Impact Data - Kenya Adolescent Reproductive Health Programme (KARHP)

More young people who had heard of KARHP now knew more about contraception than those who had not. For instance, before the project started, 46% of both boys and girls in the area had ever heard of contraception, which increased to 61% during the evaluation survey. Knowledge of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV/AIDS, and of specific ways to avoid them, especially pills, injectables, and condoms, increased. However, more boys than girls knew how to use condoms correctly: At the beginning of the project, 67% of boys and 88% of girls in the KARHP areas did not know a single step in correct condom use; this reduced to 31% for boys who had taken part in KARHP activities, but remained a high 56% for girls.

Project activities may have reduced sexual activity among adolescents. Overall, the proportion of youths who had ever had sex reduced in the project areas. While 5.9% and 1% of 10-year-old boys and girls, respectively, reported being sexually active at the beginning of the project, none at this age were during the evaluation survey. Over half of boys and girls are still virgins at 16 years and among those who ever had sex, activity is irregular and infrequent. During the study period, pregnancy among unmarried girls decreased in both the experimental and control sites.

Among those young people who were sexually active, there was a general improvement in the reported use of protection at first and last sexual activity by both boys and girls. Twenty-one percent of the boys, and an equal proportion of girls, who had taken part in KARHP activities had used protection the last time they had sex. Also noted was a significant reduction in the number of boys reporting having had symptoms of STIs.

Although the study noted a general increase in disapproval of premarital sexual activity and childbearing, there were significant increases in the approval of the use of contraceptives, including condoms, by both married couples and sexually active adolescents.

There is evidence that KARHP led to a general increase in discussion of reproductive issues with parents among adolescents, especially boys. This is likely a result of boys' increased involvement with peer educators.