Keziah Njeri Njoroge is awarded a certificate by USAID’s HIV/AIDS and TB Team Lead Elizabeth Meassick. Photo/COURTESY.
NAIROBI, Kenya, May 19- Some 69 youthful Kenyan women from at-risk backgrounds have graduated with skills that will contribute to Kenya’s economic growth and achievement of the Big Four Agenda.
The U.S. government, through USAID and more than 30 private sector partners from Kenya and the United States supported the graduates’ secondary and university education through the Global Give Back Circle program.
USAID HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis Team Lead Elizabeth Meassick who presided over the graduation said the program has enabled more than 400 young Kenyans to complete university education and join Kenya’s labor market as professionals.
“The U.S. government’s investment in girls’ education and well-being impacts far more than a single individual. Her opportunities for better health and a better future create a better life for her family, and build strong self-reliant communities and nations,” she said during the graduation ceremony held in Nairobi on Saturday.
The 2019 graduates join 1,000 alumni who are contributing to Kenya’s economy.
Over the past 3 years, she said, the U.S. government investment in workforce development enabled more than 41,000 Kenyan youth to acquire new or better jobs.
In addition, the Determined, Resilient, Empowered, AIDS-free, Mentored, Safe women (DREAMS) program has provided over 250,000 adolescent girls and young women between ages 10-24 with life skills training, mentorship, and health services to protect themselves against HIV.
The Global Give Back Circle works to reduce gender inequality through the provision of mentorship, education scholarships, internships, jobs, leadership development, and economic empowerment for at-risk adolescent girls.
The Global Give Back Circle model has expanded to support at-risk girls in Rwanda, South Africa, China and India.
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