The Italian ambassador in Kenya, Roberto Natali, and the regional director of UN Women for Eastern and Southern Africa, Maxime Houinato, have signed an agreement to kick off the project financed by the Italian cooperation Let it not Happen Again which aims to safeguard the rights of women survivors of gender-based violence through access to justice. The Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (Aics) made it known in a note.
The initiative, lasting three years and worth 1.8 million euros, will be implemented by UN Women, in collaboration with the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (Ohcrhr), in the counties of Nairobi, Kisumu, Kilifi, Isiolo, Bungoma and Vihiga, will support the implementation of political reforms and institution building. It will focus on women’s empowerment, recognition of women’s role and rights in society, and access to justice for victims of violence.
“Italy firmly believes that gender equality and women’s empowerment are essential to eradicate poverty and build a society based on sustainable development, social justice and human rights,” Ambassador Natali said during the launch event. “The message we want to send today is: that it doesn’t happen again!”.
The owner of the Aics office in Nairobi, Giovanni Grandi, among those present, declared: “This new initiative marks a transition in the approach of the Italian Cooperation in Kenya to the fight against gender-based violence, having a broader scope in terms of duration , financial resources and number of intervention counties”.
According to UN Chief Womwn Houinato, “one of the key findings of this partnership has been that elections in Kenya have been largely peaceful with considerably fewer reports of cases of gender-based violence than in past elections.” However, she added that the work is not done yet: “Since gender-based violence still persists in Kenya, we must build on the lessons learned to support comprehensive prevention and response programming, which addresses the social and structural factors driving gender-based violence”. [Da Redazione InfoAfrica]
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