Children in Gatoto Community School in Nairobi. Photo: Gavin Douglas

Kenya

Why are we in Kenya? The latest poverty data from The World Bank indicates that 36% of people in Kenya are still living below the poverty line, while youth unemployment stands at 39%. Concern’s work is concentrated where most of Kenya’s poor live: in rural, arid and semi-arid lands in the north, as well as in the informal settlements of Nairobi.

*We are currently responding to the threat of COVID-19 in Kenya. Find out more about our response here.

A significant proportion of Kenya’s population lacks access to basic services such as education, health, electricity and safe drinking water

Climate change continues to seriously impact the poor in rural areas, with Kenya regularly experiencing devastating droughts. The 2019 drought came less than 18 months from the previous one and was followed by heavy flooding. People living in affected areas have no time to recover from one emergency to the next. One outcome of this is increased migration towards urban centres. 2019 census data indicates that 60% of Nairobi's 4.3 million people live in slums. The provision of basic services such as health, education and sanitation is failing. Politically, devolution of power has been extended to county level, however implementation still faces key challenges. We are committed to addressing the root causes of poverty in urban and rural programme areas by strengthening the capacity of public service providers to meet basic needs and by enhancing the income and well-being of the extremely poor.

Latest achievements

Milan Pact Award

Our system strengthening work is enabling health services in Nairobi to better predict and respond to emergencies. It has contributed to the local government's 'Urban Early Warning Early Action' initiative which received a Milan Pact Award in 2019.

Health and nutrition

Emergency detection

Sori waters her kitchen garden which she has managed to grow in the arid conditions of Marsabit in Kenya with the support of Concern.

Sori waters her kitchen garden which she has grown with the support of Concern. Photo: Jennifer Nolan / Concern Worldwide

Jene Migaliza is a cook at Gatoto Community School in Nairobi. We support the school to provide breakfast and lunch every day for the 1,000 or so children who attend school here.

Jene Migaliza is a cook at Gatoto Community School in Nairobi where we help to provide two meals every day to over 1,000 students. Photo: Jennifer Nolan / Concern Worldwide

Scholastica Mbinya (31) with her youngest child, Francisca. Photo: Peter Caton/ Concern Worldwide.

Students from the Concern Makerspace Programme in Nairobi University. Students here work on ways to make medical devices more accessible in the developing world. Photo: Gavin Douglas / Concern Worldwide

A farmer's son raises his arms as he is surrounded by desert locusts while trying to chase them away from his crops, in Katitika village, Kitui county, Kenya. Credit: Ben Curtis/AP/Shutterstock

A farmer's son raises his arms trying to chase away desert locusts from his crops, in Kitui county, Kenya. Photo: Ben Curtis/AP/Shutterstock

Jane Wanjiru has brought her baby son Mark Moses to Mukuru Health Centre. Facility staff Damaris Too and Nutritionist Angela Mtiini assess Mark Moses nutritional level, they take his weight, MUAC and other measurements. Photo: Ed Ram / Concern Worldwide

Jane's story is heartbreakingly similar to Margret's and she was forced to watch her little boy, Mark Moses go hungry. Photo: Ed Ram / Concern Worldwide

Atiir collects firewood every day to make money to feed her family. Recurrent drought in Turkana, Kenya has made it her only means of survival. Photo: Gavin Douglas / Concern Worldwide.

Atiir collects firewood every day to make money to feed her family. Recurrent drought has made it her only means of survival. Photo: Gavin Douglas / Concern Worldwide.

How we're helping Kenya

We are working hard to combat suffering and build resilience in Kenya. We are doing this by implementing programmes which will strengthen resilience, respond to emergencies and provide access to quality education.

Michael Darragh Macauley programme visit

To announce Dublin inter-county footballer Michael Darragh Macauley becoming a Concern ambassador, the five-time All-Ireland winning star visited our education programmes in the slums of Nairobi, Kenya.

Alexi Lubomirski programme visit

Royal wedding photographer and Concern ambassador Alexi Lubomirski visited our education and nutrition programmes in Kenya. This video shows the inspiring people he met in Nairobi.