Siaya County Public Participation Forum on the Revision of the population policy: 1st October, 2020

Siaya County Public Participation Forum on the Revision of the population policy: 1st October, 2020

The National Council for Population and Development has successfully completed a County Consultative forum on revision of the Population Policy in Siaya. This is with support from Population Reference Bureau (PRB) and Government of Kenya. The meeting brought together 60 Stakeholders were drawn from both public (National and County Government Departments), Non-Governmental Organizations, Faith Based Organizations, Special Interest Groups, Boda Boda Association and Matatu owners Association with an aim of getting County specific population issues for Siaya County.

The Forum was presided over by the Siaya County Commissioner Mr. Michael Ole Tialal. The county commissioner emphasised on the importance of developing policies particularly on its importance in Government planning. He lauded NCPD for doing county specific public participation forums with an aim of coming up with county specific challenges and solutions.

The deliberations focused on five thematic areas that were categorised into Population Health; fertility; Age structure; Migration & urbanization and Human settlement. The specific issues facing Siaya County include: Teenage pregnancies, HIV/AIDs, Malaria Land Issues I.e. Land fragmentation, Flooding, Gender Based Violence, and Unemployment. The county commissioner urged the stakeholders to look into county specific solutions to the challenges faced by Siaya County population with particular emphasis on ending teenage pregnancies, reducing HIV/AIDs, unemployment amongst the youth and also urged the youth to embrace blue collar employment and Agriculture as a means earning an income.