This archive report was first published on 18 November 2021.
Two years have passed since Kenya made commitments to advance the sexual and reproductive health and rights of women and girls at the Nairobi Summit. However, the country is yet to meet its targets.
As per the commitments made by President Uhuru Kenyatta during the 25th anniversary of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD25), Kenya aimed to end teenage pregnancies and new adolescent and youth HIV infections by 2030. The country also sought to provide youth and adolescents with universal access to friendly quality reproductive health services and information.
Additionally, President Kenyatta had indicated his government's goal to attain zero child marriages in the next decade. However, the Covid-19 pandemic has widened the unsafe environments for adolescents, and the country is yet to meet its targets.
According to the National Council for Population and Development (NCPD), 17 counties recorded an increase in pregnancies among adolescents aged 10-19 this year. Between January and October 2021, a total of 5,492 new HIV infections were recorded, in addition to 1,473 HIV-related deaths.
United Nations Population Fund representative for Kenya, Dr Ademola Olajide, emphasized the importance of mainstreaming the commitments to enable the country meet its targets. He stated, 'While Covid-19 pandemic severely impacted the implementation of the ICPD25 commitments, those commitments remain valid.'
Dr Estella Waiguru, Head of Family Health at the Ministry of Health, said the government is striving to meet all the demands for sexual and reproductive health products. She added, 'As part of the commitments made during the ICPD25, Kenya seeks to ensure sustained availability of family planning commodities to the last mile, in order to achieve zero unmet need for family planning services.'
