Lokichoggio, August 26, 2026 (Public Communications and Media Relations)

The County Health Promotions technical working team has for the fifth time convened to review and approve the updated Turkana Social and Behaviour Change Strategy (2026–2030), aligning the document with the Turkana context through an in-depth review of its content and images. The team also formed the Health Promotions and Advisory Committee (HPAC), and developed play and nurturing care information, education and communication (IEC) materials.

This workshop was supported by the County Government in partnership with Amref Health Africa’s Tucheze Tustawi Project with funding from the Lego Foundation.

Despite various unique barriers and challenges that Turkana continues to face, there has been notable progress, especially in the expansion of access to healthcare and improved service coverage. To build on this progress, the strategy is meant to strengthen communication interventions across key priority areas: family planning; reproductive, maternal, new-born, child and adolescent health (RMNCAH); nutrition; water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH); and the Nurturing Care Framework (NCF).

Following an intensive, collaborative, multi-sectoral process, the strategy is expected to launch by the end of 2026. The technical team is responsible for creating an SBC approach that is measurable and sustainable, and for carrying it through to implementation, where previous strategies fell short.

“The document should be reflective of the context in Turkana,” Godfrey Ikone, Director, KISEDP, reminded the team, adding, “It should be measurable, and a document we can all be proud of that is in line with the Shirika Plan and KISEDP vision,”

Ruth Areman, the County Health Promotions Coordinator, reminded the team of the need to be thorough and intentional, stating the meeting was also intended to establish the inaugural Health Promotion Advisory Committee (HPAC) to strengthen county-level coordination of SBC.

“HPAC is the county multi-sectoral technical platform that provides strategic guidance, coordination, oversight, and technical support for health promotion interventions. With the County Health Promotions Unit as secretariat, the work plan should be linked to the County Integrated Development Plan, Annual Development Plan, County Health Sector Strategic Plan, county health priorities, and national health-promotion priorities,” she stated.

Referring to recent data, Reinhard Anzeze, Technical Officer for Child Health at Amref’s Tucheze Tustawi mentioned that in the past year, 478 Community Health Promoters (CHPs), 81 healthcare workers from both host and refugee communities, and 60 Red Cross-based CHPs and safe-motherhood promoters were sensitized on the Nurturing Care Framework and early childhood care for development.

He also shared that Turkana is the first county to train healthcare workers in these components, putting it at a strategic advantage in transforming healthcare.

“This has been a proactive team, eager to ensure this strategy comes to fruition. With two out of ten women likely to experience depression during pregnancy in Kenya, and only 78% of children developmentally on track, I am happy to share that new tracking tools have now been incorporated into the national Mother and Child Health Handbook,” he said.

He shared that the changes include: page 7, where a mental health assessment (Patient Health Questionnaire) and PHQ-2 screening protocol have been added, allowing mothers facing mental health challenges to be treated and referred as needed; page 28, under developmental milestones, where screening now covers children up to five years, rather than only two years and below; and page 45, under responsive care for early childhood development, which has been updated to be more intentional and clear.

“There is a need for continued awareness-raising among healthcare workers to fill in all the required tools in the updated Mother and Child Health Handbook. Data shows that most of the required tools are never filled in, which affects data on child health development,” Anzeze clarified.

The Deputy Director for Family Health Services, Gabriel Lopodo emphasized the need to address threats to early childhood development through this strategy. According to the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey (KDHS 2022), there are 355 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births, 12% preterm births, and 18% stunting among children under five nationally. Turkana scores relatively higher in most indicators such as 1,794 maternal mortality per 100,000 live births.

“TWGs are where policy issues and strategies are discussed through community involvement to build a unified vision. This is the committee that will guide how we achieve the targeted early childhood development outcomes, by activating the advisory committee to monitor progress, and using the Instructive Manual to guide the three levels of the implementation framework,” he explained.

Highlighting why integrating Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) and Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) is critical to this policy, Director Lopodo shared that only 36% of children attend Early Childhood Education, and there is currently no available data on early stimulation, children’s books, or play items at home. “Only 29% of children in Turkana have birth registration or certificate; that alone is a safety and security concern,” he added.

In her closing remarks, the Chief Officer for Preventive and Promotive Health Services, Agnes Mana, cautioned the team to cascade the knowledge gained across their health networks, to drive behaviour change within facilities and communities at large.

“Our socio-cultural behaviours have greatly contributed to our poor indicators. We therefore need to prioritise behaviour change within our communities and facilities, starting with our homes,”

Referencing the recent Ebola scare and overall community preparedness, she said, “A lack of information and awareness is what led us to poor indicators. Unless each one of us is ready to work and consistently educate our communities and healthcare workers, and ensure routine household visits, no strategy will work. We first have to address simple behaviour change within our communities,”

She called on the team to use realistic, simple, clear information, education, and communication (IEC) materials, relatable within the Turkana context, so the community can easily understand and follow them.

Lopodo informed the team that during the malezi bora celebrations in November 2026, under the Nurturing Care Framework theme in Turkana, different communities will showcase their understanding of the importance of play-based learning through lullabies, plays, and songs.

By the end of the workshop, the team had successfully formulated and activated HPAC, reviewed and approved the Turkana County SBC Strategy (2026–2030) by HPAC ahead of its launch, and reviewed the Instructive Manual. The technical team was also sensitized on the Household Play and Care package that CHPs will use to train caregivers on play-based interventions, as well as the Community MHPSS and SEL package of activities.

The strategy anticipates that by 2030, the outcome will be healthy, inclusive, and resilient families, where young children thrive through better health and play-based learning.

Present were Concepta Lon’gole (Assistant Director, Physiotherapy Services), Dr. Wycliffe Lolepo (Senior Counselling Psychologist), and Maximila Mana (County CHS Coordinator), among community health assistants, county and sub-county public health officers, monitoring and evaluation officers, health promotions officers, nutrition officers, and health records officers.

Sammy Ejore (Imarisha Jamii) and Dennis Erot (Danida Transcend), and their implementing partner ACME, were also present.

By: Esther Njeri Mwangi, Assistant Director, Public Communications and Media Relations