Kenyan youth deserve the power to decide on their reproductive health 

By Evelyn Samba 

The State of the World Population report by UNFPA released recently indicates that for many people across the world, the inability to make free and informed choices about reproduction has far reaching consequences on their health and well-being. 

In Kenya, these global concerns are all too real. And even more real for the youth, who continue to face multiple, interconnected barriers to exercising their reproductive rights. Inadequate, and sometimes lack of, comprehensive information about Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights denies them the opportunity to make informed decisions about their bodies and relationships. It further leaves them vulnerable to misinformation, unsafe practices, and peer pressure. 

When they seek services, they often encounter judgmental attitudes from healthcare providers, further discouraging them from returning or opening up about their needs. When you add this to an environment where GBV and harmful cultural practices are rife, it results in a landscape where access to Sexual Reproductive Health services by young people is systematically denied and their right to reproductive autonomy undermined. 

And the consequences are dire. When young people—particularly girls—lack control over their reproductive lives, early pregnancies often force them out of school. With less education, their chances of securing employment opportunities or stable income shrink, deepening cycles of poverty. 

A lack of reproductive agency often intersects with unequal power relations. Young girls are more vulnerable to coercion, transactional sex, and intimate partner violence. Without the ability to say no to sex, negotiate safe sex or contraceptive use, they remain at risk of infections, abuse and exploitation. 

These preventable situations highlight the urgent need for youth-centred SRH services and education, especially as we mark World Population Day under the theme, empowering young people: rising above the challenges and making informed choices for the future. 

This has now become even more urgent, especially with the recent ending of major funding streams such as USAID. SRHR programming is now facing critical gaps as organizations that were delivering community-based interventions, mobile outreaches, and school programs are now scaling back or closing operations entirely. Worse still, changing donor priorities have created a vacuum, especially in rural and underserved counties.  

The progress Kenya has made over the years is at risk of reversal if domestic systems are not strengthened to absorb and continue these services. Without sustained investment, the gains in reproductive agency for Kenya’s youth will not hold. 

Now is the time for urgent action—to mobilize domestic resources, re-engage strategic partners, and ensure that SRHR remains at the heart of Kenya’s development agenda.   

We must ensure that our young people are equipped with the right tools and resources to make informed decisions about their reproductive health, thereby reducing unintended pregnancy, unsafe abortions, and maternal mortality and promoting healthier families, stronger economies, and more resilient communities. 

Ms Samba is the Executive Director, Youth for a Sustainable World .