Kenya has been a committed Inclusive Data Charter Champion since 2018, when the government signed the charter at the Global Disability Summit, pledging to ensure that the most marginalized people would not be invisible in national data systems. That commitment took concrete form in the IDC Action Plan 2021–2025, a structured programme coordinated by the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection's Directorate of Social Development to strengthen the collection, analysis, and use of disability-disaggregated data across government.
With that first action plan now concluded, Kenya convened a two-day multi-stakeholder workshop on in March 2026 bringing together participants from government ministries and departments, civil society, organizations of persons with disabilities, the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), the National Council for Persons with Disabilities (NCPWD), the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data, and the UK Office for National Statistics. The purpose was both reflective and forward-looking: to take stock of what the first action plan achieved, and to shape a more ambitious second phase for 2026–2030.
Five years of progress
The review confirmed that Kenya has advanced meaningfully since 2021. Efforts to improve the collection of disability-disaggregated data across government institutions have taken root, and the coordination mechanisms established under the Inter-Agency Coordination and Advisory Committee (IACAC) have created a functioning platform for dialogue between state and non-state actors. At the same time, participants were candid about the gaps that remain—particularly in human capacity, the harmonization of data collection tools across ministries, and the availability of sustained financing for inclusive data activities. These findings were captured in a comprehensive status report that will serve as both an accountability document and a baseline for the next action plan.
Expanding the scope to gender and ageing
Perhaps the most significant outcome of the workshop was the formal decision to broaden the scope of Kenya's IDC Action Plan for 2026–2030. While disability has been the organizing focus of Kenya's inclusive data work to date, participants agreed that the next phase will also address gender and ageing, bringing two additional groups whose data needs have not always been systematically met into the charter's framework.
This expansion is a natural evolution. The Ministry of Labour and Social Protection's mandate already encompasses gender, senior citizens, and social protection more broadly. Aligning the IDC Action Plan with that mandate means the charter can draw on wider institutional energy and resources, and that the data priorities it sets will be more deeply embedded in government planning cycles. It also reflects the spirit of Leave No One Behind: truly inclusive data systems cannot focus on one marginalized group in isolation. They must build toward a picture of all those who risk being overlooked.
Participants agreed on a set of specific indicators and activities related to gender and ageing to anchor the 2026–2030 plan, ensuring that the expansion of scope is matched by concrete, measurable commitments rather than aspiration alone.
A movement with momentum
Kenya's workshop sent a clear message: the Inclusive Data Charter is not a one-time commitment. It is a platform that can and should grow with a country's ambitions, its institutions, and its understanding of who is being left behind. By evaluating the first five years honestly and expanding the next action plan's reach, Kenya is demonstrating that inclusive data is an ongoing national project, one that becomes more valuable the more comprehensively it is pursued.
The draft 2026–2030 Action Plan, incorporating disability, gender, and ageing priorities alongside a resource mobilization strategy, will now move through a validation and finalization process involving the full range of stakeholders represented at the workshop.
The workshop was organized by the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, Directorate of Social Development, and supported by the IDC Secretariat, the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data, and the UK Office for National Statistics.
