Explainer: Inside Nairobi’s New Plan to Recognise and Support Care Work

By Magdalene Wanja - Reporter

Kenya, 22 May 2026 - Care work has long sustained Nairobi quietly and largely invisibly in homes, communities, hospitals, childcare spaces, and among families caring for older persons and people living with disabilities or chronic illnesses.

On Thursday, that often-overlooked reality took centre stage during the launch of the Nairobi State of Care Report 2026 Launch and the Care Mainstreaming Toolkit, an initiative aimed at embedding care into Nairobi County’s planning, budgeting, and service delivery systems.

More than just a policy event, the launch signaled a broader shift in how care is understood not simply as unpaid labour carried out within households, but as a critical pillar of the economy and public wellbeing.

The initiative is a collaboration between several organisations, including Coalition on Violence Against Women (COVAW), the Nairobi City County Government, Wow Mom Kenya, Youth Alive! Kenya, and Oxfam.

Nairobi County launches toolkit to integrate care into public planning — Women continue to bear the heaviest burden of unpaid care work estimated at KSh 2.54 trillion across Kenya. | Dawan Africa

The report positions care as essential social infrastructure that keeps society functioning every day by supporting children, older persons, persons with disabilities, caregivers, and vulnerable households.

The launch brought together county officials, development partners, civil society groups, and caregivers, reflecting growing momentum around the need to treat care as both a public policy and economic priority. Speakers at the event noted that stronger care systems are directly linked to healthier families, more productive communities, and greater economic inclusion.

At the centre of the report is a stark economic reality: unpaid domestic and care work in Kenya is estimated to be worth KSh 2.54 trillion, while 23.1 percent of the country’s GDP is linked to unpaid care work.

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Yet despite its enormous contribution, much of this labour remains unrecognised and unsupported. Women continue to shoulder the heaviest burden, performing unpaid care work at rates five times higher than men.

The report warns that weak care systems have consequences that extend far beyond individual households. Limited support services affect women’s ability to participate fully in education and employment, deepen inequality, and place additional strain on families already facing economic hardship.

Those most affected by gaps in care services include unpaid caregivers, children under five years, older persons, persons with disabilities, and people living with chronic illnesses.

What makes the Care Mainstreaming Toolkit significant is its attempt to move care from conversation into implementation. The toolkit is designed to help county departments integrate care considerations into budgeting, policy development, and programme delivery. This could influence future investments in childcare services, healthcare access, disability inclusion, community support systems, and social protection programmes across Nairobi County.

The launch also reflects a growing global conversation around the “care economy” the recognition that economies depend not only on roads, technology, and industries, but also on the often-invisible labour that sustains people and communities.

By placing care within county governance structures, Nairobi is positioning itself among cities seeking to make social wellbeing part of economic planning.

For many caregivers present at the event, the launch represented more than a policy milestone. It was an acknowledgment of work that has historically gone unseen, unpaid, and undervalued.