NAIROBI， Aug. 9 (Xinhua) -- The Kenyan government will strengthen partnership with community and faith leaders to revitalize the war against domestic violence that has escalated lately， officials said on Tuesday.
Cabinet Secretary for gender affairs and youth， Sicily Kariuki， said in a commentary published by a local daily that individuals who used violence against their spouses or offspring will be punished severely.
"There is an abhorrent rise in cases of gender based violence in Kenya and we are committed to bringing this heinous behavior to an end. We are dealing with a silent epidemic that has potential to tear this country asunder，" Kariuki remarked.
Her remarks came in the wake of rising cases of gender based violence that have shocked communities and national leaders.
Early this month， a 27-year-old woman whose hands were chopped off by her enraged husband for failure to give birth to a child dominated headlines in the local dailies.
Kariuki condemned violence against women， terming it a retrogressive practice that would derail Kenya's social renewal， national cohesion and integration.
"There are horrific injuries being inflicted in this violence on men and women. Occasionally， this violence results in murder，" said Kariuki， adding that law enforcement agencies and the courts have been instructed to apprehend and punish perpetrators of domestic violence severely.
Kenya is among Sub-Saharan African countries that are grappling with a pervasive culture of domestic violence despite strides in modernity.
The Kenya Demographic Health Survey (KDHS) of 2014 revealed that 40 percent of women aged 15-49 years had experienced either physical or sexual violence in the hands of a spouse.
Kariuki regretted that gender based violence undermines health， dignity and autonomy of the victims hence the need to employ legal， cultural and policy tools to root it out completely.
"Victims of violence often suffer sexual and reproductive health consequences like unwanted pregnancies， unsafe abortions and traumatic fistula. We must create a supportive environment to hasten their recovery，" Kariuki said.
She added that strategic collaboration among policymakers， community leaders and campaigners is key to hasten successful implementation of programs that seeks to eliminate gender based violence.
"We are unequivocal about the need to focus more on the root causes of gender based violence，" said Kariuki， adding that the government has invested in rescue centers to offer psychosocial support to victims of domestic violence. Enditem
WASHINGTON , Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- The United States, Canada and Mexico on Wednesday kicked off here the first round of renegotiations on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) amid widespread uncertainty and anxiety over the future of the decades-old trilateral trade deal.
"We all agree that NAFTA needs updating. This is a 23-year-old agreement and our economies are very different than they were in the 1990s," U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Lighthizer said in his opening remarks for the inaugural round of NAFTA talks , which will last until Sunday in Washington D.C.
"We need to modernize or create provisions which protect digital trade and service trade, e-commerce, update customs procedures , protect intellectual property, improving energy provisions, enhance transparency rules and promote science-based agricultural trade ," Lighthizer said.
He hoped that the three countries could develop model provisions in each of these areas that can be used for years ahead and have the flexibility to adapt to future innovations.
Lighthizer also claimed that NAFTA "has fundamentally failed many, many Americans", and the United States "cannot ignore the huge trade deficits , the lost manufacturing jobs, the businesses that have closed or moved" because of incentives in the current agreement.
The top U.S. trade official said President Donald Trump, who has threatened to quit NAFTA , was not interested in "a mere tweaking of a few provisions and a couple of updated chapters," and the United States would seek "major improvement" of the agreement.
"We need to assure that huge trade deficits do not continue and we have balance and reciprocity. This should be periodically reviewed," Lighthizer said.
In July , the USTR's office for the first time included deficit reduction as a specific objective for the NAFTA negotiations, reflecting the Trump administration's determination to address the issue.
However, Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland dismissed the use of trade deficits as indicators of the success of a trade agreement.
"Canada doesn't view trade surpluses or deficits as a primary measure of whether a trading relationship works ," Freeland said in her opening remarks, adding current trade between the U.S. and Canada is "balanced and mutually beneficial."
Lighthizer said the U.S. would also seek to tighten the rules of origin for automobiles and auto parts by requiring a higher NAFTA content and "substantial U.S. content" .
The existing rules of origin allows the autos with a regional value content of 62.5 percent or higher to qualify for shipping them duty-free in North America. That's already the highest among the 12 free trade agreements that the U.S. currently has, according to Matt Blunt , head of American Automotive Policy Council.
Blunt said the current threshold for local content requirement strikes the right balance, warning that tightening the rules of origin in NAFTA could be disruptive and hurt the competitiveness of automakers in U.S., Canada and Mexico.
Mexico's Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo , in his opening remarks, said objectives for NAFTA renegotiations should be to "have more trade" and "do no harm."
"The issue is not tearing apart what has w.
Cabinet Secretary for gender affairs and youth， Sicily Kariuki， said in a commentary published by a local daily that individuals who used violence against their spouses or offspring will be punished severely.
"There is an abhorrent rise in cases of gender based violence in Kenya and we are committed to bringing this heinous behavior to an end. We are dealing with a silent epidemic that has potential to tear this country asunder，" Kariuki remarked.
Her remarks came in the wake of rising cases of gender based violence that have shocked communities and national leaders.
Early this month， a 27-year-old woman whose hands were chopped off by her enraged husband for failure to give birth to a child dominated headlines in the local dailies.
Kariuki condemned violence against women， terming it a retrogressive practice that would derail Kenya's social renewal， national cohesion and integration.
"There are horrific injuries being inflicted in this violence on men and women. Occasionally， this violence results in murder，" said Kariuki， adding that law enforcement agencies and the courts have been instructed to apprehend and punish perpetrators of domestic violence severely.
Kenya is among Sub-Saharan African countries that are grappling with a pervasive culture of domestic violence despite strides in modernity.
The Kenya Demographic Health Survey (KDHS) of 2014 revealed that 40 percent of women aged 15-49 years had experienced either physical or sexual violence in the hands of a spouse.
Kariuki regretted that gender based violence undermines health， dignity and autonomy of the victims hence the need to employ legal， cultural and policy tools to root it out completely.
"Victims of violence often suffer sexual and reproductive health consequences like unwanted pregnancies， unsafe abortions and traumatic fistula. We must create a supportive environment to hasten their recovery，" Kariuki said.
She added that strategic collaboration among policymakers， community leaders and campaigners is key to hasten successful implementation of programs that seeks to eliminate gender based violence.
"We are unequivocal about the need to focus more on the root causes of gender based violence，" said Kariuki， adding that the government has invested in rescue centers to offer psychosocial support to victims of domestic violence. Enditem
WASHINGTON , Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- The United States, Canada and Mexico on Wednesday kicked off here the first round of renegotiations on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) amid widespread uncertainty and anxiety over the future of the decades-old trilateral trade deal.
"We all agree that NAFTA needs updating. This is a 23-year-old agreement and our economies are very different than they were in the 1990s," U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Lighthizer said in his opening remarks for the inaugural round of NAFTA talks , which will last until Sunday in Washington D.C.
"We need to modernize or create provisions which protect digital trade and service trade, e-commerce, update customs procedures , protect intellectual property, improving energy provisions, enhance transparency rules and promote science-based agricultural trade ," Lighthizer said.
He hoped that the three countries could develop model provisions in each of these areas that can be used for years ahead and have the flexibility to adapt to future innovations.
Lighthizer also claimed that NAFTA "has fundamentally failed many, many Americans", and the United States "cannot ignore the huge trade deficits , the lost manufacturing jobs, the businesses that have closed or moved" because of incentives in the current agreement.
The top U.S. trade official said President Donald Trump, who has threatened to quit NAFTA , was not interested in "a mere tweaking of a few provisions and a couple of updated chapters," and the United States would seek "major improvement" of the agreement.
"We need to assure that huge trade deficits do not continue and we have balance and reciprocity. This should be periodically reviewed," Lighthizer said.
In July , the USTR's office for the first time included deficit reduction as a specific objective for the NAFTA negotiations, reflecting the Trump administration's determination to address the issue.
However, Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland dismissed the use of trade deficits as indicators of the success of a trade agreement.
"Canada doesn't view trade surpluses or deficits as a primary measure of whether a trading relationship works ," Freeland said in her opening remarks, adding current trade between the U.S. and Canada is "balanced and mutually beneficial."
Lighthizer said the U.S. would also seek to tighten the rules of origin for automobiles and auto parts by requiring a higher NAFTA content and "substantial U.S. content" .
The existing rules of origin allows the autos with a regional value content of 62.5 percent or higher to qualify for shipping them duty-free in North America. That's already the highest among the 12 free trade agreements that the U.S. currently has, according to Matt Blunt , head of American Automotive Policy Council.
Blunt said the current threshold for local content requirement strikes the right balance, warning that tightening the rules of origin in NAFTA could be disruptive and hurt the competitiveness of automakers in U.S., Canada and Mexico.
Mexico's Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo , in his opening remarks, said objectives for NAFTA renegotiations should be to "have more trade" and "do no harm."
"The issue is not tearing apart what has w.