Population Services Kenya attended the official launch of the ‘Women News Review’ at the New Era Women’s Convention held on May 3, 2023. The Convention whose theme was Women Empowerment in Advancing Governance & Achieving Economic & Social Justice leveraged on different strengths of Women to achieve their vision in the different sectors they present. The Women News Review is a publication that will highlight the various aspects of women, ranging from health, entrepreneurship, finance, civil society, and much more, with its main being to promote gender inclusion and diversity in the country.
The New Era Women’s Convention is a forum for women to come together to discuss issues related to women’s rights, gender equality, and social justice. The Women leaders have been drawn from Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA), Kenya National Chamber of Commerce &Industry (KNCCI), National Gender & Equality Commission, major Women Groups in Kenya, Women Captains managing corporates and institutions in both public and private sectors, Women Entrepreneurs from various sectors of the economy, Women Representatives from the Senate, National Assembly (MPs) and the County Assemblies (MCAs), aspiring Young Women leaders, among others. The Women News Review therefore provides the most comprehensive Network of Women in Kenya covering all recognized Categories and Groups of Women in the country. This Network has been created to support any public and private corporate or individual get organized access to Women in Kenya.
One of PS Kenya’s strategic pillars is to work with and through others to achieve impact at scale, and the New Era Women’s Convention provided a good opportunity to learn from and advocate for activism on issues that affect women and girls in Kenya. The convention covers a wide range of topics related to women’s rights and empowerment, including gender-based violence and abuse, access to reproductive healthcare, teen pregnancies, single motherhood, inclusivity, and economic empowerment. PS Kenya has three projects under our reproductive health program that focus on providing access to sexual reproductive health products and services to women and young girls.
“PS Kenya is very passionate about women’s and girls’ health, and we support them throughout their life course in accessing quality healthcare services.” “We do this by giving them information in health areas such as family planning, HIV, maternal health, and gender-based violence (GBV),” stated Sylvia Wamuhu, PS Kenya’s acting Chief Operating Officer.
Under PS Kenya’s DESIP program, we aim to increase the uptake of family planning among rural women, adolescents, youth, and persons with disabilities. The program is active in 12 counties and works through different stakeholders, such as religious and cultural leaders, to improve the knowledge and attitudes of their communities on the uptake of family planning.
The Accelerate project strives to reduce maternal mortality and morbidity and the unmet need for sexual reproductive health, as well as contribute to a reduction in the prevalence of GBV and other harmful practices such as female genital mutilation. The project is currently being implemented in 13 marginalized, underserved, and hard-to-reach areas. Its most recent campaign, dubbed ‘Ahadi Yangu,” increased the demand for sexual reproductive health and GBV medical, psychosocial, and legal services.
Finally, PS Kenya’s Binti Shupavu project focuses on adolescent girls aged 15–19 and is active in four counties. The project created a model that the young girls would be able to relate to while educating them on their sexual and reproductive health needs and empowering them with skills that they can use to financially support themselves.
PS Kenya is focused on achieving a more inclusive and equitable society by promoting functional and sustainable systems that will ensure that women from all backgrounds and experiences are able to achieve their desired goals.
