Kenyan youth are the biggest winners in First Lady Margaret Kenyatta’s talks with Prince Harry and Sir Elton John at the International AIDS Conference in Amsterdam.
The Duke of Sussex and the rock music icon launched a USdollars 1.2 billion initiative- the MenStar Coalition- to fight AIDS in Sub Saharan Africa.
In the agreement, the first project will be targeting young men in Kenya to promote self-testing in the campaign dubbed “Chukua Selfie”.
At the conference, deliberations focused on reproductive health including child bride marriages, early pregnancies, gender violence, HIV/AIDS and how these issues affect the education and development of the girl child.
The mandate of Beyond Zero was initially focused on HIV/AIDS control and the promotion of maternal, new born and child health. With time and the delivery of 47 mobile clinics to all the 47 counties, this mandate has expanded to cover a wider spectrum of health services.
Princess Mabel said there were many similarities between the work of Beyond Zero and her ‘Girls Not Brides’ Partnership, hence the need for closer collaboration.
Girls Not Brides is a global partnership of more than 1000 civil society organisations from over 97 countries committed to ending child marriage and enabling girls to fulfill their potential.
Its members are based throughout Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Europe and the Americas. Three organizations from Kenya are already members of the Partnership.
During the discussion, Princess Mabel proposed a global movement of all organizations working for women and the girl child to bring the issues affecting them to the global attention.
“Let’s create a strong global movement and through collaboration with change makers mobilize resources and compare lessons in various countries”, stated Princess Mabel
The Dutch Princess talked glowingly about Kenya’s practical approach to health issues and proposed that the country should be the launch-pad for the global movement.
