In 2025, Oxfam and the Arid and Semi-Arid Lands Humanitarian Network (AHN) conducted a comprehensive gender analysis across Tana River, Garissa, Marsabit, and Turkana counties to inform drought response, early recovery, and resilience programming. The mixed-methods study engaged more than 1,500 survey respondents, 27 focus group discussions, and 153 key informant interviews to examine how drought, entrenched gender norms, and limited service access shape vulnerabilities for women, girls, men, boys, and persons with disabilities.

Findings reveal that women and girls face disproportionate burdens related to unpaid care, water collection, food insecurity, and exposure to gender-based violence. Only a minority of households reported women having decision-making power over finances or resources, despite their increasing role in income generation. Limited access to WASH facilities, menstrual hygiene materials, and SRHR services further restricts mobility, school attendance, and safety for girls and women. Protection risks—including domestic violence, sexual harassment, and early marriage—are widespread but underreported due to stigma, weak referral systems, and limited access to survivor-centered services.

Men and boys are also affected by shifting livelihood pressures, increased psychosocial stress, and risks linked to conflict, migration, and harmful labor. Persons with disabilities, widows, adolescent girls, and remote rural communities face intersecting vulnerabilities due to geography, poverty, cultural norms, and exclusion from information and services.

The analysis underscores the urgent need for gender-responsive, inclusive, and locally-led interventions. Critical priorities include strengthening GBV services, scaling menstrual hygiene and WASH support, expanding youth-friendly SRHR services, improving women’s participation in decision-making, and ensuring meaningful engagement of men and boys. Without targeted investment and coordinated action, deep-rooted gender inequalities will continue to undermine resilience and recovery across northern Kenya.