The plight of women and the girls, especially in vulnerable communities, is an area that needs to be given adequate attention by all stakeholders. PROCMURA under its Women and Peace Building programme, beliefs in gender equality and the empowerment of women and the girl child. Over the years, it has carried out capacity building programmes across its constituencies for women and girls on preventing violent extremism and HIV AIDS among others. A number of trainings on the role of women and girls in peace building has impacted positively on women and the girls in preventing and managing conflicts.

Advocacy campaigns against using girls as active actors in violent extremism and against cultural practices that deprive the girl child and women from maximizing their full potential have been carried out across PROCMURA’s constituencies. Socio-economic effects of violent conflicts, the increase in poverty across vulnerable communities, and lately the challenges caused by COVID-19 has made the situation more difficult to manage which simultaneously also affects the girl child, and this implores the organisation to develop new strategies and approaches to address these challenges under its women and peace building programme.

PROCMURA believes that the empowerment of women and the girlchild is a key factor in addressing some of the challenges faced by women as the girls eventually grow from the tender teenage age to mature women within no time. To mitigate these challenges, and unprecedented rise of teenage pregnancies among vulnerable communities in Africa, among other effects of violent conflicts accentuated the need for PROCMURA to have functional discussions under its women programme to address the plight of the girl child.

Over the past several months, due to the COVID -19 pandemic, the number of teenage pregnancies was on its highest alert and figures ever experienced. The pandemic led to alterations in the school semester system with many students getting pregnant as a result of staying at home and living in abject poverty where sustaining themselves become even more difficult for women to protect their girls from the heightened levels of pregnancy. This is the same picture painted around the continent especially in disadvantaged communities.

To mitigate these challenges amidst the peak of the COVID pandemic and unprecedented rise of teenage pregnancies among vulnerable communities in Africa, among several other effects of violent conflicts emphasized the need for a functional discussion on the plight of the girl child. PROCMURA in collaboration with the churches as a strategic partner on the ground, has rolled out a programme that emphasizes on the significance of justice for the girl child, peace and a healthy human family, where the rights of the girl child are protected at Family, Community, Church, Mosque and National levels.

PROCMURA received a grant from one of its partners in Germany, “The German National Committee (GNC-LWF) COVID 19 Pandemic Fund” to launch the Women Empowerment programme in parts of its constituent countries in Africa among them Kenya, Cameroon and South Sudan. The grants would be used to establish women and girl child Centers in vulnerable communities and provide them with skills and knowledge to enable them earn a livelihood. This included donation and distribution of sewing machines to selected churches in the community that would assist in overseeing and implementing the programme at the grassroot level for their sustainability.

PROCMURA has identified the Reformed Church of East Africa and the Presbyterian Church as local partners of the project in Kenya, Cameroon and South Sudan. The PROCMURA team and Clergy from RCEA travelled to the vast county of Turkana, Kenya, from the 8th to11th of December 2021 to launch the project and established four (4) PROCMURA/RCEA Women Empowerment Centers in northern parts of Kenya.

The centers are; Paroo, Sarmach (West Pokot County) Lokichar and Kainuk (Turkana County). In addition to these, three (300) hundred girls and young women from the above communities of Turkana and West Pokot received “Kike Health Kit” with reusable sanitary towels and accessories for the girls use which were also given as a donation to the girls. The project will be overseen by the RCEA Rehabilitation and Development Department.

PROCMURA deems the church as a strategic partner to work with to enable it achieve its overall goal and vision. These strengthens the churches mission and enables it to also provide economic support, skills development and livelihood to vulnerable women and girls at the community level. The women, through the empowerment centers, will do production of items like local school uniforms, reusable sanitary towels, under pants, and masks among other accessories. These, in turn, will provide a livelihood for the women and the wider community through support from the Churches. This is one of the strategies that PROCMURA is using to provide sustainable solutions to address the challenges facing Women and the Girlchild.

It is our hope that the Women Empowerment Centers will provide the women with economic empowerment for their holistic development. The holistic development of the human family is very important to PROCMURA’s work in building peace and peaceful-coexistence this has over the years been challenged as families keep on disintegrating as a result of these challenges. The girl child is undignified and disempowered as a result of this phenomenon.