Challenge

Universal Health Coverage (UHC) was introduced in Kenya in 2018 to ensure all Kenyans have access to essential quality health care without suffering financial hardship and leave no one behind. However, citizens – including those most vulnerable – have not been engaged in shaping UHC policy to date.

Solution

The promise of UHC will only be realized when the self-expressed needs of marginalized and vulnerable populations are well-understood, explicitly prioritized, and acted upon. Through working closely with adolescents girls and people living with disabilities, we can ensure citizen engagement and social accountability to improve UHC principles of quality, equity and dignity (QED) at the point of service delivery and influence long-term, system-wide change.

Our Strategy

WRA Kenya strives to mobilize citizens to advocate for improved reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health outcomes while demanding accountability for commitments made by decision-makers. Our 2019 – 2022 Strategic Plan consolidates our learning, brings in new approaches and refreshes our vision to address the changing realities of girls and women in Kenya.

Current Campaigns

WRA Kenya is currently involved in several campaigns to raise awareness of the results from the What Women Want Campaign and is working to achieve Universal Health Coverage in Kenya.

UHC For ME

In 2019, WRA Kenya deepened their commitment to “Leave No One Behind” with the launch of their UHC for Me campaign.  The UHC for Me campaign is working to ensure the evolving national Universal Health Coverage (UHC) system in Kenya reflects and responds to community desires, prioritizing the most vulnerable and marginalized populations, such as adolescent girls and people with disabilities. The project

Revolutionizing What Women Want: Demands for Quality Healthcare from Women and Girls

Following the highly successful 2019 What Women Want campaign, WRA Kenya committed to ensuring women, girls’ and other key populations’ top demands for quality healthcare are heard and acted upon by decision makers.  In 2020, WRA Kenya is working to launch a digital platform, thus providing people the power to not only set the course of their own health, but their nation’s. The platform will offer unparalleled ability to reach and solicit opinions of women and girls, connect them with each other as well as advocates and decision-makers, and generate real-time feedback on how their voices are making a difference.

Our Impact

2019

• The global What Women Want campaign culminated to see Kenya take it to almost all counties, hearing from nearly 120,000 women and girls about what quality maternal and reproductive health care meant to them. Their top three requests were improved Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), respectful and dignified care, and menstrual health. For more information, visit the What Women Want Kenya Report.
• WRA Kenya was highly successful engaging digital and mainstream media through countless interviews including ones with the BBC World News and BBC Kiswahili Radio.

2018

• White Ribbon Alliance Kenya hosted the first national dialogue in Nairobi, Kenya for the Improving Maternal Health Measurement Capacity and Use (IMHM) project. During the meeting participants identified core ending preventable maternal mortality indicators that stakeholders would like to see monitored in Kenya and the barriers to doing so. The information gathered during the meeting will be used to identify gaps and determine advocacy opportunities to elevate the EPMMM agenda in Kenya  
• ‘Girls Not Mothers campaign’ called upon stakeholders to act to end the high rate of adolescent pregnancies in the country, denying hundreds of girls from reaching their potential.

2017

• The Our Voices Project ensured that adolescents, young women and girls could effectively engage with duty bearers around reproductive, maternal and adolescent health issues. By collecting and amplifying young people’s voices through youth accountability teams, we increased engagement between adolescents and county government and RMNCAH service providers to address their needs.