Population Council

In Kenya, the Council leads research and develops programs to reduce maternal mortality; build protective health, social, and economic assets for adolescent girls; reduce HIV transmission; respond to sexual and gender-based violence; address disrespect and abuse in maternity care; assess various service integration models; assess whether reproductive health voucher programs can help vulnerable populations access critical reproductive health services; and strengthen evidence for programs related to unintended pregnancy and unsafe abortion.

The Council helped the Kenyan government develop its first population policy in 1966, and played a key role in establishing the Population Studies and Research Institute at the University of Nairobi. The Council initiated a regional capacity-building program that led to the formation of the African Population and Health Research Center in 1995, now a leading independent research institution. The Council sustains the Africa Regional Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Network, a coalition that meets annually to review best practices for strengthening and integrating medical and legal services for survivors of sexual violence.