People Power

In 2025, SHOFCO’s movement reached 2.5 million people across 75% of Kenya’s counties. Kenya’s youth landscape is a barometer of the nation’s health, and against a backdrop of political uncertainty, a rising cost of living, and limited job pathways, young people organized, led, and authored real policy change. As Kennedy Odede reflects in his opening letter, this impact is rising organically from the ground up, driven by millions who believe that change begins when neighbors stand side by side. From Kibera to rural Nyanza, SHOFCO walked alongside communities as they claimed ownership of their future.

2025-impact-cover
View Report

Where We Are Now

SHOFCO mobilizes Kenya’s largest network of grassroots social groups, delivering holistic services and empowering citizen-led change. Our priorities guide this work:

  • Community Organizing: Residents collectively articulate aspirations and seek tangible change.
  • Gender Equality: Breaking down barriers for women and marginalized groups to thrive.
  • Health and Wellbeing: Affordable, quality health and education for healthier lives.
  • Economic Opportunity: Building agency, skills, and financial stability for mobility.
  • Community Resilience: Equipping communities to adapt and move beyond survival.

Impact Highlights 2025

By the Numbers

  • 2.5 million lives touched across Kenya, reaching 75% of counties.
  • 1.5 million young people reached through youth voice forums.
  • 91,022 youth verified in dignified work (63% female, 41% young mothers, 3% refugees).
  • 6,504 girls supported with scholarships to return to school, making SHOFCO the largest non-government provider in Kenya.
  • 470,105 household members reached through community health services.
  • 26,749 GBV survivors supported with psychosocial and legal care.

Community Organizing

  • 41,000+ youth forums held through the SHOFCO Urban Network (SUN), reaching 1.2 million youth.
  • Secured the government’s removal of the KES 1,000 fee for lost or damaged national IDs, a major barrier to jobs and services.
  • Policy engagement with 29 county governments embedded community priorities in county development plans and new budget allocations for youth and women.
  • 84 active SUN sites, with new leadership structures that include persons with disabilities and refugees.

Gender Equality

  • 28,630 adolescent girls reached through Reclaim Our Confidence (ROC) clubs.
  • 26,749 GBV cases managed with legal and psychosocial care.
  • 3,556 vulnerable girls supported to remain in school.
  • 3,829 bursaries and scholarships provided to secondary school girls.
  • 1,553 GBV leaders and male champions trained; safe water and sanitation extended to 11,929 households.

Health and Wellbeing

  • 0% mother-to-child HIV transmission in SHOFCO clinics, compared with a 15% national average.
  • Community health teams sustained services across all urban sites despite USAID funding cuts, meeting a 70% rise in demand.
  • More than 37,500 people accessed clean water daily through the aerial piping system.
  • Public washroom retrofits and new hygiene campaigns reached 5,853 households.
  • Trained mental health ambassadors and helped integrate mental health into Kenya’s Universal Health Coverage.

Economic Opportunity

  • 91,000+ youth placed into dignified work, the majority of them women.
  • Apparel sector training reached 1,482 people, with 794 placed in formal employment.
  • New private-sector partnerships licensed youth in insurance sales (APA) and placed young people in retail roles (Carrefour).
  • More than 18,000 members accessed savings and credit through SHOFCO SACCO, and nearly 10,000 women engaged in income-generating activities.

Community Resilience

  • 100,000+ farmers received drought-resistant seeds.
  • 50+ water pans constructed across Siaya, Migori, and Homa Bay to support food security.
  • 26,511 individuals reached through household-level hygiene campaigns.
  • 31,982 students engaged through school WASH clubs.

What We Learned in 2025

Youth unemployment is not a single problem, and it cannot be solved with a single fix. Our strongest livelihoods models work because they address skills, employer demand, and structural barriers such as documentation, childcare, and connectivity together, so young people can fully participate in the economy. We also learned that short-term incentives create activity, but community ownership creates lasting change. That thinking is reshaping how we work, from shifting waste management toward community-led enterprises to embedding Gender Champions inside SUN governance, where more than 1,000 trained champions now reach over 100,000 people with prevention and protection messages. Community-led is community-kept, and it is the foundation of the next chapter of SHOFCO’s story.

SHOFCO

SHOFCO is a community-led nonprofit organization that catalyzes large-scale transformation in urban slums by providing critical services for all, community advocacy platforms, and education and leadership development for women and girls.