The third report on the implementation of Kenya’s 17 commitments made at the Nairobi Summit on ICPD25 shows that the country continues to make progress in realizing the goals of the ICPD programme of Action. Efforts to promote the health of women, girls, and young people have resulted in greater investments towards adolescent and youth-friendly health services and high-quality maternal and newborn health services across all 47 counties in Kenya.
Government agencies, civil society, and development partners outlined work done in 2021/22 and highlighted key achievements which include improved access to high-quality maternal and newborn health services in the country through equipping 2,115 primary care level facilities with assorted equipment. In addition, 500 healthcare workers were trained on Emergency Obstetric and Neonatal Care (EmONC), which is key to reducing maternal mortality.
In line with Kenya’s commitment to increase health sector financing to 15% of the country’s budget by 2030, the Ministry of Health reported that an additional 9 Billion shillings was allocated to health by the national government, while county governments also increased their total health budgets from 135 Billion shillings to 160 Billion shillings over the same period. The total allocation to health stands at 7.7% of Kenya’s annual budget, and the country still has a way to go in order to achieve the set target of 15% allocation as per the Abuja Declaration.
As part of efforts to realize progress towards Kenya’s commitment on harnessing youth potential, 31,112 young people received more than 400 million shillings from the Youth Enterprise Development Fund. A further 71,715 youth were provided with industrial training to upgrade their skills, while 89,572 young people were placed in employment both locally and abroad.
Kenya also reported progress in promoting the health of adolescents and youth to end new HIV infections and teenage pregnancy among the 10-24-year-old population, with the establishment of adolescent health technical working groups across the 47 counties. Young people were also supported to access friendly reproductive health services and information through the establishment of safe spaces at the community level and the training of healthcare workers on the provision of adolescent sexual and reproductive health services.
ICPD25 third annual progress report from NCPD Board Chair
Gen (Rtd) Dr. Julius Karangi
The event to mark the third anniversary of the ICPD25 Nairobi summit was organized by the National Council for Population and Development (NCPD), which is the body tasked with tracking and monitoring the implementation of the country’s 17 commitments. Speaking during the launch of the annual progress report, NCPD Director General Dr. Sheikh Mohammed noted that the country had reported progress in the reduction of teenage pregnancy from 18 percent in 2014 to 15 percent in 2022. “The 2022 demographic health survey also shows that FGM is on a steady decline, but regional disparities point to cultural and social factors that must be addressed in order to eliminate the practice,” noted Dr. Mohammed.
The Nairobi Summit held in 2019 was co-hosted by the Government of Kenya, UNFPA, and the Government of Denmark, and resulted in over 1,300 voluntary commitments made by Governments and other stakeholders, centered around achieving zero unmet need for family planning, zero preventable maternal deaths, and zero sexual and gender-based violence and harmful practices against women and girls. Danish Ambassador to Kenya Mr. Ole Thonke assured Kenya of Denmark’s support towards achieving the three transformative results, adding that the Danish government has earmarked Kenya Shillings 900 million that will go towards supporting the elimination of sexual and gender-based violence and harmful cultural practices such as FGM.
UNFPA representative Anders Thomsen lauded the Kenya government and partners including the civil society for progress made in the implementation of Kenya’s country commitments on ICPD25. “Progress will no doubt be accelerated if we continue to work together in safeguarding human rights, and in advancing gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls in our society,” said Mr. Thomsen.
The celebration of the third anniversary of ICPD25 also featured the launch of the ICPD25KenyaHub, a website dedicated to news and information on Kenya’s progress towards achieving the 17-country commitments.
