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4HerPower Challenge: Innovating for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights

Kayayei Insights

Empowering the Kayayei community through data-driven insights to enhance sexual and reproductive health, education, and economic opportunities.

Team Leader
Samiha Yunus
Empowering the Kayayei community through data-driven insights to enhance sexual and reproductive health, education, and economic opportunities.

The Problem

Kayayei, female head porters migrating from rural to urban markets, face severe socioeconomic challenges, yet interventions often fail due to limited data and understanding. Our solution addresses this critical data gap, enabling evidence-based, culturally relevant interventions that improve outcomes and provide a model for addressing similar marginalised communities globally.

The Solution

The Kayayei Insights is a data-driven, community-centered solution that combines digital data collection, behavioural science, and local engagement to deeply understand the lived realities of Kayayei women. We conduct large-scale, near-population surveys across urban markets to generate high-quality data on health, migration, livelihoods, skills, and financial resilience.

These insights are translated into actionable intelligence for designing targeted, culturally relevant interventions, particularly in sexual and reproductive health, economic empowerment, and social protection. By embedding continuous data collection and feedback loops, the solution enables adaptive programming and real-time learning.

Beyond direct interventions, we serve as a shared data infrastructure for governments, NGOs, and development partners, reducing fragmentation and improving coordination. Ultimately, our approach ensures that solutions are not assumed but informed, co-created with the community, evidence-based, and scalable to other marginalised populations facing similar challenges.

Stats

Kayayei Insights has directly engaged and surveyed 3,000 Kayayei women.

What is the name of your organization?
ILMIHA Labs
What is the name of your solution?
Kayayei Insights
Provide a one-line summary or tagline for your solution.
Empowering the Kayayei community through data-driven insights to enhance sexual and reproductive health, education, and economic opportunities.
In what city, town, or region is your solution team headquartered?
Accra
In what country is your solution team headquartered?
Ghana
What type of organization is your solution team?
Nonprofit
Film your elevator pitch.
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What specific problem are you solving?
Kayayei, female head porters migrating from rural to urban markets, face severe socioeconomic challenges, yet interventions often fail due to limited data and understanding. Our solution addresses this critical data gap, enabling evidence-based, culturally relevant interventions that improve outcomes and provide a model for addressing similar marginalised communities globally.
What is your solution?
The Kayayei Insights is a data-driven, community-centered solution that combines digital data collection, behavioural science, and local engagement to deeply understand the lived realities of Kayayei women. We conduct large-scale, near-population surveys across urban markets to generate high-quality data on health, migration, livelihoods, skills, and financial resilience. These insights are translated into actionable intelligence for designing targeted, culturally relevant interventions, particularly in sexual and reproductive health, economic empowerment, and social protection. By embedding continuous data collection and feedback loops, the solution enables adaptive programming and real-time learning. Beyond direct interventions, we serve as a shared data infrastructure for governments, NGOs, and development partners, reducing fragmentation and improving coordination. Ultimately, our approach ensures that solutions are not assumed but informed, co-created with the community, evidence-based, and scalable to other marginalised populations facing similar challenges.
Who does your solution serve, and in what ways will the solution impact their lives?
Our solution primarily serves Kayayei (female head porters) in Ghana’s urban markets, who are predominantly young, rural-urban migrants facing economic vulnerability, unsafe working conditions, limited access to healthcare, and social marginalization. It also serves secondary stakeholders including policymakers, NGOs, and development partners who require reliable data to design effective interventions. For Kayayei, our solution improves visibility, ensuring their realities are accurately captured and represented. The insights generated enable targeted interventions in areas such as health, livelihoods, housing, and financial inclusion, leading to improved wellbeing, income stability, and safety. By engaging them as co-creators, the solution also strengthens agency and trust. For institutions, it provides a robust, shared evidence base to design coordinated, culturally relevant, and scalable programs. Ultimately, the solution drives more effective resource allocation and systemic change, improving outcomes not only for Kayayei but for similar marginalised communities.

Organization Type:
Nonprofit

Headquarters:
Accra, Ghana

Stage:
Pilot

Working In:
Ghana

Solution Website:
www.ilmiha.com

Solution Team:
Samiha Yunus
Samiha Yunus
Founder