White Ribbon Alliance Kenya

 🎉 Drumroll, please! 🥁 To everyone who voted within one hour, you are absolutely correct! 👏 The World Health Organization and UNICEF recommend initiating #breastfeeding within the first hour after birth ; termed "golden hour" . This "golden hour" is crucial as it provides the baby with #colostrum, the first milk that's rich in antibodies and nutrients to help protect them right from the start. 🌟 Early breastfeeding: ✅ Boosts the baby’s immune system ✅ Encourages bonding between mom and baby Thank you for joining the trivia 💪 Keep an eye out for more insights and tips on #Maternal and #Newborn Health

Let's Talk Newborn 👶🏽Nutrition! Starting breastfeeding🤱🏾 soon after birth protects newborns👶🏽 from infections🏥 and helps reduce newborn mortality. Cast your vote below👇🏼👇🏼

Did you know🤔💭 that malnourished mothers 🤰are more likely to give birth to malnourished infants👶🏽? Stunting in children can begin as early as in the womb🤰, rooted in maternal undernutrition🥗. This stark reality means that children born to malnourished🥗 mothers often struggle to reach their full physical🏃🏽and cognitive potential.   Over the past two weeks, we conducted a listening 👂exercise across six counties in Kenya, asking women and girls about their most pressing health and well-being needs. Across the board, nutrition emerged as a critical concern. It is clear that prioritizing nutrition in maternal and newborn health (MNH) is pressing. Investing in maternal nutrition improves outcomes for mothers, babies, adolescent girls, and older women alike #WhatWomenWant #AskListenAct Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) Nutrition International Save the Children International

White Ribbon Alliance Kenya believes in putting the power back where it belongs—with the end users of policies and programs that is women and girls. Our unique approach, known as 𝐀𝐒𝐊 | 𝐋𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧 | 𝐀𝐜𝐭 , is more than just an approach of our work; it’s a 𝐏𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐀𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡 that centers the #voices #women and #girls. Instead of #assuming what women want, we #ask them, #listen to their demands , and #act based on their self-expressed needs. Yesterday in Kajiado County, at the Illaramatak Community Centre, we had the opportunity to localize this approach into the Maasai language: 𝐈𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐮𝐚𝐧𝐮 | 𝐈𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠'𝐨 | 𝐓𝐚𝐚𝐬𝐚—“Ask, Listen, Act.” How powerful is this? It’s #transformative to see language and cultural connection reinforcing women’s #agency and #elevating their voices on their own health. By involving their voices directly in a language that they understand , we are giving them a platform to lead in conversations about their #own health. #WhatWomenWant #AskListenAct Angela Nguku | Annrita Njambi |Reagun Andera |Faith Karimi Gatimi |Lilian Wambua |Martha Tali | Kelvin Ngeno |Yvonne Oduor |Wangare Edith | Katy Woods | USAID MOMENTUM |United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) |UNICEF

Today, we’re in 𝐊𝐚𝐣𝐢𝐚𝐝𝐨 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐲, holding a community #dialogue to understand what #health and #wellbeing means to the women and girls here.   When we asked Eva Sanoe, a 70-year-old from Inkinye Village, what health means to her, she shared: “𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘰 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘬, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.”   Through these conversations, we’re gaining insights into the unique perspectives of women like Eva, helping to shape #communitydriven solutions that truly reflect their needs. 💬💚 FIND | Dr. Angela Muriuki | Angela Nguku |Annrita Njambi |Reagun Andera | Muchiri Wangare | Elvis Safary, PhD

We envision a world where every #woman, #girl, and #newborn leads a healthy, fulfilling life no matter where they’re born. Today in Makueni County, we engaged with the County Health Management Team (CHMT), local leaders, and most importantly women and girls to understand their views on #health, #wellbeing, and #selfcare through our #ASKLISTENACT approach. 🎙️💬 Here’s what we learned: ✨ Women and girls prioritize a clean environment 🌱 and timely healthcare ⏰, while healthcare workers focus on access to health information 📚 and economic empowerment 💪. ✨ For self-care, women and girls identify good nutrition 🥗 and financial stability 💵 as most importanta, while healthcare workers emphasize lifestyle choices and respectful maternity care 🤰🏾. Makueni County has made important strides and interventions in improving the health and wellbeing for women and girls, including ● Respectful Maternity Care ● HPV vaccinations 💉,   ● Breast cancer screenings ● Seperate ANC visit for older women and teenage mothers. Yet, gaps remain between these interventions and the diverse needs voiced by women and girls. Our goal is to bridge these gaps, and align health programs with the community’s self-expressed priorities. 🤝 FIND | Dr. Angela Muriuki |Elvis Safary, PhD |Angela Nguku |Reagun Andera

White Ribbon Alliance Kenya is deeply committed to #listening👂 to women and girls in all their #diversity, ensuring their #voices🔊 are not only heard but #amplified📢 in conversations about their own #health 🏥and #wellbeing. Last week, we visited 𝗗𝗮𝗱𝗮𝗮𝗯 𝗥𝗲𝗳𝘂𝗴𝗲𝗲 𝗖𝗮𝗺𝗽 , where we met with #women👩🏽 and #girls living in refugee settlements, who are often excluded from #critical💥 discussions on #health, #wellbeing, and #selfcare. 𝗪𝗲 𝗮𝘀𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺: 📌 What does health and well-being mean to you? 📌 What does self-care mean to you within the context of health and well-being ? 📌 What do you want most for your health and well-being? 📌How do you take care of yourself to stay healthy? Our visit included a formal courtesy visit to the 𝗗𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗥𝗲𝗳𝘂𝗴𝗲𝗲 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀 in Dadaab, where we #solidified our commitment to #amplify📣 these voices, #advocating for their direct involvement in #healthpolicies and #services that impact women and girls living in #refugee settlements. Women and girls🧕🏿 in refugee communities face #diverse challenges. Our work aims to #bridge these #gaps by prioritizing their self-identified needs and #ignite their #power to shape #healthsolutions that are truly inclusive. So, what did they ask for? Stay tuned▶ as we share their #voices, their #demands, their #needs and their #visions for health and well-being. #WhatWomenWant #AskListenAct #WomenVoices FIND |UN Women |United Nations |USAID MOMENTUM |United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) | Angela Nguku | Dr. Angela Muriuki| Kelvin Ngeno |Muchiri Wangare |Reagun Andera |Annrita Njambi |Martha Tali | Faith Karimi Gatimi

Absolutely! , we recognize that when healthcare#programming genuinely centers the #voices of ALL women—including those with disabilities—we build a more resilient and inclusive system. It’s only by #listening to these voices that we can fully grasp the unique challenges they face and identify meaningful solutions that lead to #lasting change. Women with disabilities bring #critical insights that shape better healthcare policies, improve access, and inspire innovative approaches that benefit everyone.

We believe that real #change begins by #asking, #listening, and truly #understanding the self-articulated needs of women and girls. The voices gathered in #Bungoma and #Isiolo Counties—from community leaders to women and girls themselves—are helping us uncover #insights that challenge #traditional, one-size-fits-all approaches. It’s #powerful to see our collective efforts guiding the shift toward #health and #wellbeing solutions that are shaped by those they are meant to serve. #AskListenAct #WomenAndGirlsVoices #WhatWomenWant

💡Spotlight of the week! This week, White Ribbon Alliance Kenya set out to #ASK women and girls across 4 counties what they want most for their #health and #wellbeing, what self-care means to them and what they do to take care of themselves. 🇰🇪 Counties covered: 1. Bungoma 2. Kwale 3. Isiolo 4. Garissa Stakeholders involved: 👥 County health leadership 👩⚕️Midwives and other healthcare providers 👮Local administrators ⛪Religious leaders ♀️Women and girls 💎 Main objective: To understand the difference in #perspectives and understanding among different stakeholders on what women want most for their health and wellbeing thereby pinpointing the existing health service delivery #gaps. Key takeaways: ________________ 1. Women and girls in different contexts experience different challenges and thus have unique health needs which need to be addressed differently. 2. Women and girls know exactly what they need/ want for their health and wellbeing and thus their voices must be respected and acted upon. 3. Solution-making in healthcare is a collective responsibility and should always be centred on what women and girls want in order to be effective. 4. Local administrators, community leaders, elders and religious leaders understand the needs of their people. They must be involved in solution development as their insights matter! 5. In order for healthcare solutions to work, the gaps at the lowest level of care must first be identified and solved. At White Ribbon Alliance Kenya, we ASK women and girls what they need for their health and wellbeing; we LISTEN to their self-expressed needs, after which we ACT together to address the endemic issues. Stay tuned for more updates! 🏆🏆 White Ribbon Alliance Kenya, FIND, Angela Nguku, Elvis Safary, PhD, Dr. Angela Muriuki, Faith Karimi Gatimi, Muchiri Wangare, Lilian Wambua, Kelvin Ngeno, Moureen Kitutu, Annrita Njambi, Martha Tali, Yvonne Oduor