ABSTRACT
The Constitution of Kenya requires the state to provide social security to persons who are unable to maintain themselves and their dependants. Kenya has a long history of informal social protection (SP) services, but for the first time, the national SP policy is backed by legislation. The policy mandates the state to provide relief to the poor and vulnerable and establishes a basis for individuals, groups, and communities to hold the government to account. Kenya thus has "limited statehood", which lacks the capacity to fully implement its own policy. This chapter draws from a study in Kenya's Nyanza region, which assessed whether and how non-state actors (NSAs) SP services are empowering women at both the household and community levels, and expanding their ability to make strategic life choices a status traditionally denied to them. While the government is the largest source of financing for formal SP programmes, these either do not reach or actively exclude the majority of the population.
