Serah Nduta Njenga

Gender and Health Technical Specialist
Education

Bachelor of Arts Degree in Sociology from Maseno University; Currently undertaking her Master of Science degree in Health Systems Management at Kenya Methodist University

Expertise

Sexual reproductive health, HIV/AIDS, gender-based violence, systems strengthening, gender mainstreaming and women's economic empowerment.

Language

English, Swahili

Serah Nduta Njenga (she/her) is a Gender and Health Specialist based at ICRW Africa. She designs, manages and supports research projects on gender-based violence, gender mainstreaming and inclusion, systems strengthening, sexual and reproductive health and rights and women’s economic empowerment. Ms. Njenga has over 10 years of experience in qualitative and quantitative research, data analysis, development and implementation of MEL frameworks, capacity building and advocacy. She has worked extensively with the Government of Kenya at the national and county levels in developing pathways for research uptake and in translating research evidence to policy and practice. At ICRW, her completed research includes the first-ever formative research on women in manufacturing in Kenya (2020) and her current research portfolio, funded by Hewlett, includes projects on the intersections of sexual reproductive health and rights, women’s economic empowerment and GBV.

Prior to joining ICRW, Ms. Njenga worked as a research consultant. She also served as a research and programming officer at LVCT Health, where she participated in development, testing and evaluation of program and research interventions for more than 10 large multi-sectoral projects. Among these projects included GBV research and programming interventions aimed at strengthening the chain of evidence, building capacities of multi-sectoral actors, and attending to child survivors and community responses post GBV. Ms. Njenga has provided capacity-building for health workers and community leaders on gender-based violence interventions in more than 50 public health facilities in Kenya. She has also provided technical assistance for the translation of different study results to policy and practice, such as Kenya’s guidelines on the management of sexual violence. Ms. Njenga was principal investigator and coordinator in a study that assessed delivery of quality post rape care services in 16 public health facilities in Kenya. The study led to institutionalization of quality management teams in public health settings to manage post rape care services and informed revision of the national guidelines on management of sexual violence and standard operating procedures and tools; IEC materials generated as part of this study were also adapted for national use. Ms. Njenga also participated in the development of the National Gender M&E framework for sexual and gender-based violence in Kenya.