The end of the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) era in 2015 has provided the world with valuable and lasting lessons about what needs to be done differently and what can have a major impact in reducing child mortality and improving maternal health.

Taking stock of progress made over the past 15 years, we have learned that many African countries did not meet MDG targets 4 and 5 to reduce maternal and child deaths.

Kenya stands out as one of the exceptions. According to the Kenya Demographic Health Survey 2014-15, the contraceptive prevalence rate for modern methods among all women has risen from 28% to 39% in five years while maternal deaths have dropped to 360 from 448 per 100,000 live births during the same period. In addition, the growth in modern method use among married women has increased from 39% to 53% and Kenya achieved its FP2020 commitment of 56% use for all methods by 2015.

What was different in Kenya?