In 2010 Kenya joined the league of nations that have taken exceptional step of elevating health and environmental rights to constitutional standards. In this regard article 42 and 43 declare that every person has the right to a clean and healthy environment and in this regard the right to the highest attainable standard of health respectively. Health is a fundamental and cross cutting issue which has important bearing on youth’s well being and capacity to participate in education, skills development, poverty eradication; and national economic, political and social processes. Apart from preventable and communicable diseases such as sexually transmitted diseases, spread of HIV and AIDS, new challenges like malnutrition, non-communicable, reproductive health and drug abuse have become issues of major concern. Mental health is increasingly becoming a common problem among the youth.

There is a growing health problem among youth who drop out of school. This category of youth are mostly unemployed, have no adult supervision, have poor level of welfare, and are vulnerable to drug use and substance abuse. Young females are particularly vulnerable to high-risk behavior, such as transactional sex, prostitution, rape, female genital mutilation (FGM), sexual abuse and sexual exploitation. They are exposed to violence, exploitation, and are often in conflict with the law. The youth continue to be the most affected by the HIV and AIDS pandemic. The youth are exposed to the HIV and AIDS due to biological, socio-cultural and economic factors. The high rate of teenage pregnancies, abortions, school drop-out and sexually transmitted diseases confirm that the youth are engaging in sex early, increasingly being exposed to HIV and AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases.

The female youth constitute 52% of total youth. Sexual activity among the youth begins quite early in their life. Over 44% of girls between 15-19 years old have had sexual intercourse. Sex at this age has adverse effects on health, besides other socio-economic consequences. Studies have shown that most adolescent pregnancies (around 90%) are unplanned. High level of unprotected sexual activity exposes the female youth to the risk of contracting STIs, including
HIV and AIDS. The lower level of education for girls, coupled with retrogressive social and cultural practices such as female genital mutilation (FGM) and forced early marriages, put the female youth at a disadvantage. These factors have led to low participation and representation of youth in decision-making. Traditional gender roles over burden the female youth, limiting their opportunities for progression and self-development.

At present, there are limited programs aimed at addressing the needs of these groups of the youth, towards this end GLOBCOM seeks to partner with stakeholders taking research and consultancy geared towards enhancing health and promoting youth responsive programs to achieve this.