Marie Stopes Kenya

Over recent years, Kenya has experienced many overall successes, but the country is still struggling with slow progress on sexual and reproductive health.

While the contraceptive prevalence rate continues to increase, it is estimated that a quarter of the population still have an unmet need for contraception and family planning services.

A large inequality discrepancy exists throughout the country between rural and urban populations, and within and between provinces. Unmet need remains the highest among youth and low socio-economic groups in rural areas.

Marie Stopes Kenya opened its doors in 1985 and has since become the country’s largest specialised sexual and reproductive health organisation. We provide a wide range of high quality, affordable and client-centred services and information to women, men and young people throughout Kenya.

How we deliver services in Kenya

The programme uses a range of different service delivery channels to ensure that we are able to reach those most in need the length and breadth of the country. The team in Kenya operate:

• 22 centres, which serve as the foundation of the programme. Through these, and one specialist obstetrics hospital, the team offer post-abortion care, emergency contraception, crisis pregnancy counselling, pre and post-natal care, safe delivery, ultrasound, voluntary HIV counselling and testing, and cervical cancer screening. 
  
  
• 14 mobile outreach teams offering a full range of modern contraception, including short and long-acting and permanent methods, in over 600 private and public sites across Kenya. Through this channel we reach some of the most remote communities and under-served populations in the country.
  
  
• MSI’s oldest social franchise network, Amua, which has 228 members and covers all regions of the country including arid and semi-arid lands.

Australia Africa Community Engagement Scheme

The Australia Africa Community Engagement Scheme (AACES) is a five-year partnership between the Australian Government, African partner organisations and NGOs including Marie Stopes International.

Between 2011 and 2016, the program focused on empowering women, young people and people living with disabilities in eleven African countries. Our programmes in Kenya and Tanzania were strengthened through the AACES program, where we were able to:

• Reach 315,236 people in Kenya and Tanzania with sexual and reproductive health services. 93% were women and girls, and the impact of these services helped to prevent an estimated 260,000 unintended pregnancies.
  
  
• Establish a network of 30 social franchise health centres along the Kenyan coast, delivering services to over 59,000 women and men.
  
  
• Build relationships with disabled people’s organisations and adapt our services and information to better suit the needs of this group. In Kenya, we developed the first sexual and reproductive information booklet in braille.