Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am pleased to preside over this important occasion in which we re-launch Kenya Girl Guides Association and raise funds in support of the Association's activities. Permit me, at the outset to acknowledge the important role that the Kenya Girl Guides Association has continued to play in enhancing the welfare of girls and young women. As a member of the Association, I am aware that the Association has touched and positively transformed the lives of many girls and young women.

I take this opportunity to thank all those who have made this possible. In particular, I thank the Commissioners for the singular commitment they have shown in realizing the objectives of the Association. I urge the Commissioners, and the entire membership of the Association, to maintain the same spirit of commitment so as to effectively address the challenges that lie ahead. In particular, I note that the Association has just over 155,000 members. This represents a very small fraction of the population of girls and young women in the country. There is need, therefore, to strengthen the Association in order to reach out to more girls and young women and enable them develop to their fullest potential.

In this connection, I welcome this re-launching initiative, which is intended to provide a platform for creating more awareness and increase membership to 1 million by 2012. I thank Celtel Limited for their generous sponsorship of the re-launching activities. I also thank each one of us gathered here today in support of the Kenya Girl Guides Association.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am encouraged to note that as part of this re-launching initiative, the Kenya Girl Guides Association will focus on educating Kenyans about adolescent health. This is a particularly important theme, as it constitutes one of the key challenges we are facing as a nation today. In Kenya, adolescents aged between 10-19 years constitute 26 per cent of the total population.

I am happy to note that among the key messages on adolescent health that the Association will advocate is the fight against HIV/AIDS and adolescent pregnancy. As many of you are aware, it is unfortunate that sexual relationships among adolescents in Kenya begin at an early age and are usually short-lived. Indeed, starting early in life, these relationships break and are replaced, which means young girls will have had multiple sexual partners by the time they get married. What is even more unfortunate is that sexual activity among adolescents is usually unprotected which exposes partners to sexually transmitted diseases including HIV/AIDS. Nationally, it is estimated that almost 6 percent of young women aged 15 to 24 are already infected with HIV/AIDS. Moreover, young women aged 15-19 are more than twice likely to be infected than males in the same age group.

Besides the danger of HIV/AIDS infection, early sexual activity has resulted in a high incidence of teenage mothers. The results of a 2003 survey show that almost a quarter of young women aged 15-19 in the country were either pregnant with their first child or are already mothers. In spite of the multiple maternal health dangers involved, less than half of teenage mothers receive skilled care during delivery. Most of them deliver at home in unhygienic conditions under the care of either traditional birth attendants, relatives or alone. In cases where adolescent girls wish to terminate pregnancy, they often have recourse to unsafe abortion. Estimates of abortions performed on teenage women range from 1 million to 4.4 million per year. 48 per cent of the abortion cases are accounted for by adolescents and youth aged between 14 and 24 years. Abortion exposes young girls to serious health problems and can even result in death.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

As we address issues of adolescent health, therefore, we must educate Kenyans and adolescent themselves that the key to avoiding reproductive health problems is abstaining from sexual activity until marriage. It is only by sexual abstention that our young girls and boys can escape from HIV/AIDS infection. It is also through abstention that girls can avoid early pregnancies that expose them to dangers of maternal health problems as well as deny them a chance to education. We must also discourage young girls from seeking abortion, as it contributes significantly to maternal morbidity and mortality.

For those young girls and boys who have already engaged in relationships, they must be encouraged to abstain and undergo counseling and testing. Indeed, it is sad to note that despite the high rate of infection among adolescents, few of them go for counseling and testing. A survey carried out in 2003 indicate that only 4 percent of girls and 9 percent of boys aged 15-19 years had been tested and received results in the 12 months preceding the survey. Besides educating the adolescents, we must also educate parents on their duty to educate their children on matters of sexuality. Adolescence is an adventurous stage in life in which youngsters are given to a wide range of experimentation. Parents and teachers must, therefore, play their role in providing guidance and protection.

In conclusion, I am glad to note that the Government is fully aware of the health challenges facing adolescents. Indeed, in addition to the general improvements in health care services that we have all witnessed, the Government has initiated measures to specifically address the health concerns of adolescents. In this regard, an adolescent health and development policy and its plan of action have already been developed. The policy and plan of action are geared toward setting up comprehensive youth friendly services that target adolescents.

In addition, the Government has developed National Guidelines for Youth Friendly Service Provision. These guidelines provide direction on how youth friendly services are to be set up and the minimum services a youth centre is to offer. The youth centres are places where the youth can access reproductive health information and services. The Government has a target of setting up 60 youth centres within our existing health facilities. Already the establishment of youth centers has been initiated in Nakuru and Nyeri Provincial General Hospitals, among other health facilities.

With these remarks, ladies and gentlemen, it is now my great pleasure to unveil the Kenya Girl Guides Association new look.

Thank you and God bless you all.