Kenya

In 1969, Pathfinder partnered with government and organizations in Kenya to establish quality family planning services. Five years later, we opened our country office in Nairobi and have provided continuous service ever since.

Today, in response to Kenya’s high prevalence of HIV, Pathfinder builds the capacity of local partners to integrate critical services—HIV and AIDS services with reproductive health care—through projects like APHIAplus.

In remote villages and urban centers, the provision of health care through outreach services can mean the difference between life or death. That's why Pathfinder is finding innovative ways to reach Kenyans with care they need.

Through initiatives like mHMtaani, we capitalize on the power of mobile technology by equipping community health workers with mobile apps that serve as powerful case management tools to support national maternal and child health goals.

Community health workers help Pathfinder's work go further. As natives of the communities in which they work, these workers foster trust and build relationships with their clients with a greater understanding of local tradition and values.

Kenya has a long history of providing some of the most successful family planning programs in Africa.

Despite Kenya’s significant track record with family planning services, one out of every four married women still report an unmet need for family planning. This unmet need for family planning results in demand for services and access to contraceptives, placing tremendous strain on government health systems. These systems are already stretched to meet the needs of the country's population of people living with HIV and AIDS, which is the fourth largest in the world.

Pathfinder has supported reproductive health and family planning work in Kenya since 1969. By working closely with nongovernmental and community-based organizations, government agencies, and public and private sector institutions, Pathfinder has reached some of Kenya’s poorest communities with reproductive health information and services, including contraceptives and counseling in maternal and child health care.

Recently, Pathfinder’s work in Kenya has responded to the country’s high rate of HIV infection, currently estimated at 6.2 percent among adults and at 3 percent among young women aged 15-24 (compared to 1.1 percent of young men). Today, Pathfinder integrates HIV and AIDS prevention and care with quality reproductive health and family planning activities, bringing health services to the most vulnerable women who are least likely to have access to quality care.

Through peer education and school sessions, APHIAplus Nairobi-Coast has reached more than 17,000 young people with information about gender-based violence, reproductive health, and HIV and AIDS. Pathfinder also supports the development of sustainable health systems to ensure equitable access to a wide range of health services. APHIAplus builds capacity of managers, health care providers, and community health workers.

Through our activities, Pathfinder is promoting sexual and reproductive health care among women, men, adolescents, as well as key populations such as orphaned and vulnerable children, men who have sex with men, intravenous drug users, and sex workers. The ultimate goal is to ensure access to readily accessible, equitable, and quality health services for all people in Kenya.