Poverty
Income is protection.
Poverty drives many of the pregnancies we see, and a baby deepens it. Without income, a young mother is pushed back towards the relationships that put her at risk.
- of Kenyans live below the national poverty lineKNBS, Kenya Poverty Report 2022
- 39.8%
- people (31.7%) could not meet the food poverty lineKNBS, Kenya Poverty Report 2022
- 16M+
The challenge
For an adolescent mother, poverty arrives twice: she is often from a poor household to begin with, and the baby adds costs just as she loses school and family support.
Poverty is also what links teenage pregnancy to HIV around Lake Victoria. Girls exchange sex for school fees, food or pads, often with older men, and the same relationships carry the highest HIV risk.
How GPAK responds
Vocational training in tailoring and hairdressing, kitchen gardens, agribusiness training and group farming give young mothers their own income.
Livelihoods & agricultureSupport moves by M-Pesa against documented needs, never as untracked cash.
How we use technologyHelp a young mother through all of it
These challenges arrive together in a girl’s life, so our support does too.