HIV/AIDS
Adolescent Health Symposium: Youth Communique’
Courtesy of Center for Study of Adolescence (CSA)
The 2nd Adolescent Health Symposium this year kicked off with a Youth pre-symposium on the 1st day. CSA was happy to host one of the side events at the Youth pre-symposium. Our side event was about ‘Realization of the Demographic Dividend’ which was attended by nearly close to 150 people. The participants in this forum included young people between the ages of 19-24 years, civil society organization representatives and officers from both national and county governments. This was such a wonderful platform to discuss and propose action points on what Kenya really needs to harness the demographic dividend.
The highlight of our side event was the eloquent, elaborate and passionate youth panel that we had set up. We identified strong and articulate young people from our work on Youth and Demographic Dividend in Kenya. We had a blend of both members of the Youth Advisory Group (YAG) and the vibrant Youth and Demographic Dividend Champions who work across 22 counties in Kenya. Our panelists were; Alex Omari from Marie Stopes Kenya (YAG member), Imali Ngusale from DSW (YAG member), Lameck Mageto from Kwale County (Youth Champion) and Dollarman Fatinato from Nairobi County (Youth Champion).
The panel gave insights on education, health, economy and governance. They outlined the situation of young people in Kenya today and gave out clearly recommendations that touched on policies that are developed for young people in Kenya. After their submissions, a more lively and interactive plenary session made significant contributions on what Kenya really needs to do to achieve the demographic dividend. The advocacy tool “We are Kenya’s Future” video was played at the side event just before the plenary session. You could see the reaction from the plenary after watching the video. They were moved and ready to take action.
“County governments in Kenya should be more inclusive and expand their structures to accommodate young people especially in their decision making organs like the county technical working groups and committees” said Dollarman as he was finalizing on his views on what should be done about governance.
The most exciting this is that young people from this side event were able to develop a communique which was forwarded to the organizers of the symposium. We shared advocacy materials with the young people and policy makers who were present in the room with the hope that this conversation about Kenya’s future will be carried beyond the symposium and actions will be done to improve health, education, economy and governance in Kenya. By positioning young people at the center of all these actions, then we are on the right track to harness the demographic dividend by the year 2030.
HOW THE GLOBAL GAG RULE IS HARMING MATERNAL HEALTH PROGRESS IN KENYA
Policy decisions made in the USA can have wide reaching consequences. Kenyan SRHR advocate Alex Omari explains the devestating impact the Global Gag Rule will have on women in Kenya and across Africa...
Since 2010 and the enactment of the Constitution of Kenya, maternal health projects have been on the up, with increasing hope of finally acknowledging women and upholding their rights. Another step on the right path was the institution of National Guidelines for reducing maternal mortality and morbidity from unsafe abortion in Kenya in September 2012. On the eve of Madaraka day in 2013, His Excellency the President declared free access to maternal services in all public health facilities which was a notch higher towards realizing global development.
However, on 3rd December 2013, the then Director of Medical Services withdrew the same guidelines under unclear circumstances which caused uproar among reproductive health advocates across the nation. This marked the beginning of a rocky period for the sector, as the providers were reluctant to provide comprehensive reproductive health services.
According to a study carried out by African Population and Research Center in 2012, an estimated 464,690 induced abortions occurred in Kenya in 2012, corresponding to an induced abortion rate of 48 abortions per 1000 women of reproductive age (15-49 years), and an induced abortion ratio of 30 abortions per 100 births in 2012. These high rates and complications from unsafe procedures accelerated maternal deaths nationally.
At the global arena, the former US President’s Administration was supportive of the maternal health programs but as expected by many reproductive health advocates, the Trump administration looks to be a backlash. Truth be told, the majority of the people around the world had expected Hillary Clinton to win the US election,s and hence many were comfortable that there was to be a buy-in and continuation of the Obama Legacy. This meant that there was no contingency plan as what would be the next step in case the unforeseen happens, which indeed happened.
What is the Global Gag rule?
Every time there is a new administration in US, there is always that critical decision on whether or not to adopt the Mexico City Policy. First announced in Mexico City in 1984 by President Reagan’s administration, the policy requires all nongovernmental organizations operating abroad to refrain from performing, advising on or endorsing pregnancy by choice initiatives if they wish to receive federal funding. To date, support for the Mexico City Policy has been strictly partisan: it was rescinded by Democratic President Bill Clinton on 22 January 1993, restored by Republican President George W Bush on 22 January 2001 and rescinded again by Democratic President Barack Obama on 23 January 2009 and again restored a few days ago by President Trump.
The Global Gag Rule or Mexico City Policy stipulates that taxpayer dollars should not be used to pay for pregnancy by choice programs or related services (such as counselling, education or training). The impact of the Policy is an increase in maternal deaths and morbidities aggravated by unsafe abortions.
This move will deny thousands of the Kenyan women access to the comprehensive reproductive health services through the Ksh. 60 billion annual grant from the US government. As of today, 220 million women from developing countries have unmet need for family planning in which Kenya is included.
Alternative avenues need to be explored for the women to have a voice in this world at this stage. Most recently the Canadian and Dutch governments have come in support for women and will fill the void left by USAID in the developing nations. More needs to be done across the globe
National Maternal Health Advancement nearing the ditch after Global Gag Rule Executive Order
After the promulgation of the Constitution of Kenya (2010), maternal health projects saw light and there was hope of finally acknowledging women and upholding their rights. This was seen as a step in the right path after the National Guidelines for reducing maternal mortality and morbidity from unsafe abortion in Kenya were instituted in September 2012.On the eve of Madaraka day in 2013, His Excellency the President declared free access to maternal services in all public health facilities which was a notch higher towards realizing global development.
However, on 3rd December 2013, the then Director of Medical Services withdrew the same guidelines under unclear circumstances which caused uproar among reproductive health advocates nationally. This marked the beginning on the bumpy industry as the providers were reluctant to provide comprehensive reproductive health services.
According to a study carried out by African Population and Research Center in 2012, an estimated 464,690 induced abortions occurred in Kenya in 2012, corresponding to an induced abortion rate of 48 abortions per 1000 women of reproductive age (15-49 years), and an induced abortion ratio of 30 abortions per 100 births in 2012. This high rates and complications from unsafe procedures accelerated maternal deaths nationally.
At the global arena, the former US President’s Administration was supportive of the maternal health programs but as expected by many reproductive health advocates, the Trump administration was to be a backlash. Little be told that, majority of the people around the world had expected Hillary Clinton to win the US elections and hence many were comfortable that there was to be a buy-in and continuation of the Obama Legacy. This meant that there was no contingent plan as what would be the next step in case the unforeseen happens, which indeed happened.
Every time there is a new administration in US, there is always that critical decision on whether or not to adopt the Mexico City Policy. First announced in Mexico City in 1984 by President Reagan’s administration, the policy requires all nongovernmental organizations operating abroad to refrain from performing, advising on or endorsing pregnancy by choice initiatives if they wish to receive federal funding. To date, support for the Mexico City Policy has been strictly partisan: it was rescinded by Democratic President Bill Clinton on 22 January 1993, restored by Republican President George W Bush on 22 January 2001 and rescinded again by Democratic President Barack Obama on 23 January 2009 and again restored a few days ago by President Trump.
The Global Gag Rule or Mexico City Policy stipulates that taxpayer dollars should not be used to pay for pregnancy by choice programs or related services (such as counselling, education or training). The impact of the Policy is an increase in maternal deaths and morbidities aggravated by unsafe abortions. This move will deny thousands of the Kenyan Women access to the comprehensive reproductive health services through the Ksh. 60 billion annual grant from the US government. As of today, 220million women from developing countries have unmet need for family planning in which Kenya is included.
Alternative avenues need to be portrayed for the women to have a voice in this world at this stage. Most recently the Canadian and Dutch governments have come in support for women and will fill the void left by USAID in the developing nations. More needs to be done across the globe
Teenage Pregnancy Burden
#Teenagers should be Listening to School Bells Ring NOT Wedding Bells!!!!
By Alex Omari
Reproductive health concerns of adolescents have received increasing international attention in recent years. Early childbearing is linked to a number of undesirable health outcomes such as risk of death, pregnancy-related illnesses, abortion, infertility and exposure to sexually transmitted diseases including human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome . Female adolescents, compared to their male counterparts, face disproportionate health concerns due to teenage pregnancies.
Although sexual activity among the adolescents is widespread around the world, the determinants and consequences are likely to vary from one region to another. Early pregnancies are more pronounced in Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries, most of which experience high levels of poverty. Due to the differences in socio-economic as well as cultural backgrounds, the results from a developing country like Kenya are likely to differ from those based on experiences of the richer, industrialized nations. For instance, given limited resources in rural areas, girls are forced to drop out of school or get married at an early age. In addition, inability to meet basic and personal material needs makes teenage girls susceptible to pre-marital sex. Such factors are likely to predispose them to unwanted pregnancies.
In Kenya, teenage pregnancy is not only as a reproductive health issue, but is also a multi facet issue as it directly affects the current and future socio-economic well-being of women. Early childbearing deny girls the opportunity to complete education and the ability to acquire human capital skills which are critical in the labour market. Given the absence of welfare benefits and child support, teenage pregnancies lead to increased dependency, and are likely to perpetuate poverty and low status of women. The relatively high levels of poverty and with the HIV/AIDS pandemic being toll order among the Kenyan youth, teenage pregnancies pose a serious policy problem.
Even though teenage pregnancies are viewed as one of the major hindrances to girl’s education in Kenya, there has been little effort in critically evaluating the underlying determinants. And by the fact that interest in fertility studies and policies has largely focused on adults, less attention has being accorded to adolescents.
Despite its implications, empirical studies on causes of teenage pregnancies in the context of
African countries are scanty. More often, teenage pregnancy is mentioned merely as one of the consequences of the high-risk sexual behavior
Youth Space Network 
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