Mothers and Babies Behind Bars
The Unseen Sentences: Rewriting the future for mothers and children behind bars.
About ENAF
Echo Network Africa Foundation (ENAF) is a Pan-African philanthropic institution that works with like-minded stakeholders to empower, position and advocate for girls and women in Africa. Founded in 1982 as Kenya Women Holding (KWH), the organisation re-branded in 2018 to Echo Network Africa (ENA) and subsequently in 2024 to Echo Network Africa Foundation (ENAF). The vision of ENAF is an inclusive society where girls and women enjoy full rights and participate in the life of the society. ENAF intentionally focuses interventions on girls and women with special attention to young women, women with disabilities and women from marginalised communities.
In its 2023–2027 Strategic Plan, ENAF articulates a retention, growth, and expansion strategy aimed at replicating and scaling program initiatives from Kenya to other countries in Africa. ENAF has streamlined its operations to drive its vision, governance, resource mobilisation, and partnership building across the continent. ENAF acts as a catalyst for development in regional initiatives and program implementation, utilising a strategy that centres on working with Local Implementing Partners (LIPs) to maximise impact and accelerate the attainment of results.
Current Programme Centres include Financial Inclusion; Blue Economy & Climate Action; Girls Excel Initiative; Women’s Peace and Security; Women’s Leadership, Political Participation and Governance; and the new Mothers & Babies Behind Bars Initiative. ENAF is supported by the following Anchor Centers: Legal, People & Culture Management, Property Investment, Financial Resources Management & Granting, ICT, Procurement, Communications & Public Relations, Internal Audit & Risk Management, and Planning, Monitoring & Evaluation.
For more information, please visit our website: www.enafricafoundation.org
The Innovation: Mothers and Babies Behind Bars
ENAF’s commitment to justice extends behind the gates of Kenya’s correctional facilities. We believe that while a mother serves her time, her child shouldn’t lose their childhood. ENAF is transforming prison environments into spaces of dignity, nutrition, and development, ensuring that an innocent child’s future isn’t dictated by their mother’s past.
The “Collateral Inmates”
In Kenya’s correctional facilities, a silent crisis unfolds. When a mother is arrested, her young child – guilty of no crime – often enters the gates with her. These children swap playgrounds for concrete cells and nursery rhymes for the sound of locking gates.
Currently, 80% of the 3,000 female inmates in Kenya are young women under 35. Many are primary caregivers, meaning their incarceration leaves their children either abandoned or imprisoned alongside them. These formative years are being lost to an environment designed for punishment, not for the specialized needs of a growing child.
Voices of Survival: The Human Cost of Incarceration
While the statistics tell one story, the lived experiences of these mothers reveal the true urgency of our mission. These are the voices ENAF is fighting for.
Jane’s Story: “The Weight of the Walls”
“In a desperate moment to shield my son and my unborn baby from a final blow, I pushed back. In a freak accident, he fell, was injured, and died. Suddenly, I wasn’t a victim anymore; I was a prisoner.
I gave birth to my son in the cold shadow of a prison cell. As a mother, your instinct is to protect, but how do you protect a newborn in a room full of criminals? I lived in constant fear of my baby being harmed by the anger around us. When he fell ill, there was no medicine to break his fever. When he shivered, I had no warm clothes to wrap him in.
The hardest part was the hunger. My body was expected to produce milk to keep him alive, but without nutritious food, I felt myself drying up. I wasn’t just serving a sentence for defending my life; I was watching my innocent son serve it with me. Every time he cried, I felt the weight of the prison walls closing in on his future. No child should ever know the sound of a locking gate before the sound of a lullaby.“
— Jane (Not her real name)
Rebecca’s Story: “The Thief of Milestones”
“I went from being a trusted employee to a prisoner the moment I said ‘No’ to my boss. When I refused his advances, he didn’t just fire me; he accused me of a crime I didn’t commit and watched as the police took me away.
I entered those gates with my one-year-old daughter. At the time, she was a vibrant, healthy baby who walked with confidence and ate with joy. But prison is a thief. Within months, I watched her spirit and her body wither away. The food was often raw and indigestible; she couldn’t eat it, and soon, she stopped trying.
By the time she was 18 months old, my daughter—who should have been running—had stopped walking entirely. She weighed only 5 kilograms. Every month was a cycle of sickness and hospital admissions as her tiny body fought to survive on nothing. I wasn’t just watching her lose weight; I was watching her lose her childhood milestones. To see your child waste away because of an environment they don’t deserve is a pain I cannot describe. I was being punished, but she was being erased.”
— Rebecca (Not her real name)
The Integrated Solution
At ENAF, we don’t just provide aid; we provide a pathway out. ENAF focuses on three critical areas to ensure that incarceration doesn’t define the next generation.
- Dignity & Survival: We provide “Dignity Packs” for mothers (hygiene and sanitary products) and “Baby Packs” for infants (nutrition and warm clothing). No mother should have to choose between her dignity and her child’s health.
- Safe Play Zones: We are transforming cold concrete into colorful, child-friendly spaces. These daycares within prisons provide soft flooring, educational toys, and a stimulating environment essential for early childhood brain development.
- Freedom through Skills: The cycle of “survival crimes” ends with economic power. We equip prison workshops with sewing machines, hairdressing kits, and baking equipment. When a mother leaves prison with a trade, she leaves with the ability to provide for her child legally and sustainably.
600 Lives, One Mission
ENAF’s immediate objective is to reach the 600 most vulnerable women and children within the justice system. We invite you to partner with us. Whether through a one-time gift for a Dignity Pack or a larger investment in the Legacy Project daycares, your support ensures that a mother’s past does not dictate her child’s future.
Partner with ENAF
USA
Echo Network Africa Foundation (ENAF)
USA Bank Account no.: 153599848188
ENAF is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit. EIN: 99-2181637
Kenya
MPESA Paybill: 972800
Account: Mother & Baby
For more information Contact:
Dr. Jennifer Riria PhD, EBS, MBS, HRH/Goodwill Ambassador, ICON/HP
President/CEO, Echo Network Africa Foundation
Phone: +254 727 910 000 / +254 738 910 000
Email: info@enafrica.org | www.enafricafoundation.org