Kenya’s family planning and social norms programs are making moderate progress, however persistent funding shortages coordination gaps and high teenage pregnancy rates continue to limit impact across counties, this is according to a 2025 Motion Tracker Approach (MTA) report by the Health NGOs Network (HENNET).
Speaking ahead of the upcoming International Conference on Family Planning (ICFP), Sharon Musakali, Senior Program Officer at HENNET underscored the importance of tracking smaller variables that make up the country’s data on Reproductive health thus informing evidence based advocacy.
“We want to track every small factor that contributes to the numbers that we report as progress,” Musakali said. “Without understanding the details behind the data, it’s hard to measure real change.”
Kenya has made eight commitments under the Family Planning 2030 (FP2030) framework, including increasing modern contraceptive prevalence rate (mCPR) among married women from 58per cent to 64 percent, reducing pregnancy rates among adolescent girls from 15 per cent to 10 per cent, increase domestic financing to cover commodities 100 per cent ensure availability to the last mile by 2030 among others.
Taking into account these commitments, The MTA 2025, drew from 187 unique organizations, resulting in 194 Reponses across all 47 counties, the study used a mixed method approach combining quantitative data and qualitative insights. The report underwent a quality assurance conducted through technical reviews by the Ministry of Health, National Council for Population and Development (NCPD), SRHR Alliance, PS Kenya and Samasha.
One of its key findings showed that youth led and youth serving organizations had a growing influence that surpassed national NGOs in activity and reporting, shaping Family planning narratives and improving access.
“Youth groups are increasingly driving advocacy and awareness at the grassroots level,” said Musakali. “Their energy is reshaping how communities view and access family planning.”
Youth involvement is especially timely as the Teenage pregnancy crisis is on the rise, In Meru County, almost 40 teenage girls are sitting for their Kenya Primary School Education Assessment (KPSEA) and Kenya Junior School Education Assessment (KJSEA) 2025 national exams while pregnant, 17 of them admitted in the hospital.
According Kenya Demographic and Health Survey (KDHS) 2022 Meru County’s teenage pregnancy rate is at 24 per cent, significantly higher than the National average of 15 per cent highlighting the need for data driven interventions.
Experts now warn that the country risks reversing the achieved progress if no investments are made in family planning and adolescent health as 75 per cent of Kenya’s population is under 35 years old making it one of the youngest nations in Africa. A lack of investment gravely threatens the country’s demographic dividend which is the potential economic growth driven by a youthful and productive population leading to a long term economic stability.
MTA and Track20 reports align in showing that Commitments on adolescent health and domestic financing are performing poorly signaling stalled progress.
In the financial year 2025/26, the allocation for procurement of family planning & reproductive health commodities was at Kshs 500 million way below the needed Kshs 3 Billion. A concern highlighted earlier in the year by the Director of Family Health at the Ministry of Health Dr. Bashir Issak.
“What’s currently in the budget is not enough the truth is, both domestic and donor funding are shrinking.” He noted.
Despite these challenges, the Motion Tracker report found progress in integrating family planning with HIV and primary healthcare services. Yet, Musakali cautioned that such gains may not be sustainable without proper financing.
“The energy and innovation are there,” she said. “But unless we fix financing and coordination, the numbers on paper won’t translate to real change for young girls and women.”
