http://consortium-rha.net/ Dear friends. I here invite you to join us today, Wed 21st Dec ,2022 as we Launch the Action Research Hub between 14.30 – 15.30hrs Nairobi time. The Action Research Hub offers an opportunity for local communities and organizations in the region to lead in design, implementation and learning of responsive, effective, efficient and sustainable humanitarian actions in Eastern and Southern AfricaJoin the virtual launch via Zoom Link Meeting Passcode 167641 For more information, contact:The Secretariat: African Institute for Children Studies (AICS), Nairobi, KenyaEmail: info@consortium-rha.net Interested in further engagement with CRHA? please complete this Google form https://forms.gle/wSENSyGy4TMH54idA

A noted side effect of the COVID-19 pandemic across contexts has been how it has intensified existing structural and historic inequalities and made them glaringly obvious. People already made vulnerable by these inequalities have been facing greater challenges in meeting their basic needs and are more likely to slip through the cracks of systems supposed to protect them. This has been painfully visible within Kenya.  An area in which these inequalities have been perpetuated is that of sexual and reproductive health (SRH). SRH refers to the right of individuals to have a safe and satisfying sex life, the capacity to reproduce and the freedom to decide if, when, and how often they will do so. This includes the ability to protect oneself from sexually transmitted infections, to manage menstrual hygiene, to be informed about and access family planning, and to have access to services which enable safe pregnancy and childbirth.  Sexual and reproductive health rights were already weak in Kenya, especially for young women and girls, however significant gains had been made in key areas such as teenage pregnancies and access to education. Nevertheless, the pandemic will likely contribute to devastating setbacks for the health rights of women and girls in the country. As is typically the case in times of crisis, women and girls are often those affected most disproportionately. This COVID-19 pandemic has been no different. Rates of HIV, unsafe abortions, and underage pregnancies have been predicted by activists to drastically increase in Kenya. A shocking statistic is the fact that over a period of three months of quarantine there has been a 40% increase in Kenya’s monthly average of teenage pregnancies. 1These girls will be unlikely to return to school should they reopen. This is especially concerning because this can be expected to contribute to the widening of a gender gap in education, and thereby the labour market. It should be understood that sexual and reproductive health is not only a private issue but that it should be given necessary public attention and response, especially during an ongoing health crisis. This surge in teenage pregnancies is indicative of an ongoing vicious cycle. Adolescents are experiencing limited access to crucial sexual and reproductive health resources, services and information, as their key points of access – schools, safe houses and shelters – have been shut down as part of the government response to COVID. Meanwhile, confinement has contributed to a rise in domestic violence, including sexual abuse and rape. I avoid using the legal term for rape in Kenya, “defilement,” as it perpetuates stereotypical and harmful notions of the loss of ‘purity’ of the victim which places more focus on their sexual history rather than the actions of the abuser, as critiqued by Evelyne Opondo in this compelling op-ed in The Star. This is a time when an appropriate and thoughtful government response to this public health crisis could alleviate the struggle of those made vulnerable. As criticized by researchers on the effects of COVID on the health and socioeconomic security of sex workers in Nairobi, the Kenyan government’s approach to limiting the spread of the virus has largely involved severely limiting social and economic freedoms, which has disproportionately burdened the urban poor.2 This has included a harshly enforced daily curfew, whereby people caught breaking the curfew were arrested and placed in quarantine centres, in many cases in poor conditions and requiring to pay substantial fees to be released. 3 To be clear – this is not to criticize the idea of social isolation itself, as it is a crucial emergency response to this virus pandemic. However, given that it has been imposed in a punitive and draconian manner, with limited support provided to those most compromised by quarantine, it has contributed to burdens on people’s health and security. Moreover, there is a significant amount of the population in Kenya for whom the government’s hardline social isolation policies simply aren’t realistic and who aren’t being adequately taken into consideration. These include the many that live in informal settlements, and those who pursue livelihoods through commercial sex work.  Sex workers, who are already heavily stigmatized in Kenya, face aggressive targeting and treatment at the hands of law enforcement enforcing curfew. This is problematic given that they are simultaneously being exposed to increased violence from clients, as they are forced to work within their own homes or client’s homes due to brothels being closed. This limits protection from abusive customers. As stated by the regional coordinator for the African Sex Workers Alliance, Grace Kamau, in this Reuter’s article (https://fr.reuters.com/article/BigStory10/idUSKBN23B0CS.): “Sex workers are an easy target in a time of crisis. Clients feel they can take advantage of them, and law enforcement think they can use them to show that they are implementing COVID-19 measures.” Harshly targeting and criminalizing sex workers only further contributes to suffering in a context where there are limited social safety nets and people are increasingly at the point of financial desperation.  The increasing danger of being involved in commercial sex work in Kenya is especially concerning given the loss of livelihoods so many are facing. As pointed out in a conversation with Hellen Gathogo, founder of Laikipia-based child rights organization, One More Day for Children , the sexual exploitation of children is a miserable side effect of this. The exchange of sex for food or children being pushed by desperate families into sex work is being increasingly observed throughout the pandemic. Even despite lockdowns, child trafficking has continued to flourish in East Africa, as highlighted by child rights organization Terre des Hommes. 4 Given that the government has also closed refuges and safe houses such as One More Day for Children in their response to the pandemic, this has removed a significant means of protection from abuse and point of access for sexual and reproductive health resources.  It is clear that many are facing increased vulnerabilities as a result of this ongoing pandemic. This is worsened by an uncoordinated government response which has overlooked the needs

The Coronavirus does not discriminate between the rich and poor communities. In low income countries, the cities have greater vulnerability due to high population densities with relatively poorer housing arrangement. This makes social distancing almost impossible. Worse still, these countries do not have the health infrastructure required to support emergency care for a large number of people simultaneously requiring this support. Children are likely to be more affected either due to contracting the virus, loss of caregivers or loss of protective environment such schools and playgrounds. There is therefore a need to enhance protection of children by promoting preventive approaches in the disease management and supporting families to secure livelihoods.  According to Prof. O’rielly of the Medical University of South Carolina and an AICS Associate consultant, “the basic logical principles of trying to contain an epidemic are really pretty simple and straightforward, the devil of course is in the detail. They vary in how they apply and the agent that they’re being applied to. These are basically trying to minimize spread by identifying how it’s being spread and try to minimize contact and the second is try to minimize the consequences by providing treatment to those people who are already infected.” He adds that “my number one message is that COVID responses in low income countries need to focus on social justice, the standard methods that are used to contain epidemics don’t work very well in the absence of social justice. We’ve also learned a number of lessons from other epidemics in Africa for instance we know that we need to engage local authorities because they can be an effective barrier to any kind of prevention activities that may be partaken in their communities, they can block things.”  Dr. Francis Oloo, a spatial data specialists and founder of Geopsy Research and another AICS Associate, “…geographic characteristics like population density, inequality in access to health care and income, vulnerability in terms of age and other ailments can fuel or even cause the impact of this virus to be more severe. There’s no strategy that fits every country for example South Korea and Vietnam have been able to manage the disease without hard lockdowns.”  These challenges that are specific to low income settings exasperate the need for clear guidelines for care of children in COVID-19 situation. Key elements of a child protection sensitive sensitive COVID-19 response are: Evidence informed through disaggregated children data Community driven response with local groups and solutions applied We must plan for effective case management systems in the best interest of children Reduce vulnerability to both the new infections and negative effectives of COVID-19 to children and their households, such as increased violence and risk of hunger. Here is a link to a video link to a virtual meeting with AICS Experts panel on COVID 19 Response in Low Income Settings and Mapping Civil Society Contribution to Community Driven COVID-19 Response in Kenya.