Population Services Kenya joined the national government and other civil society organizations to mark World Population Day. World Population Day is a global event marked annually on July 11th and seeks to raise awareness of global population issues. The event was celebrated at Majengo Dispensary grounds in Kajiado County. The theme for this year was “End GBV, New HIV Infections and Pregnancy among Adolescents for a Resilient Future.”
PS Kenya and partners are in the forefront of ending the identified triple threats as follows:
1.Addressing GBV and Harmful Practices
To address Gender Based Violence, Population Services Kenya, through the Accelerate project (a Danida funded program), in partnership with the Ministry of Health, the Gender Violence Recovery Centre (GVRC), and Population Services International (PSI), is contributing towards the ICPD. The promise of zero unmet need for contraception, zero gender-based violence and harmful traditional practices, and zero preventable maternal deaths.
2. Addressing Adolescent Pregnancies
PS Kenya is addressing factors that contribute to adolescent pregnancies by making it easier for adolescents to access sexual and reproductive health information and services. This is being achieved through DESIP, Binti Shupavu, and Binti Biashara programs.
DESIP is a UK aid-funded programme focused on delivering Sustainable and Equitable Increases in Family Planning (DESIP) in low contraceptive prevalence rate (CPR) counties. The goal of the programme is to ensure that women and girls can safely plan their pregnancies and improve their sexual and reproductive health rights.
Binti Shupavu (funded by the Children Investment Funds Foundation) and Binti Biashara (funded by young philanthropists under Maverick Collective) projects are addressing factors contributing to teenage pregnancies by making it easier for adolescents and young mothers to access sexual and reproductive health information and services.
3. Ending New HIV Infections
To address new HIV infections, PS Kenya has rolled out an HIV self-testing program that is geared towards the identification of positive cases and linking them to treatment. To date, PS Kenya has distributed a total of over 305, 263 HIV self-testing kits, with 77% distributed to men. We strategically target men since they form part of the unreached population due to their poor health seeking behaviors.
The event was organized by the National Council for Population and Development and sought to recognize and appreciate the milestones achieved in addressing the triple threats.
