Access to Education and Health among Minority and Indigenous Communities in Kenya

This study seeks to measure disparity in the enjoyment of health and education rights in Kenya, with a focus on minorities and indigenous peoples in Turkana, Elgeyo Marakwet, Trans-Nzoia and Baringo counties. It combines primary research with an analysis of Kenyan legislation, policies and regulations, alongside international standards that promote the rights to health and education. In particular, it examines Kenya’s system of raising revenues, especially through taxation, and whether resources allocated towards the health and education sector benefit the country’s most marginalized communities.

While recognizing some improvements in recent years, Access to Education and Health among Minority and Indigenous Communities in Kenya: Assessment of Baringo, Trans-Nzoia, Elgeyo Marakwet and Turkana Counties also highlights the continued challenges that constrain equitable and inclusive provision for marginalized groups in many parts of the country. From underspending to infrastructure gaps, lack of trained personnel to limited engagement with civil society, it identifies a range of problems and concluded with a series of recommendations for local authorities and the national government to improve minority and indigenous access to these basic rights.

Watch the launch event we organised on 6 May 2021:

—Photo: A Turkana girl walks away from a waterhole near Lodwar, in Turkana County, Kenya. Credit: Reuters/Baz Ratner.