Power to Youth
In Migori’s Kuria community, a new approach is challenging harmful traditions by engaging men and boys as allies for women’s rights. Among the Kuria people of Migori County, Kenya, female genital mutilation (FGM) is a deeply rooted tradition, practiced by 84% of the community. It marks a girl’s transition into womanhood and often leads to early marriage.
IDI's Role & Contribution
IDI designed and facilitated the community engagement and design sprint process—training the local teams in empathy-led human-centered design, structuring field research, gathering qualitative feedback across generations, and co-creating actionable interventions (dialogues, mentorship, and campaigns) directly with community leaders and youth.
"Our journey began with introspection. We trained our team in human-centered design, grounding our work in empathy and collaboration to co-create solutions directly with the community."
The Problem
Three interlocking failures created a system where continuity of care was structurally impossible.
Fragmented care
For generations, efforts to protect girls from harmful traditions focused mainly on women, leaving out the primary cultural gatekeepers — men and boys.
Lost record continuity
Female genital mutilation (FGM) is practiced by 84% of the community, marking a girl's transition to womanhood and leading to early marriage.
Invisible complications
Many men and boys in the community had never questioned the consequences of practices like FGM, seeing it simply as traditional protocol.
Our Approach
A structured, collaborative design methodology implemented across six sequential stages.
Community Listening
Conversations with religious leaders, elders, young women, and men to understand historical perspectives.
Field Research
Three weeks of immersive research speaking with 40 community members across generations.
Design Sprints
Iterative prototyping sessions to co-create community-driven ideas and campaigns.
Men-Led Dialogues
Establishing safe spaces where men and boys openly question traditional gender expectations.
Mentorship & Campaigns
Launching school mentorship programs and media campaigns to promote positive masculinity.
Outputs & Results
Measurable outcomes achieved through the programme's core activities.
Community members interviewed across generations
Community FGM prevalence rate challenged
Intervention channels designed & launched
Measuring Success
We measured success by the shift in perspectives and active youth leadership. More men and boys are questioning harmful practices, and new community-driven dialogues have been established to sustain the impact.
Partners
As we work to scale health systems across Africa, we are proud to partner with leading national and global organizations.
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