Neena Gill (S&D). – Madam President, when Kenyan people, including five million young people went to the ballot boxes last year, their hope was to help shape the future of their country. It is deeply disappointing that political leaders and security forces traded this for dispute and division, intimidating citizens, polling staff, civil society and the judiciary ahead of the October rerun.

The result is a country bitterly divided along political and ethnic lines, at a time when the EU is looking at Kenya to be the engine of growth for East Africa and a partner in managing migration. We are one of the most generous providers of aid. Half a billion in the current financing period for projects under the Africa Trust Fund. Our priority should be to use this as leverage to support democracy and civil society in a meaningful way, not as a tick-box exercise. We really have to ensure that recommendations made by electoral observation missions are fully implemented and are in sync with the project we are supporting there.

Commissioner, numerous priorities need to be addressed, but I will highlight one in particular which other colleagues have already spoken about: the horrifying and wide- spread use of sexual violence against women and girls by police and security forces. In the 2007 and 2008 electoral violence, thousands of women were raped. This was met with impunity and indifference by the Kenyan Government. Ten years on, we are really seeing a repeat of the same atrocious crimes documented in a chilling report by Human Rights Watch.

So, my question to you Commissioner is: will we make accountability for sexual violence and inclusiveness of women a priority for our relations with Kenya? Secondly, how do we move from this tick-box approach towards democracy-building and engaging civil society in Kenya in a meaningful way? Finally, how will we ensure a proper long-term follow-up of vital recommendations on these and other issues where there is significant room for improvement as far as our EOMs are concerned?