This policy brief examines the efficacy of health-related social security programmes in particular NHIF in protecting and enhancing the rights of women domestic workers and small-scale traders in slums. It was undertaken in slums of Mukuru, Kibera, Korogocho, Mathare and Kawangware in Nairobi and relied heavily on desk review, key informant interviews and focus group discussions with randomly and purposefully selected women including case collection.

The policy brief i) analyses the NHIF health scheme in its current forms outlining the potential benefits to the target women ii) offers analysis of the challenges of the scheme and areas that may derail the target women from enrolling iii) explore flexible remittance methods like piecemeal payment of monthly contributions, engaging community-based payment agents and phone technology payments for NHIF and iv) recommend options/packages that would if adopted make the scheme responsive to the target women and effective strategies that could be used to encourage the women to register with the NHIF scheme.