President Kenyatta pledges to end FGM

President Uhuru Kenyatta. He has said he wants to see an end to Female Genital Mutilation by the end of his time in power in 2022. PHOTO | PSCU

What you need to know:

  • Mr Kenyatta also pledged to help make Kenya are more equal society when it comes to the treatment of women.

President Uhuru Kenyatta has said he wants to see an end to Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) by the end of his time in power in 2022.

President Kenyatta was speaking to the Women Deliver conference in Vancouver, Canada, and his official Twitter account quotes him as saying that he hopes "to put an end" to FGM.

FGM has been against the law in Kenya since 2011 but the practice continues.

Campaign group 28 Too Many says that one in five Kenyan women between the ages of 15 and 49 have undergone FGM but the numbers are falling.

EQUAL SOCIETY

The President, however, did not outline how reducing the rate to zero will be achieved.

Mr Kenyatta also pledged to help make Kenya are more equal society when it comes to the treatment of women.

"We need to make the society understand that women are as capable as men. We have to create an enabling environment and the opportunity for them to serve," he said in his Twitter account on Tuesday.