Family planning is very essential if any country is to achieve meaningful development and quality of life for its subjects.Kenya has a Muslim population of 4.3million or 11.1% and whose regions in Kenya experience the lowest prevalence in the use of contraceptives which stands at 4% against the country's 46% (Kenya Demographic Health Survey-2014). The low prevalence of FP services among Muslims can be attributed to: misconceptions about the permissibility of family planning in Islam, wrong approaches being used to reach Muslims,Kenya's FP package which doesn't take into account the teachings of Islam on FP,Lack of engagement of Muslim scholars in FP interventions as Muslims tend to follow what is directed to them by the religious leaders since religion has immense social, economic, and political significance and it plays an important role in sanctioning or promoting acceptance of or creating resistance to family planning.
K-MYA which is a National organization with experience in health interventions targeting Muslims:through the proposed "Maarifa"(Knowledge) project we will scale up uptake of family planning among Muslims by re-positioning family planning as a health intervention among Muslims.The organization through support from PAI has developed a family planning toolkit that specifically takes into account teachings of Islam on FP.
Funding will assist us disseminate FP education using the toolkit through;engaging Muslim Scholars and religious leaders in sanctioning FP,Capacity building Muslim youth and women leaders as influential gatekeepers in reaching Muslims,Orient FP service providers on packaging FP to attract Muslims uptake,conduct Community FP campaigns in densely populated Muslim areas and Establish FP Muslim Network for Advocacy to help sustain gains from the project.
