Sexual assault is a global threat to adolescent health, but empowerment self-defense (ESD) interventions have shown promise for prevention. This study evaluated the joint implementation of a girls' ESD program and a concurrent boys' program, implemented via a cluster-randomized controlled trial in informal settlements of Nairobi, Kenya, from…

This article provides an analysis of how equitable, inclusive, and meaningful partnerships between the Global South and Global North, which have been characterized by challenges (Kumar 2019), can be established and enhanced by minimizing the power dynamics that undermine their intended goals. This article argues for a relook and disruption of the…

Purpose: To assess the extent to which privatised extension service, which is premised to be demand-driven, delivers downward accountability to smallholder farmers who are both owners and users of agricultural services. Design/methodology/approach: The research collected data through focus group discussions with smallholder tea farmers and key…

This paper investigated the impacts of education on women's empowerment in Kenya using six waves of nationally-representative KDHS data. Our study utilizes the change in educational structure in 1985 as an instrument and finds that women under the new system enhanced their schooling by approximately two years. One year of education prolongs…

Concepts can provide researchers and communities with common ground for communicating and building understandings about the world. However, researchers who engage with communities often encounter unexpected interpretations of concepts in the field. This article introduces Community Concept Drawing (CCD), a participatory visual method aimed at…

Younger children in urban settings are predisposed to numerous risks, yet their 'voices' remain underrepresented in research making them unheard and invisible. The paucity of methods that encourage children's direct participation in studies from such settings, in effect, limits exploration of their ability to engage meaningfully in voicing their…

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in widespread school closures globally, including in Kenya. This educational disruption had potential adverse consequences for adolescent school learners including school dropout, learning loss, opportunity losses, loss of previously acquired skills, and loss of socio-emotional benefits of time spent with peers and…

On average, over 45% of the population in Kenya, Uganda, Zambia, and Malawi is under 14 years old, making access to quality education imperative to improve the socioeconomic circumstances for this generation and those to come. However, children in rural areas are confronted with daily challenges, such as extreme poverty, violence (including sexual…

Estimates of "Street Youth" (SY) (those who live/work on the streets) show 150 million around the world, with approximately 50,000 in Kenya alone as of 2018. Challenges these youth face remain a significant barrier to national governments achieving Sustainable Development Goal 4 (Quality Education) targets, as formal schools limit access…

"Informal Learning and Literacy among Maasai Women" highlights the importance and role of informal education in the emancipation and development of Maasai village women in Kenya. At present, knowledge and research on the impact of informal learning and literacy on community development is limited, and there is a gap between policy level…

The Free Primary Education (FPE) policy in Kenya created a dichotomy between the widespread notion that the government should be responsible for everything and the reality that the government had stopped recruiting teachers. This article investigates the current state of the accountability system for school governance in public schools in the…

Meeting the needs of children in refugee communities is a growing concern. Supporting their physical and emotional well-being is a challenge, as is protecting their right to quality education. Innovations are necessary to meet these challenges. Given the circumstances that have contributed to refugee crises around the world, education innovations…

Folktales serve a descriptive, as well as prescriptive role, by consistently depicting societal and cultural norms. Sexist portrayals sanction the marginality of Bukusu women, particularly when these reflect prevailing gender roles and expectations. However, contests over identity and representation are as ancient as (unwritten) history. The…

Growing recognition of the harmful effects of child marriage has placed its elimination on the global and national agenda. To address this problem, the authors reviewed the global state of evidence on what works to prevent child marriage. Their research focuses exclusively on rigorously evaluated interventions, defined as interventions evaluated…

This report presents the stories and perspectives of alumni of the Ford Foundation International Fellowships Program (IFP) in Africa and the Middle East. The Institute of International Education (IIE) is currently administering a 10-year tracking study of this program to capture the personal and professional trajectories of the IFP alumni in their…