ADOLESCENT SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH AND RIGHTS (SRHR) IN INFORMAL URBAN SETTLEMENTS: Changes, Challenges and Life-Strategies of Adolescent Girls Living in Kibera, Nairobi

Abstract: The increasing urbanization trends in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and the proliferation of urban poverty together with the explosion of informal urban settlements have lead to a shift in the international poverty alleviation agenda from the focus on rural poverty to an increased emphasis put on the particularities of urban poverty. Kenya is one of the fastest urbanizing countries in SSA and the majority of the population in its capital Nairobi, reside in informal urban settlements and live under the national poverty line. An important aspect associated with increasing urban poverty, despite the often assumed urban advantage, is the worsening of social and health indicators among the urban population living in informal urban settlements. This is especially acute in relation to Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR), the urban poor being more vulnerable to adverse SRHR outcomes compared to the rural population. Given the youthfulness of the population in Kenya, special attention needs to be devoted to adolescents living in marginalized urban areas, who remain one of the most vulnerable sub-groups with regard to SRHR related risks and access to adequate information and good quality services. Thus, this study aims to provide insights to the realities lived by adolescent girls in Kibera, one of the largest slums in Nairobi. More concretely, this study endeavours to illuminate the mechanisms present in adolescent girls’ transition from childhood to adulthood and the decisions and actions taken during this period. Special attention is devoted to the exploration of experiences, beliefs and perceptions regarding relationship formation and sexual initiation. The study is based on interviews conducted with 43 girls, including both individual and group interviews. The data is analysed through a life-course approach that permits the exploration of individual life-strategies and the decisions and actions taken within them. The study concludes, that girls play an active role in shaping their life courses through an agency that unfolds in and is shaped by multiple levels and interdependent spheres of life. Hence, despite awareness of SRHR related risks, decisions and behaviours that might have adverse consequences not only in terms of SRHR but also in terms of their future and broader life strategies, might still be taken. It is suggested that a comprehensive understanding of the circumstances in which girls navigate their lives and how this influences their decisions, actions and behavioural patterns, needs to be developed if interventions that aim to reduce the SRHR related risks among the youth ought to succeed.