MEET ‘GEN FREE’: TELLING A NEW STORY ABOUT EQUALITY, WORK, SEX AND SCHOOL WITH KENYA’S GEN Z

At the start of 2024, Shujaaz Inc and MTV Staying Alive Foundation launched an ambitious 5-year mass media programme designed to tackle restrictive, harmful norms that perpetuate gender inequality in Kenya. Surround Sound Kenya combines the reach and impact of the internationally recognised MTV Shuga brand and the national reach and local networks of Shujaaz to regularly engage 70% of 15-24-year-olds with award-winning media that tells a new story about gender equality in Kenya.

The first phase of the programme is being supported with funding from The Gates Foundation, Impact, Echidna Giving, Imaginable Futures and The Wellspring Foundation. In February 2024, we delivered a national participatory youth research project in collaboration with Open Phences, a think and do tank based in Kenya. The research was designed to explore young people’s perspectives on gender equality and the norms shaping their experiences of sex, relationships, HIV and gender-based violence and work, school and education.

This summary report captures the key trends and findings from our research. It is designed primarily for colleagues working on mass-media programmes, but we hope it will provide valuable insights for everyone designing policy and programmes for young people in Kenya.