Nairobi is the capital city of Kenya and Kenya’s administrative capital. Nairobi County has a population of 4,232,087, comprising of 2,094,247 males (49%) and 2,137,840 females (51%). Children below 15 years constitute 34% of the population, while youth aged 15-24 years constitute 18% of the population (2015 KNBS Population Projections).
Population size and composition
The city is the location of one of the largest slums in the world, and approximately 22% of the city’s residents live in poverty. There are approximately 2.5 million slum dwellers in about 200 settlements in the city. This is a representation of 60% of the Nairobi population, occupying just 6% of the total land. Some of the slums include Kibera, Mukuru, Kangemi, Kawangware, Korogocho, and Mathare among others. Nairobi is a very ethnically diverse city, and Kenya’s major ethnic groups all reside here.
The county has a high proportion of the population (30 percent) below age 15. In education, the county has a primary enrolment rate of 77.8 percent and secondary enrolment rate of 25.3 percent, this quite low especially for an urban setup. HIV prevalence in Nairobi is comparable to the national prevalence at 6.1% (Kenya HIV Estimates 2015). The HIV prevalence among women in the county is higher (7.6%) than that of men (4.7%)
Most slum residents live in extreme poverty, earning less than $1.00 per day. Access to basic services in the informal settlements and resource-poor areas in Nairobi is limited. Families living in informal settlements, and resource-poor outskirts of Nairobi lack access to essential services such as water and sanitation, health services, quality education, and economic empowerment. The context has perpetuated a vicious cycle of poverty in those areas. Residents of these areas further face challenges such as exclusion in access to the limited social services available. The problem is compounded by other issues they face such as sexual and gender-based violence, stigma and discrimination based on negative social norms and HIV.
The infant population is projected at 20,713 in 2017 representing 2.4 percent of the total county population. The under 5 years in the County have 154,651 children who are below five years old. This is about 18 per cent of the total population. Primary School Age Group (6-13) in the county, there are 239,035 children who are within the primary school going age. Of this, 54.9 per cent are boys while 45.1 per cent are girls. There will be need to put up more primary schools and employ more teachers to cater for the growing number of the school going children. The primary school enrollment is however low for both genders but worse for the girl child. There is, therefore need to carry out enrollment drives throughout the county. In addition, a programmes on the provision of sanitary towels need to be enhanced to retain the girl child in school.