First lady’s focus on women, young people while in Kenya
NAIROBI, Kenya — It was a Saturday of learning for U.S. first lady Jill Biden in Kenya. She praised young adults for learning about safe sex and dating practices, attended a meeting of women who created their own banking system and chatted with local entrepreneurs who have been helped by a program that connects tractor owners with farmers.
All three programs aim to help women and young people take control of their lives so they can support themselves and their families. Biden has been highlighting U.S.-backed efforts to empower these groups during a five-day, two-country visit to Africa this past week.
“These are issues that really all people need to talk about and yet, somehow, they don’t, and the consequences of not talking about it are so dire,” Biden told dozens of young people after talking with them about safe sex, condom use and birth control at the Shujaaz Konnect Festival, a local youth empowerment event. “So I love seeing the young people here.”
The festival is a collaboration with MTV Staying Alive Foundation, which works with the U.S. Agency for International Development and the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief to help teach young Kenyans how to avoid becoming infected with HIV, which causes AIDS.
Biden, who was on the fourth day of her fiveday trip to Namibia and Kenya on Saturday, spent the week promoting HIV/ AIDS education programs and initiatives that teach women and young people skills they need to find jobs or start businesses.
Her visit is part of a commitment by President Joe Biden to deepen U.S. engagement with the nations of Africa, many of which feel overlooked by the United States. Part of that effort is also about countering China’s influence on the continent that Beijing has achieved through increased trade and spending on roads and other public works projects.
Earlier Saturday, the first lady went to a government community center in Kibera, an informal settlement in Nairobi, to attend a meeting of women small-business owners who participate in the Joyful Women program. Founded in 2009 by Rachel Ruto, Kenya’s first lady, the program promotes women’s economic empowerment and financial inclusion.
Participants create “table banking” groups, pooling their resources so they can lend each other money they cannot get from traditional banks. Some of the women have used the loans to start businesses.
At a separate event, Biden chatted with local entrepreneurs, small farmers and others who have been helped by Hello Tractor, which connects tractor owners with farmers who need the machinery.
The first lady also laid a wreath at August 7th Memorial Park in Nairobi to honor those who were killed in the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. More than 200 people were killed, including 12 Americans.