Kenya: Young People Must Shape Their Own SRHR Future, Says Kenyan Activist

What the report says

Kenyan HIV and sexual and reproductive health and rights activist Jerop Limo is calling for young people to play a direct role in shaping the future of SRHR services, rather than being treated only as beneficiaries. In an AllAfrica article published on 6 October 2026, she says the gap between SRHR promises on paper and what adolescents, especially girls and young women, experience in daily life remains wide across Africa.

The story says young people continue to face obstacles such as stigma, weak confidentiality, limited access to contraception and HIV prevention, and difficulties reaching youth-friendly services. It highlights broader risks affecting adolescent girls and young women in Eastern and Southern Africa, including HIV, early pregnancy, child marriage, gender-based violence and period poverty. Limo argues that progress is uneven and that policy gains do not help if a young person cannot find accurate information, afford transport, or trust the provider.

Limo, who is executive director of the Ambassador for Youth and Adolescent Reproductive Health Program (AYARHEP) in Kenya, says youth leadership should mean real influence over decisions, programmes and resources. She describes peer educators and youth-led groups as well placed to spot service failures, misinformation and community needs, while also stressing that governments, donors and larger institutions must fund them adequately.

The article also places her work in the context of growing concern about misinformation and opposition to SRHR. It says AYARHEP uses peer engagement, community dialogue, social media and youth-friendly spaces, while also involving caregivers, teachers and health workers. More generally, this reflects a wider regional effort to make adolescent health services more responsive to young people’s lived realities.