African Inland Church Health Ministries (AICHM) has trained over 180 girls and young women as community peer educators to tackle HIV infections in Turkana South, Central, and West — the three areas considered as HIV hotspots in Turkana.
Recent data by National and County Government authorities shows that the youth in these focal areas account for more than a third of the 450+ new HIV infections reported in 2025.
The five-day training, held in Lodwar and Lokichar under the Global Fund HIV Program, equipped participants with skills to link their peers to HIV testing, treatment, and sexual and reproductive health services within existing health facilities.
“As a community peer educator, I will use the skills gained to reach out to the school going children likely to be exposed to the virus and other sexually transmitted infections. My work is to educate them on prevention and safety measures”, Florence Diyo, a trainee from Turkana South said.
The newly trained peer Educator added that she had witnessed and heard of cases of child marriages and teen pregnancies in the area and vowed to make a contribution in addressing the situation.
AICHM Program Officer Daniel Iripon said targeting youth was deliberate.
“As you know, knowledge is power. When we empower this group, they are out of risk, because within that population that is where risk lies the most,” he said.
According to Iripon, the training content included an element of rights and social justice where the peer educators were trained on legal pathways of identifying and reporting cases of rape, gender based violence and sexual offences.
“This is an initiative supported by Global Fund Program and jointly implemented by Kenya Red Cross Society in Turkana with the main objective of ensuring that the youth are free from the triple threat of HIV AIDS infection, teenage pregnancy and gender and sexual based violence,” he said.
During the training, the peer educators pointed to alcoholism and drugs as key drivers of the risk to new infections and mental health breakdown.
“These are issues we have discussed intensively over the past five days. It is very true that alcohol and drugs are so readily available in Turkana. We demand action from the relevant County and National Government authorities. They must act with speed to save the youth,” Prisca Rantale, Turkana County Maisha Youth Chairperson added.
Turkana County Coordinator of HIV/ AIDS Programs, Samwel Pulkol, said the county expects wider reach.
“We expect these peer educators to deliver services not only in the community but also in organized institutions such as schools, churches and organizations, anywhere youth can be found,” Pulkol noted.
Adding that the training content matched the needs of the targeted population, Pulkol expressed hope that peer educators would deliver as expected.
The training was facilitated by experts from the National AIDS and STI Control Programme (NASCOP), the RMNCAH program, and the Turkana County Department of Health Services.
Organizers say the peer-led approach could cut new HIV infections by up to 75% and HIV-related deaths by 50% in the focal areas. The program will also address sexual and gender-based violence by linking girls to legal aid through pro bono lawyers.
