Article
Headteacher spearheads COVID-19 fight to keep students safe
It’s break-time at Rapogi Girl’s Secondary School. The faces of students are filled with joy, comfortable knowing they are protected from coronavirus. Wearing their masks, the girls’ laughter fills the air as wash their hands, a ritual they regularly perform to keep themselves safe from the virus. Here in Migori C...
Article
Child marriage is rapidly increasing in the Horn of Africa, driven by poverty, COVID-19 and drought
Halima*,, 18, is the oldest girl in her family. Her parents are Eritrean, but escaped to Garissa in Kenya. They never had a chance to go to school themselves. In 2020, when she was 16, Halima’s school closed for a short time because of COVID-19. During the school break, her father forced her to marry a 50-year-old...
Report
Building Confidence in the COVID-19 Vaccine in Kenya
As the coronavirus pandemic continues to unfold, millions of people across the globe have yet to receive their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. To meet this need, UNICEF is leading the global distribution of lifesaving COVID-19 vaccines as the key delivery partner of the COVAX Facility — a groundbreaking partne...
Article
Bringing COVID-19 Vaccination Closer to the People
This article first appeared in The Star on August 22, 2022. Between 22 and 31 July, UNICEF and partners supported the Government of Kenya to implement a national COVID-19 accelerated vaccination campaign in 24 counties, thanks to funding from the German Federal Foreign Office. The campaign aimed to bring vaccines ...
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What you need to know about COVID-19 vaccines
Vaccines save millions of lives each year. The development of safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines are a crucial step in helping us get back to doing more of the things we enjoy with the people we love. We’ve gathered the latest expert information to answer some of the most common questions about COVID-19 vaccines...
Press release
Japanese Ambassador visits Kitengela Vaccine Depot, after 200,200 COVID-19 vaccine doses donated to Kenya
Nairobi, 21 April 2022, – Today, Japanese Ambassador to Kenya OKANIWA Ken visited Kitengela National Vaccine Depot, for a symbolic handing over of 200,200 doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. The vaccines, which were donated by the Government of Japan via the COVAX facility, were stored in the warehouse followin...
Article
Community health volunteers persuade mothers to get vaccinated
This story first appeared in The Star newspaper. The focal point of Kaego informal settlement, in Kisumu town, is the boda boda (motorbike taxi) stop at the junction of the tarmac road and the earth track that leads through the settlement. Young men sit on their bikes under the shade of a wooden roof, waiting for ...
Article
Combating COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in Garissa
This story first appeared in The Star newspaper. It is early Friday morning at Garissa Referral Hospital, the main COVID-19 vaccination centre in Garissa town, where infection rates have recently been increasing. In an open-air shelter, with a wooden roof to provide shade from the harsh sun, two masked health wo...
Press release
Young people believe the world is becoming a better place but are impatient for action on crises - UNICEF poll
Nairobi, 20 November 2021 -, Children and young people are nearly 50 per cent more likely than older people to believe that the world is becoming a better place with each generation, according to a new international survey of more than 21,000 children and adults by UNICEF and Gallup, released ahead of World Childr...
Article
Our doors are always open: Climbing the sanitation ladder together
A common adage goes that work that creates real value, like childcare, teaching and community advocates, rarely pays well. The same can be said of community health volunteers who have dedicated their lives to public service in Kenya’s Kitui County. The Musokini Self Help group comprises 22 women who have become mo...
Article
Helping children with disabilities return to school in Turkana
As the school day finishes in Lodwar, Turkana, a group of boys runs out onto a sandy football pitch between their classrooms. There is a flash of colour beneath their pink school shirts, which some of them peel off to reveal international football club shirts beneath. They run up and down the pitch with tremendous...
Article
Handwashing: A recipe for good health
It’s a perfect day to get their hands dirty. On this last day of first term, pupils at Kasina Primary school, in eastern Kenya, are enjoying playing in the sand, running the dusty grains through their fingers. A few of the girls and boys break away to use the toilets located nearby. The brightly coloured walls of ...