Speeches Shim
Kenya’s globally significant eco-regions are facing direct threats. The drivers of these threats are insecure land and resource rights, poor land-use planning, weak governance systems, human-wildlife conflicts, lack of conservation incentives, limited inclusion of women and youth, and vulnerability to climate change and other shocks. The program works with communities and landowners across 12 landscape-based wildlife conservancies associations, which include 166 private and community conservancies in 28 counties in Kenya.
In Kenya, it is estimated that over 1.5 million people are living with HIV/AIDS and 628,079 children are orphans due to AIDS. Approximately 6 percent of the population is infected with HIV. Certain counties and key populations are more impacted by the epidemic. USAID Kenya and East Africa works through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) to combat the HIV/AIDS epidemic in close partnership with the Government of Kenya.
Motherhood is an important occurrence in a woman’s life. However, the growing number of teenage mothers is a concern in Kenya. Early motherhood affects not only the adolescent girls who are not ready to become mothers, but also their family, school, and society. Ashura, like many adolescent girls in Kenya, dropped out of school at the age of 18 to take care of her infant. She lived and went to school in Pumwani, home to some of Nairobi’s poorest people - many of whom depend on the informal sector for an income. Ashura believed it was the end of her education and, judging from her peers’ experience, she was convinced that there would be no bright future for her. Stigma plays a key role in keeping girls out of school as they are too ashamed to resume learning.
As the responsibility for leadership passes to the next generation, Africa’s future and its global competitiveness will be driven by academically gifted and entrepreneurial young people empowered to lead. USAID is providing state of the art education to millions of Kenyan children, expanding educational and employment opportunities for young adults, and preparing a new generation of young African leaders with the skills and mindset to transform the region and the continent.
Yetu (“Ours” in Kiswahili) is funded by the Aga Khan Foundation and USAID. The Yetu Initiative works with civil society organizations (CSOs) rooted in the communities they serve to advance the principles of self-reliance and locally sustained development. To ensure sustainability and community ownership, Yetu trains CSOs on how to mobilize local resources – not just money, but in-kind contributions of time and assets.
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