NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 15- The government has launched a Sexual Gender Based Violence (SGBV) monitoring framework, as the country enters the homestretch of a heated electioneering period when authorities document an increase in such incidents.
The second edition of the National Monitoring and Evaluation Framework for the prevention and response of SGBV cases in Kenya was launched on Friday.
The framework, authorities said, it will integrate data collected from the National Police Service, the Judiciary, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, and other relevant state agencies.
NGEC chairperson Joyce Mutinda said the move is aimed at strengthening GBV prevention and response programming.
“When this system is up and running, we will be able to produce these periodic reports on SGBV not only for Kenya but also for East Africa, Africa, and the world at large. We shall have the hard data that we can give them,” she said.
The gender data will inform policies and effectively evaluate efforts designed to prevent and respond to SGBV in Kenya, she added.
The NGEC chairperson urged the National Police Service to initiate POLICARE in all the 47 counties noting that it will go a long way in ending SGBV in the country.
“I call upon the NPS and the Government to ensure that we roll out POLICARE, it is a one-stop shop for GBV, we roll out in all the counties,” she added.
POLICARE’s overall objective is to strengthen the capacity of NPS to prevent and respond to SGBV cases through the establishment of a ONE STOP victim support centre incorporating the synergy of multi agencies.
The framework was launched by the National Gender and Equality Commission in partnership with human rights organisation Equality Now, the Ministry of Public Service, Gender, Senior Citizens Affairs, and Special Programmes, and the Ministry of Health.
Meanwhile, Mutinda has asked the Government to fast-track the signing and ratification of the International Labour Organization (ILO)convention 190 which she says which will go a long way towards ending SGBV or harassment at work.
Health Chief Administrative Secretary Dr. Mercy Mwangangi said the launch was timely.
She noted that GBV has been a thorny issue in the country’s elections since the 1990s.
She however pointed out that Kenya’s 2010 constitution has provided laws and strengthened institutions developed to prevent and respond to sexual violence, even though the menace remains highly prevalent.
“We had about 201 SGBV cases occurring in 11 counties in the 2017 general elections. The beauty of what we are doing here today is that putting up a system that will not only give us more credible data but also see the role of the actors involved in this space,” she said.
Cases of gender-based violence nearly quintupled during the COVID-19 pandemic between March 2020 and last year according to available government statistics.
More than 5,000 cases of gender-based violence were reported across Kenya during the period.
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