In 2004, I went to the clinic for an appointment that would change my life. That day, I began using contraceptives.
I didn’t know it then, but this decision would set me on a path that would define my life for years to come. It was a choice that would help me pursue a career in banking, support my family, and even start my own nonprofit organization. It’s not an overstatement to say that family planning allowed me to prioritize my own health and create new economic opportunities for myself.
Unfortunately, the connection between women’s health and economic potential still isn’t well recognized by decision-makers and communities—whether here in Kenya or in other parts of the world. This has wide-ranging ramifications on everything from how we shape health policy to how we raise boys and girls, preventing us from unlocking our fullest potential.
Yet the link between women’s health and their economic opportunity is critical to our collective well-being.
When women can make fundamental decisions about their bodies and health, including when to have children, everyone benefits. More girls can finish their education and seek out better job opportunities. More women can space their pregnancies and invest in their children’s education and health. More women can control how they earn an income, manage their money, and create new prosperity. Around the world, society thrives when women can access the care and services they need, including contraceptives. By just one estimate, addressing the gap in women’s health would boost the global economy by $1 trillion by 2040. In effect, healthy women help everyone rise.
This understanding has shaped the work that we do at Dandelion Africa, the nonprofit I started in 2009. Our goal is to help women access affordable reproductive, maternal, and child health care in hard-to-reach rural areas in Kenya. As part of our support, we also offer women business and skills trainings so that they can unlock new streams of income and pursue different economic opportunities. To us, health and economic power go hand in hand.
Many women come to us during pregnancy and childbirth—a time when they’re most vulnerable, but also most open to change. Between 2019 and 2023, more than 100,000 women received contraceptives through Dandelion and we helped 6,000 women establish sustainable businesses. Each woman we serve has used these new resources to support their families and communities, showing the ripple effects that access to information, care, and mentorship can have on all of our futures.
Take Cheptoo, for example. Cheptoo first came to Dandelion in 2013—when she was 30 years old and had already had nine children. At that time, she was struggling to provide for her large family and aspiring to a better life for herself and her children, so she sought us out to learn more about family planning. Despite her husband’s hesitations, she made the decision to use a long-acting contraceptive.
After that, Cheptoo established her own business supplying vegetables to local women, generating new, much-needed income for her family. Today, Cheptoo’s children have all received an education; her eldest daughter is in fact on her way to becoming a biomedical engineer. Cheptoo has also upgraded her thatched house to a sturdier stone home, and she now operates a thriving business as a leading local fruit and vegetable supplier. After all of this, even her husband has become an advocate for contraceptives.
Cheptoo’s story shows the true potential that choice holds. Family planning helped Cheptoo unlock new financial opportunities and emerge as a prominent figure in her community; now, she uses her voice to advocate for other women and tackle issues like gender-based violence.
Cheptoo’s story—and my own too—proves that when women hold power, they uplift others.
But it’s not enough for women to lift up other women: Boys and men have a part to play, too. We need to raise our sons to support women, and encourage men to advocate for women’s issues. That’s why Dandelion works with men to educate boys on menstrual hygiene and stand against female genital mutilation, so that they can also become agents of change. Thanks to this type of meaningful engagement, men and boys are better informed about women’s health and help advance gender equity and equality.
It’s on all of us to make the change we want to see. Over the past few weeks, young people in Kenya have already made clear their desire for more choice and opportunity when it comes to their futures. By working together across genders, sectors, levels of society and more, we can make sure that everyone is empowered to reach their full potential—especially women. Once we’re able to do so, we’ll unleash an unstoppable engine of economic progress for all.
More commentary published by Fortune:
- My 2-year-old daughter needed a pacemaker. That spurred me to engineer a virtual heart, and now customized 3D simulations are saving lives
- I’ve been practicing medicine at a renowned institution for 40 years. Society isn’t ready for us to reverse the aging process across an entire population
- I grew up in Kenya’s biggest slum and know from experience: International aid must shift toward community-based organizations
- I cared for my dad under ‘hospital at home’ in his final weeks. The program is missing one big piece
The opinions expressed in Fortune.com commentary pieces are solely the views of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of Fortune.
