It’s Time to Prioritize Our Teenagers’ Lives Over Cultural Silence

Mombasa Kenya

In Summary

• Adolescent pregnancy crisis & policy gaps: Kenya faces alarming rates of teenage pregnancies (over 240,000 in 2024), compounded by restrictive laws, stigma, and lack of access to contraception—leading to unsafe abortions, early motherhood, and over 1,100 maternal deaths among young mothers last year.
• Progress through partnerships, but access still limited: Recent efforts by the Ministry of Health, UNFPA, and UK Government (e.g., provision of implants and injectables to avert over 322,000 unintended pregnancies) highlight the power of investment in SRH, yet distribution gaps persist, especially for vulnerable adolescents outside formal health systems.
• Urgent need for sustainable, inclusive financing & leadership: With shrinking donor funding, Kenya must increase domestic investment, explore innovative financing (social enterprises, impact investments, bonds), and include youth voices in SRH solutions—treating adolescent reproductive health not as a cost but as a long-term investment in equity, justice, and national prosperity.

UNFPA advocates for comprehensive sexuality education into school curricula and out of school activities to enable young people to make informed decisions about their sexuality and health. These programmes build life skills and increase responsible behaviours. Photo By UNFPA / Kenya, Douglas Waudo.

Kenya is facing a sobering crisis—one we can no longer whisper about in boardrooms or bury beneath cultural shame. In 2024 alone, more than 240,000 girls aged 10 to 19 became pregnant. Behind every number is a life forever altered—a girl forced to trade her dreams for diapers, schoolbooks for hospital beds. These aren’t just statistics. They are children—many scared, many alone, many voiceless.

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We must confront an uncomfortable truth: our teenagers are sexually active, whether we acknowledge it or not. The era of abstinence-only messaging has passed. What they now need is information, access, and protection—not condemnation. Yet, in 2025, many adolescents in Kenya are still denied access to contraception due to outdated laws, societal stigma, and policies that put ideals above evidence.

Blocking access to contraceptives is not just a moral misstep—it is a public health failure. It fuels a vicious cycle of unintended pregnancies, unsafe abortions, early motherhood, and even death. The Ministry of Health’s own records show that more than 1,100 young mothers lost their lives last year to pregnancy-related complications. How many more families must mourn before we act?

116,272 sets of contraceptive implants and 69,800 vials of the injectable contraceptive DMPA-SC handed over to the Ministry of Health COURTESY: UNFPA

Thankfully, there are rays of hope. On June 18th, 2025, the Ministry of Health, in partnership with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and funded by the UK Government, received a critical consignment of contraceptives—116,272 sets of implants and 69,800 vials of DMPA-SC injectables. These are expected to prevent 322,228 unintended pregnancies, avert 92,790 unsafe abortions, and save 916 mothers’ lives. This partnership exemplifies what meaningful investment in sexual and reproductive health (SRH) looks like.

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But access to these life-saving tools must not end at warehouses and policy papers. They must reach the girls in Kilifi, in Kibera, in Lodwar, in every corner of this nation—especially the adolescents who are most vulnerable. The time has come to ensure contraceptives are available not only to married women or adults, but to all who need them, regardless of age or marital status. To deny teenagers access is to deny them their future.

Kenya must also own its role in sustaining such initiatives. As emphasized by Dr. Walter Obita during the recently concluded 8th Reproductive Health Network Kenya (RHNK) Conference in Mombasa, funding remains a critical challenge. With 1.1 million sexually active adolescents, the current donor-dependence model is simply not sustainable. As foreign aid shrinks, we must move beyond traditional financing and embrace innovative models—from social enterprises to impact investments and social bonds.

Dr. Obita rightly pointed out that young people must be part of the financial solutions we develop. Their future is at stake, and they deserve a say in shaping it. Kenya must also increase domestic funding for SRH, as pledged under the UNFPA-Kenya Government Compact, to guarantee self-reliance and resilience in our reproductive health systems.

A call on the Government of Kenya, our Parliament, development partners, religious and cultural leaders, and civil society to wake up to the urgency of this moment. This is not just about contraceptives. It is about justice, equity, and the right to choose. It's about breaking the cycle of poverty, curbing maternal mortality, and ensuring that our daughters grow up in a country that values their health, their voice, and their potential.

In the end, funding adolescent sexual and reproductive health is not an expense—it is an investment in a healthier, smarter, and more prosperous Kenya. We cannot afford to look away. The lives of hundreds of thousands of girls depend on the decisions we make now.