By Aoma Keziah,
Civil society leaders, health advocates, and academics from across Kenya gathered to commemorate the UN International Day of Families themed “Kenyan Families Deserve Protection, Not Propaganda.”
In a joint statement, the coalition warned against rising anti-rights narratives threatening the diversity and dignity of families in Kenya, taking particular aim at foreign-backed movements, and accusing them of spreading hate under the pretense of ‘protecting’ the family unit.
“As united citizens from across the country, we stand here to defend what truly matters: , health, human rights, and love in all our homes. Today, a rising movement is attacking those values. We are here to say: not in our name,” said Rachael Mwikali, ED Coalition For Grassroots Human Rights Defenders Kenya
The group pointed to campaigns driven by organizations such as CitizenGO and Family Watch International, accusing them of exporting narrow, exclusionary definitions of family that erase Kenya’s social reality.
“These campaigns, largely financed from abroad, are not about protection they are about control. They want to turn our homes into battlefields, where queer children are rejected, single mothers shamed, and any deviation from the so-called ‘ideal’ family is demonized,” emphasized Mwikali
Kenya’s Constitution, specifically Article 45, enshrines the family as the fundamental unit of society. But the coalition argued that this foundation must include all families whether polygamous, single-parent, blended, surrogate-led, or community-raised.
The group used the occasion to spotlight pressing areas they say must be addressed if the government and society are serious about protecting families in 2025 and beyond. They called for job creation, fair wages, and expanded social safety nets, a call to action on gender-based violence, domestic abuse, and the need for shelters and stronger legal enforcement, advocating for the end of harmful practices like FGM and child marriage, and for reproductive rights and freedom for LGBTQ Kenyans, pushed for comprehensive sexuality education and policies that keep all children, especially girls and marginalized youth, in school and emphasized the need for a functioning SHIF/SHA system, maternal health care, mental health services, and equitable access for rural families.
The coalition also appealed to religious and community leaders to be forces of inclusion, not division.
“We ask our leaders: Will you protect all families, or just the ones that fit a narrow mold? Because families living with HIV, with LGBTQ members, with disabled children they are Kenyan too. And they are watching,” Mwikali continued to state
They further issued a direct challenge to the government: uphold the Constitution by protecting every Kenyan family not just a select few.
“As floods and droughts sweep across our counties, as food prices soar and health crises worsen, our families need protection rooted in justice, not exclusion. The real threat isn’t who someone loves or how a family is formed. It’s whether they are fed, safe, and free,” the ED Coalition For Grassroots remarked.
Inclusion their message was that family is defined not by rigid rules, but by love, care, and shared responsibility. And on this International Day of Families, the Kenya’s civil society is drawing a line against imported hate, and in defense of homegrown dignity.
Mt Kenya Times