“We have to walk more than seven kilometers to find water, and sometimes the things we see are not safe to drink,” said 39 Elimlim Ingolan, mother of a 7-month-old baby. She describes digging for water from dry river beds, sometimes lasting hours, often unsuccessfully.
Ms. Ingolan is speaking at an outreach session in the village of Lokapararai, in Turkana County. The session, supported by the United Nations reproductive rights agency (UNFPA) is one of a number of services aimed at bringing sexual and reproductive health, and protection against gender-based violence, to women and girls affected by the current prolonged drought. ravaging the area.
Dry up
In some areas, more than 90% of water supplies have dried up, crops have failed, families have lost their livestock – which, for many, are their only source of income – more than four million people are struggling. with severe famine. An estimated 134,000 women are currently pregnant or breastfeeding in drought-affected areas of Kenya; Many people are currently suffering from malnutrition and anemia, conditions that can be life-threatening.
Usually women and girls are sent to collect water; Because of the drought, they had to walk farther, and wait for hours at the borehole.
This puts them at greater risk of violence, at a time when hostility between communities hungry to secure scarce resources is growing.
With hundreds of thousands of Kenyans forced to move in search of survival, vulnerable women and girls have little or no access to vital health facilities or protective services and support – at the exact moment they need it most.
There is evidence that gender-based violence, female genital mutilation and child marriage have increased since the drought, when families married girls to pay for food or livestock.
UNFPA Kenya
Protecting health, rights and life
To help protect women and girls from the effects of drought on their health, safety and well-being, UNFPA is distributing maternal health and dignity kits around the world. Kenya.
These kits contain essential hygiene items for women and girls, and items to assist new mothers, as well as a solar-powered torch and a whistle. to call for help if needed. UNFPA also provides free hospital and ambulance transfers for women with obstetric emergencies and newborns.
From October 2021 to June 2022, UNFPA reached more than 186,000 women and girls on sexual and reproductive health support.
The agency also supports more than 60,000 gender-based violence prevention and response services, including mental health support for more than 45,000 victims.
General appeal
But more is needed: The UN is calling for $320 million to support more than four million people in dire need through a call for a general drought.
It is feared that, if the predictions of failed rains in the October-December season are correct, millions of vulnerable women and girls will be at risk of being affected by the crisis. .
