TALKING POINTS BY PROF. MARGARET KOBIA, Ph.D, MGH, CABINET SECRETARY, MINISTRY OF PUBLIC SERVICE, GENDER, SENIOR CITIZEN AFFAIRS AND SPECIAL PROGRAMMES, DURING THE LAUNCH OF WOMEN ENTERPRISE FUND WOMEN WELLNESS PROGRAMME ON 29TH JULY, 2022 IN BUURI EAST, MERU COUNTY
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Today is a happy day for me and the women of this community. As you can see, we are launching a programme that is focused on women health, a core factor in the wellbeing of every family because as you may know, women are the caregivers in every family.
The Women Enterprise Fund is primarily known for Women Socio-Economic empowerment and its success rate can stand to be counted with over 2.2Million Women benefiting from Kshs.24.8Billion disbursed countrywide. I am glad that the women of Meru County have not been left behind. Indeed, since taking over this docket in 2018, over Kshs.567.3 Million has been disbursed to over 2,283 groups. This brings the total amount of WEF loans received in this County to over Kshs.963.8M and as we edge closer to the Ksh.1Billion mark, I urge the women of this County to continue with the boldness of investing in own-businesses a main contributor to the development of this nation.
Going back to my point on the “Women Wellness Programme”, globally, the cancer burden continues to grow globally, exerting tremendous physical, emotional and financial strain on individuals, families, communities and health systems. Many health systems in low- and middle-income countries are least prepared to manage this burden, and large numbers of cancer patients globally do not have access to timely quality diagnosis and treatment. This relates to women especially those in the rural areas whose activities can not afford them the chance to seek medical attention.
By starting this programme, WEF has demonstrated that they are not only concerned with the economic well being but are also alive to the fact that one’s health directly affects one’s economic status. It is therefore my pleasure to launch this initiative which, I hope will reach other counties and touch the lives of many just as WEF has reached many through socio-economic empowerment.
With these few remarks, I declare the “WEF WOMEN WELLNESS” Programme official launched.
God bless you.