By Ben Gachiri

Garissa County residents today marked the international women’s day.

Gender, Culture and Social Services CEC Hon. Zeinab Digale led the County Government staff and other partners in celebrations to marking this year’s International Women’s Day.

The theme for this year’s event- held in Benane, Lagdera sub-county -was “Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow.”

The Chief Guest for the event was Dr. Mohamed Sheikh the Director General National Council for Population and Development (NCPD).

Lagdera MP Hon. Mohamed Hire also graced the event alongside Moses Ouma the NCPD regional population coordinator.

This year’s IWD observance is in recognition and celebration of the women and girls who are leading the charge on climate change adaptation and response, and to honor their leadership and contribution towards a sustainable future.

Key areas of discussion sought to deliberate on how women and girls experience the greatest impact of climate change, which amplifies existing gender inequalities and poses unique threats to their livelihoods, health, and safety.

Those attending the event, led by the Director for Gender Ahmed Hante heard how women worked hard during periods of drought to secure income and resources for their families.

This put added pressure on girls, who often have to leave school to help their mothers manage the increased burden.

In addition, health for women and girls  is endangered by climate change with research indicating that extreme heat increases incidences of stillbirth, and climate change is increasing the spread of vector-borne illnesses such as malaria and dengue fever which are linked to worse maternal and neonatal outcomes.

Hon. Zeinab Digale, who is also the chair Gender Working Group Committee in Garissa County, stressed that without gender equality today, a sustainable future and an equal future, remains beyond reach.

“Continuing to examine the opportunities, as well as the constraints, to empower women and girls to have a voice and be equal players in decision-making related to climate change and sustainability is essential for sustainable development and greater gender equality,” she said.

Dr. Mohamed Sheikh called on the security agencies to do more to ensure those who perpetrated gender-based violence felt the full force of the law.

“As a community, we need to shun using maslah to settle matters touching on GBV so as to deter future perpetrators from thinking they could escape justice easily,” he said.

Different speakers present urged women to move from their comfort zones and position themselves to contest for political and leadership positions in the forthcoming elections.

The event was attended Abdinoor ole Hussein – Director Special Programs, Mr. Peter Kimani – ACC Benane, Malika Ngagi – OCS Benane, Abdiwahab Ibrahim – Coordinator NGEC, Zeinab Ahmed – Child Protection Specialist Unicef and Amran Ali – HRD.

There were also as representatives from RCK, Simaho, PGI, Wokike, Inuka, Girl Kind, Girl Concern, Supkem, Wohed among others.