By Pathways Policy Institute
Every year on 26 September, World Contraception Day provides an opportunity to put contraception, family planning and reproductive health at the centre of public conversation. In 2026, the global campaign is calling attention to the barriers that continue to prevent people from accessing the information, services and contraceptive options they need to make informed decisions about their lives and futures. The global campaign theme, “No Barriers, Just Choices: Contraceptive Access Now,” underscores a simple but important principle: access to accurate information and quality services is fundamental to meaningful reproductive choice.
For Pathways Policy Institute (PPI), this is not a conversation that happens once a year.
It is part of our ongoing work to ensure that communities, particularly young people, women and underserved populations, are able to meaningfully participate in decisions that affect their health, rights and wellbeing.
Contraception is about more than preventing pregnancy
Family planning enables individuals and couples to determine whether, when and how often to have children. Access to contraception can help prevent unintended pregnancies, reduce pregnancy-related health risks and create opportunities for women and young people to pursue education, employment and other aspirations.
Yet access is not simply about whether a contraceptive method exists.
It is also about whether someone can afford it, whether services are available in their community, whether health workers provide respectful and youth-friendly services, whether accurate information is accessible, and whether individuals can make decisions without stigma, misinformation or discrimination.
The World Health Organization estimates that 164 million women globally have an unmet need for contraception. Barriers include limited availability, cost, misinformation, concerns about side effects, provider bias, stigma and gender inequality.
For adolescents and young people, these barriers can be even more pronounced. Young people may face stigma, lack information about where to access services, encounter provider bias or experience restrictions linked to age or marital status.
This is why PPI believes that advancing family planning requires more than distributing commodities. It requires strengthening the systems, policies, budgets and community structures that make meaningful choice possible.
Bringing community voices into policy
Pathways Policy Institute is a community-based policy and accountability organisation working at the intersection of population dynamics, health, environment and climate justice.
Our approach is rooted in Meaningful Community Engagement (MEC). We work with communities and advocates to generate evidence, strengthen capacity and create opportunities for citizens to influence policies and decisions that affect their lives.
Family planning has been an important part of this work for years.
Through our advocacy and accountability initiatives, PPI has worked with communities, youth advocates and civil society organisations to examine family planning budgets, identify gaps in service provision and engage decision-makers at county and national levels. Our work has included budget analysis and evidence-based advocacy focused on increasing investment in family planning and sexual and reproductive health services.
Our experience has reinforced an important lesson:
A policy is only meaningful when it translates into accessible services for the people it is designed to serve.
That means communities must have a voice not only in identifying problems, but also in shaping solutions.
From the community to the county assembly
PPI’s work with young people and community advocates demonstrates what meaningful participation can look like.
Through initiatives such as JASIRI Youth Champions, young people have been equipped with advocacy, policy and budget analysis skills that enable them to engage decision-makers and hold public institutions accountable.
Our work has also supported the development of evidence and policy recommendations around sexual and reproductive health and rights in counties including Narok, Laikipia, Isiolo, Samburu, Nyeri and Nakuru.
Recent PPI publications include a policy review examining Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence, Female Genital Mutilation, Family Planning and Maternal and Child Health priorities in Narok County. PPI’s JASIRI Champions have also prepared memoranda to county governments addressing reproductive health and family planning priorities.
This is the kind of work that moves the conversation beyond awareness.
It moves it towards accountability.
Making family planning financing part of the conversation
One of the most important questions facing family planning in Kenya is not only whether services should be available, but whether sustainable financing systems can support their availability over time.
In September 2026, PPI participated in a three-day Family Planning Stakeholders’ Workshop convened by the National Council for Population and Development (NCPD) in Embu.
Together with family planning stakeholders including FP2030, Jhpiego, Population Services International, Health NGOs Network and UNFPA, PPI contributed to technical work focused on two critical priorities:
- Inclusion and prioritisation of comprehensive family planning services within the Social Health Authority (SHA) benefits package.
- Sustainable financing for family planning commodities within Kenya’s Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF).
This work represents an important dimension of PPI’s approach.
We are not only asking communities what they need. We are working to ensure that community realities and evidence reach the tables where policies, budgets and health financing decisions are made.
For PPI, inclusion on paper must ultimately translate into access in practice.
Reaching communities beyond the last mile
PPI’s World Contraception Day work has historically taken this conversation directly into communities.
In 2023, PPI marked World Contraception Day in Doldol, Laikipia County, using the occasion to promote informed choice, male involvement and advocacy around contraception. More recently, PPI’s community advocacy work has reached underserved communities across Laikipia, Samburu and Isiolo, bringing family planning and primary healthcare conversations closer to people who are often furthest from decision-making spaces.
This community-first approach matters because the people most affected by gaps in health systems should not be treated simply as beneficiaries.
They are partners in designing the solutions.
Young people must be part of the conversation
Young people are at the heart of PPI’s approach to sexual and reproductive health.
Through JASIRI, Tupepee2 and other youth-focused initiatives, PPI creates spaces where young people can access information, develop advocacy skills and participate in conversations about health, policy and their futures.
This is particularly important because reproductive health decisions do not happen in isolation. They are influenced by education, economic opportunity, gender norms, social expectations, access to healthcare and the ability of young people to participate in decisions affecting their lives.
Meaningful youth participation therefore means more than inviting young people to an event.
It means listening to them, equipping them and creating pathways through which their voices can influence policy and public investment.
Celebrating World Contraception Day 2026
As PPI marks World Contraception Day 2026, our celebration is therefore not limited to a single event.
We are celebrating the advocates who continue to push for better health systems.
We are celebrating young people who are demanding to be heard.
We are celebrating community members who share their experiences and help generate evidence.
We are celebrating health workers who continue to provide services despite difficult circumstances.
And we are celebrating partnerships that bring government, civil society, communities and development actors together around a shared commitment to better reproductive health outcomes.
Most importantly, we are using the day to reinforce the importance of informed choice, accessible services and accountable health systems.
From awareness to action
World Contraception Day gives us an opportunity to ask a bigger question:
What would it take to ensure that no one is prevented from making an informed reproductive health decision because of where they live, how much they earn, their age, misinformation, stigma or gaps in the health system?
The answer requires action at multiple levels.
It requires accurate information.
It requires reliable contraceptive supplies.
It requires responsive and youth-friendly health services.
It requires sustainable financing.
It requires policies that reflect community realities.
And it requires citizens who are empowered to participate in decisions about their health.
Kenya’s Ministry of Health identifies family planning advocacy, commodity security, attention to adolescents and vulnerable populations, capacity strengthening, monitoring and evaluation among its priorities, with the broader objective of reducing unmet need for family planning.
PPI’s contribution is to help connect these policy ambitions with the lived realities of communities.
The Pathways forward
The future of family planning cannot be built by institutions alone.
It must be built with communities.
It must be informed by evidence.
It must include young people.
It must recognise the realities of women and families in underserved areas.
And it must ensure that resources follow policy commitments.
As we mark World Contraception Day 2026, Pathways Policy Institute reaffirms its commitment to meaningful community engagement, evidence generation, policy advocacy and accountability for sexual and reproductive health.
Because contraception is not simply a health intervention.
It is about information. It is about access. It is about agency. And it is about the ability to make informed choices about one’s future.
This World Contraception Day, PPI celebrates the progress made while continuing to work towards a future where barriers do not determine reproductive health outcomes.
No barriers. More informed choices. Stronger communities. More accountable health systems.
That is the pathway forward.