Religious Leaders Want Beliefs and Culture Respected During the ICPD Summit

Kenya is set to host the three day International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD 25), which will begin from today, 12^th to 15^th November.

About 6000 delegates and 179 government representatives were already in the country awaiting the global summit by Monday, 11^th November.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, through its Principal Secretary Macharia Kamau, has said that among the things that will be discussed, Kenya will be at the forefront in addressing the issue of sexual health and, in particular, maternal health and sexual reproductive rights.

From the summit, it is expected that advocacy groups will be seeking funds from various donors to enable them to facilitate their programmes.

The impending discussion on sexual reproductive rights has however been met skepticism from both political and religious leaders, who are afraid that ICPD will promote voluntary abortion, gayism and same-sex marriage which is against African culture and religious beliefs.

Religious leaders had meetings ahead of the summit, to discuss issues that ICPD aims to address and their stand on some of the issues.

“To some extent, we agree with their ideologies. But there are things such as early access to sex and family planning methods, same sex marriage and homosexuality, that we as a religious country and that one that upholds our culture and morality do not subscribe to,” noted Sheikh Ibrahim Lithome from Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims.

Sheikh Lithome argued that they are aware of the challenges women and girls face in society, such as rape and FGM, issues they are not blind to, but which he says should be solved in line with religion and culture.

A clergy man, Ngunjiri Mwangi of Faith Heroes Church, echoed his Muslim counterpart’s sentiments saying that commitments made in the 1994 Cairo summit should be done in ways that do not violate our culture.

President Uhuru and his deputy promised that they would stand firm and uphold their people’s beliefs so that rules that go against what Kenya believes in will not be imposed on them.

Heavy Traffic Witnessed In Nairobi Linked To ICPD

Meanwhile, as thousands of global representatives jet into the country for the global conference, that will be taking place at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre (KICC), heavy traffic jam has been witnessed in most of the city’s roads.

Most Kenyans took the matter to their social media accounts sharing their experiences on their way to work on the morning of 12^th November when the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) summit was set to kick off.

Given that the summit is taking place just right at the heart of Nairobi city, users of Lang’ata, Jogoo, Mombasa, and Thika roads, as well as those connecting to Westlands, spent more time than usual on the road.

The summit, whose ground was broken in 1994, is aiming to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, and universal sexual and reproductive health is central to much of this agenda.