Kenya
In addition to hosting our regional office in Nairobi, Planned Parenthood Global supports partners with financial and technical assistance across Kenya, from urban slums to coastal fishing villages to the bustling Nairobi cityscape.
One example: Moving the Goalposts, our Kenyan partners in the coastal town of Kilifi, runs a local all-girl league. The young women players, who range in age from 13 to 20, come from crowded urban slums and impoverished coastal villages. For many, expectations for their educational and career success do not extend beyond completing elementary school. Some are already mothers. Joining an athletic league provides these young women with the chance to exercise, become part of a team, and have some fun. Evidence shows that young women who participate in team sports are more confident, stay in school longer, and set more ambitious career goals than those who never get to run across a field or score a goal. Team practices also offer learning opportunities.
Planned Parenthood Global also supports the Kenya Reproductive Health Rights Alliance (RHRA), a group of advocates from the medical, legal, women’s rights, and human rights communities. The RHRA formed in 2003 in response to the arrest of three medical providers on false charges of committing murder through abortion. The alliance came together to defend the three providers and ultimately played a critical role in securing their freedom. The RHRA then focused on ensuring that Kenya’s new constitution expanded women’s rights and imposed no new restrictions on abortion. Today, Planned Parenthood Global hosts the RHRA secretariat. The group is currently working to increase awareness about the consequences of unsafe abortion and advocating for improvements in reproductive health care delivery.
This work serves to support the Closing the Gap initiative, a project in Burkina Faso, Kenya, and Uganda that works to increase access to sexual and reproductive health information and care, including abortion services, in high-need communities.