Let’s all reflect on struggles and gains made by women

By Dr Christian Turner and Lisa Philips

International Women’s Day is a chance for the world to reflect on the achievements, struggles and gains made by women globally and to highlight girls’ and women’s right to equality.

This year’s theme, ‘Inspiring change’ presents an opportunity to highlight how women in Kenya continue to inspire change in a dynamic world. Kenyan women have stood out in the world of technology, sports, business and just this week, Lupita Nyong’o became the first Kenyan to win a coveted Oscar.

In 2004, Prof Wangari Maathai became the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Laureate, and her acceptance speech recognised those who worked quietly ‘without recognition to promote democracy, defend human rights and ensure equality between women and men’.

Even in this day and age, women face discrimination and prejudice. Yet, women continue to work hard to make a difference in their lives and others’. They are at the heart of most families playing the role of nurturer, provider, motivator and caregiver.

Our mothers inspire us to dream and always try our best.

But tragically, there are many children who never have the chance to know their mothers. In Kenya, a woman dies every two hours while giving birth, a shocking figure. The Kenyan Government has made maternal health a priority, abolishing user fees in primary health facilities and providing free maternal care in all public health facilities. The UK has been supporting these efforts to tackle maternal and newborn deaths. Through an ongoing programme, the UK has committed £106 million (Sh15.3 billion) to increase equitable access to affordable quality basic health services. Expected results from this programme include: helping more than 700,000 women access modern family planning services; distribution 5.2 million bed-nets to pregnant women and children.

To be released next week is ‘A Price Too High to Bear’, a study funded by the UK to look at the cost of maternal death. It documents the financial costs of maternal mortality to poor households in rural Kenya, and the impact of a maternal death on the well-being of surviving children, families and communities.

It shows that far too often a woman’s death in childbirth leads directly to the death of her newborn baby.  Among the 59 maternal deaths examined, only 31 infants (52 per cent) survived delivery. Of these, eight babies died in their first week and another eight died over the next few weeks. In all, only 15 babies (25 per cent) survived. 

We applaud the Kenyan Government’s leadership and the First Lady’s Beyond Zero campaign to tackle issues that affect maternal and child health issues. Kenya has made great steps in safeguarding and consolidating women’s gains through institutions, policies and legislations to address gender equality and women’s empowerment.

The UK is committed to promoting gender equality and, like Kenya, believes gender equality and women’s empowerment should be at the heart of all our development efforts. Indeed, we have just passed a law that requires it to be. Next week, the 58th Commission on the Status of Women will reflect on the global challenges and achievements in the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for women and girls.

Global discussions underway point to the little progress made to address violence against women and girls, discriminatory social norms such as early and forced marriage and Female Genital Mutilation.

This International Women’s day, the UK celebrates all the inspirational heroines across the 47 counties addressing the prevention and protection of girls and women against FGM, gender based violence, early marriage, maternal and neonatal mortality. During our travels around the country we have certainly been inspired by the many women, from the new women parliamentarians, to a young girl in Meru who had chosen — with her parents — an alternative rites of passage ceremony instead of FGM/C and told us she wanted to grow up to be a nuclear scientist.

And, of course, this week we have reflected most on the words of Lupita Nyong’o in her Oscar acceptance speech: ‘…no matter where you’re from your dreams are valid.’  We hope she will inspire the next generation of Kenyans to dream big.