Page 21 - Aidlink AR 2021

KENYA COUNTRY PROFILE & PROGRAMMES
Continued
Children returned to school in January
2021 after nine months of school closures. Prolonged closures in target communities
in Kajiado and Turkana resulted in unusual enrolment patterns. We are seeing higher enrolment rates in lower classes and increased dropout rates in higher classes. There is mounting evidence of increased rates of
FGM, child marriage, teen pregnancies and gender-based violence (GBV). From January
to June 2021, we introduced a care package in 57 schools, facilitating 248 pregnant girls and young mothers to re-enrol in school.
While uptake was strong in target schools, nationally there are approximately 250,000 girls who have not yet returned to school.
In May 2021, we launched a new three-year programme Every Girl in School (EGIS), supported by Irish Aid, which targets 20 new schools and approximately 7,554 children in Kajiado and Turkana in 2022. This programme builds on important learnings from our recent evaluation and is being implemented across four levels: the school, the communuty the individual and civil society.
Girls in Namalteny Public Primary School, Turkana, Kenya. Photo credit GCN
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