread of HIV and AIDS among teenagers become a thing of the past.
A recent study reveals that HIV rates among young people have begun to rise once again, driven by a decrease in condom use and a lack of sexual education. In Homa Bay County, the HIV prevalence rate remains one of the highest in the country at 15.2 per cent.
To help tackle this, partners from different sectors have organised a three-day conference in Homa Bay dubbed “The 1st National Conference on Dignity” to stimulate discussions on topics related to the triple threat. Governor Gladys Wanga will grace the event.
Suba North MP Millie Odhiambo and other dignitaries, including a representative from the Office of the President, are also expected to attend the conference.
According to Eunice Owino of the Centre for Women Empowerment Technology (CWE-TECH), the conference will also focus on social work, counselling, law enforcement, public policy, psychiatry, and activism.
“Dignity Kenya is an inaugural national conference that honours dignity and resistance to all forms of violence. It brings together local and national partners with a primary interest in addressing violence in all its forms, upholding the unending desire for dignity and justice, and building a community with a common purpose,” said Owino.
The conference also aims to address the intersectionality of violence and poverty while restoring dignity through a multi-sectoral approach.
Owino said they will involve prosecutors, advocates, healthcare providers, judges, faith leaders, educators, and researchers, among others, to highlight promising practices and emerging issues to effectively respond to human rights violations.
Other partners include the Co-operation Arena for Sustainable Development in Africa (CASDA) and “Power for the People (PFP): Handshake, Not Handouts.”
“Our main objective is to improve social responses to the triple threat and all forms of violence and oppression, particularly gender-based violence,” said Owino, one of the organisers.
“We want to explore human service work, anti-violence strategies, decolonisation practices, and the importance of language from a response-based perspective,” she said.
“Our focus is on honouring resistance and resilience in various communities affected by violence and injustice while fostering collaboration and networking among participants to strengthen collective efforts towards promoting dignity, combating violence, and ending poverty,” she added.
“The conference creates a foundation for developing knowledge and practices to provide and promote socially just and effective responses to violence and other forms of oppression and adversity,” she noted.
She said this would be achieved through direct counselling services, education, research, supervision and advocacy, social work, law enforcement, public policy, psychiatry, and activism.
Owino added that issues regarding men’s violence against girls, women, and children, as well as empowering survivors and marginalised communities, will also be discussed.
“We will also tackle youth resistance and community engagement, sexual violence, pornography, resistance in women’s shelters, and developing and advocating for action plans in response to social, gender-based, and oppressive violence,” she revealed.
“We have invited government officials and policymakers, NGOs and civil societies, academics and researchers, community leaders, health and social service providers, legal practitioners, youth and student leaders, international development partners, donors, and the general public,” she said.
The event will take place at Mbita Tourist Hotel from 4 to 6 December 2024.
Ends.
