INVESTING IN FAMILY planning is fundamental to achieving Kenya’s health and development goals. When women in developing nations have the ability (access and right to contraception) to space out their pregnancies by at least three years, their babies are twice as likely to reach their first birthday.
There is also evidence of the anti-poverty effects of family planning. For example, women who space out their pregnancies are more likely to advance their education and earn an income to support their families.
PS Kenya employs cutting edge health interventions to address unmet reproductive health needs and disparities across the country to give women and families at large; power to decide when they would want to have children, how many and how much time in between one child and another. The overall goal of our Reproductive Health/Family Planning program is to contribute to the increase of modern Contraceptive Prevalence Rate in Kenya .
National indicators show some progress towards achieving the national targets by the year 2020. However, there still exists high disparities on these indicators with some counties having a very low modern contraceptive prevalence rate and a high unmet need for contraception.
The objectives of PS Kenya’s Reproductive Health/Family Planning program include:
PS Kenya reproductive health/family planning target audience
Kenya has been recognized for its strides in increasing its modern contraceptive prevalence rate (mCPR) and satisfying demand, including receiving an EXCELL award in 2015. With such a high modern CPR of 58% we are faced with a twofold challenge; sustaining use among the high CPR counties and increasing use in low CPR counties. Improvements in health outcomes such as an increase in mCPR do mask vast disparities and inequities in access, service provision and quality of care across the country.
There are 9.2 million adolescents and young people aged 15 – 24 years in Kenya. This is close to 20% of Kenya’s total population. This is a Key demography whose health status directly affects the socioeconomic status of the country. Even though we would want this age group to contribute positively in the development of the country, they are instead held back due to poor reproductive health status. Sexual debut is early in teenage life, unprotected sexual activity continues as they transition to adulthood. Their rate of contraceptive use is low translating to high unmet need for contraceptives. PS Kenya has identified this as one of the priority target audience in dire need of specifically tailor made interventions which address their unique needs. This is because addressing their Sexual Reproductive Health (SRH) needs now would significantly improve the current national SRH indicators and guarantee a healthy future generation.
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 in line with KENYA ‘Vision 2030’. The goal of the programme is to ensure that women and girls can safely plan their pregnancies and improve their SRHR, particularly the young rural, and marginalized, with programme impact contributing to reduced maternal mortality, newborn, and child mortality, and increased mCPR in Kenya.
Find more information on the DESIP programme by clicking on the factsheet below.
Accelerate- Accelerate is a Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) and Gender-Based Violence (GBV) program funded by DANIDA and implemented in a consortium led by Population Services Kenya (PS KENYA) in partnership with Gender Violence Recovery Centre (GVRC) and Population Services International (PSI). The program will contribute towards ICPD25 Promise of zero unmet need for contraception, zero preventable maternal deaths and zero gender-based violence and harmful practices hence working towards the three zeros. Accelerate seeks to build on the milestones that Kenya has achieved towards the realization of true universal access to quality sexual and reproductive health services (SRHR), prevention and management of Gender Based Violence (GBV) and reduction in Harmful Traditional Practices (HTPs). The program will focus on 13 underserved, hard-to-reach Counties of West Pokot, Elgeyo Marakwet, Homabay, Kajiado, Kwale, Nairobi, Samburu, Garissa, Mandera, Marsabit, Baringo, Kilifi and Narok. These counties share common challenges mentioned above.
Accelerate Objective and Theory of Change
The Goal of Accelerate-working towards the three zeros is contribute to the reduction in maternal mortality and morbidity, reduce the unmet need for SRHR (including FP) and decrease prevalence of Gender Based Violence (including HTPs). The objective of accelerate is to: a) Increase access and utilization of comprehensive, inclusive and integrated SRHR/ MCH services b) Increase access and utilization of comprehensive, inclusive and integrated GBV response and prevention services c) Strengthen respect for human rights.
The Theory of Change rests on assumption that ultimately, the effort to strengthen women and girls’ human rights, reduce GBV and improve SRHR are linked to prevailing discriminatory socio-cultural norms, attitudes, and beliefs. While legislative and policy reforms have established a basis for gender equality across all sectors, gaps still exist in addressing negative sexual and gender norms at the individual, institutional and societal level to facilitate sustainable and transformatory gender equality changes across Kenya. The underlying assumption is that these socio-cultural norms, attitudes, behavior, and beliefs will be amenable to change once individuals have been exposed to the program interventions that aim at increasing knowledge on human rights, promoting gender quality & prevention of GBV and engaging men and boys to shape their attitudes towards gender equality and foster greater respect for girls and women’s rights.
Outcomes: To accomplish this goal, Accelerate will focus on three outcomes: 1) Increased access and utilization of quality, comprehensive, integrated, equitable and inclusive SRHR/ MCH services for the project’s target audience 2)Increased access and uptake of comprehensive, quality, multi-disciplinary, efficient, equitable, inclusive gender-based violence response and prevention services for GBV survivors; 3)Strengthened respect for human rights to prevent and respond to SGBV including addressing domestic violence, sexual harassment and HTPs 4) Improved knowledge, attitudes, gender & socio-cultural norms and behaviors on Human Rights (women & girls rights)
Outputs: The following outputs will contribute to the outcomes outlined above: 1) Greater availability and access to quality, comprehensive, integrated and inclusive SRHR / MCH services 2: Increased access to quality, multi-disciplinary, efficient, inclusive and user-friendly SGBV response & prevention services; 3: Increased demand for SRHR/ MCH and GBV services; 4: Improved knowledge, attitudes, behaviors, gender and socio-cultural norms on Human Rights; 5: Strengthened national/ county government accountability, capacity, leadership, stewardship and ownership.
Target Groups: Adolescent /youth (girls): Accelerate will target this group so that they have an opportunity to plan their lives without the risk of unplanned pregnancies, GBV and HTPs that infringe on their rights and dignity; Women and girl survivors of GBV; Accelerate will increase their awareness and remove physical, socio-cultural and economic barriers to reporting abuse and accessing services. Boys and men will be engaged to shape their attitudes towards gender equality and to play a bigger role in protecting women and girls’ rights; Poor women, marginalized groups (including LGBT+ & PWDs) and those living in hard-to-reach (including rural) areas who are often left behind in many SRHR and GBV programs.
Link to SDGs: Accelerate will contribute to SDG 1 (no poverty), SDG 3 (good health and well-being), SDG 5 (gender equality), SDG 10 (reduced inequalities), and SDG 16 (peace, justice and strong institutions).
Funded by the Children Investment Fund foundation, A360 Kenya has built on learning from other A360 countries to co-design Binti Shupavu, supported by a global user journey, with and for girls. Binti Shupavu is being implemented in five counties that have low ASRH indicators: Kilifi, Kajiado, Narok, Homa Bay, and Migori. Binti Shupavu is anchored on key broad strategies geared towards its successful implementation, i.e.,
About Binti Shupavu: Binti Shupavu is a fresh take on providing information and access to contraception. The program is girl-led and joy-centered, which means that it starts by understanding the spirit of her adolescence and placing her needs first. Our journey towards agency begins with creating a safe space (Y-Facility) for young women to connect with peers, learn about contraception, and own their own stories of growth. The program engages and educates influencers in the community and those closest to young women (via Binti stories) so that they might collaboratively address misinformation and support the decisions girls make about their bodies and futures. We then pair this with opportunities for young women to co-create their path to self-determination with the help of mentors and role models. Community Fair Training and Co-Design programming pushes them beyond just learning about their bodies, towards feeling empowered and equipped with new skills that link them to economic opportunities. Through Binti Shupavu, young women have the right information and support to make decisions about their bodies and their futures with confidence.
The girls we are designing for and with
Binti Shupavu has worked to select the archetypes that present the greatest opportunity for impact and reach/scale, trying to find a balance between designing for girls who are harder to reach and achieving broader impact through scale. In examining the archetypes, the devoted wife and the resilient mother came through as the archetypes that presented the greatest opportunities. However, designing for these segments does not mean that A360 won’t be able to reach the other segments, as anything designed for one of these segments will likely have some resonance for the others.
Maverick The next project, dubbed the Binti Biashara project, is a learning-based project funded by the Maverick Collective Fellows under PSI and implemented in Kilifi County, Magarini Sub County. The project brings together young women, their influencers, and key stakeholders to co-design, develop, test, and iterate concepts and models that will help young women feel more empowered to make decisions about not only their bodies, but their futures, finances, and potential career paths. Biashara program is born out of the adaptation process from global PSI A360 programming around EE/AYSRH done in Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Nigeria and testing within the Kenyan context. The program is based on the Binti Shupavu core AYSRH model with the key early prototypes layered being: aspiring together, community by in, learning and discovery followed by celebration. These components have been tested and we have seen evolution from round one to round two of the rough prototyping, resulting in the amalgamating of the approaches into two (2) more cohesive systems for testing – the Community Model and the Institutional Model – that are now ripe for live prototype testing as highlighted in the chat below; –
WHO ARE WE DESIGNING FOR
Through this program we advocate for the promotion of skilled and safe deliveries within our social franchise Tunza. The overall objectives of this program include: increasing demand for safe motherhood services within Tunza, increase access to safe motherhood services within Tunza and improving quality of care of private sector health providers within the Tunza Network through training and supervision.
PS Kenya has developed and disseminated information and education communication materials for the 3 audiences: women in the community, the community health worker, the health service provider in the first half of this year for BCC activities. Successful trainings in BeMONC & MPDSR have been carried out for Tunza facility providers to increase their skill in delivering babies safely. The program has also revised its data tools to capture adolescents and youth data.
Through this program we advocate for the promotion of skilled and safe deliveries within our social franchise Tunza. The overall objectives of this program include: increasing demand for safe motherhood services within Tunza, increase access to safe motherhood services within Tunza and improving quality of care of private sector health providers within the Tunza Network through training and supervision.
PS Kenya has developed and disseminated information and education communication materials for the 3 audiences: women in the community, the community health worker, the health service provider in the first half of this year for BCC activities. Successful trainings in BeMONC & MPDSR have been carried out for Tunza facility providers to increase their skill in delivering babies safely. The program has also revised its data tools to capture adolescents and youth data.
In 2016, we saw the numbers of adolescent girls and young women accessing contraceptive
services in Tunza clinics increase. A total 0f 59,781 FP methods were issued to adolescent
girls and young women. This accounted to 27% of all FP methods served through the Tunza
franchise. Over 3,800 IUCDs and over 11,200 implants were served to this demography.
Comparing these numbers the proportion of young women opting for long acting methods
were higher compared with the older generation.
