NAIROBI - On September 10th, 2007, he Kenyan Government and development partners launched a joint assistance strategy and signed Partnership Principles to strengthen their collaboration and significantly improve prospects for sustained growth and poverty reduction.
Kenya has been receiving development assistance since Independence, but it has not achieved as much for ordinary Kenyans as expected.
Too often development assistance has been used inefficiently or for the wrong things.
Moreover, answering to multiple development partners has strained the capacity of the government to manage its programs.
The Government and the Development Partners launched the Kenya Joint Assistance Strategy (KJAS) and signed the Partnership Principles that together seek to change all of that.
Together these represent a transformation in how aid will help Kenya meet the Millennium Development Goals and improve the quality of life for Kenyans.
This
chart and the division of labor exercise provides an indication of
which agencies are able and willing to lead the donor work and
engagement with government in
the various sectors over the period of this KJAS. The symbol represents
the current lead/chair of each sector. The symbol , for potential
lead/chair, means that the
agency is prepared to lead the sector in the KJAS period. Some issues
such as gender, environment, and youth are mainstreamed across an
agency’s entire program;
therefore, no indication for presence in a cross-cutting sector does
not mean no involvement.
The chart is based on responses to the comparative advantage
questionnaire, follow on survey, and subsequent updates. The chart is
current as of September 2007,
and is subject to change during the KJAS period. Sector participation
of some KJAS partners is subject to approval by parliament and cabinet.
Halake Halake heads a family in Moyale near the Kenyan border with Ethiopia, where
guerillas occasionally cross the border, exposing the locals to violence and
insecurity. He has five children—three in school and two at home. His family
earns its living from the sale of livestock: cattle, goats and camels.
Wanza Wanza lives in Kitui in Eastern Province. She is 22 years old and has three
children, ages seven, five, and one. She cultivates pigeon peas, maize and beans
on a small plot of 50 meters by 50 meters that she leases for 2,000 KSh a year.
Her plot is too small to allow her to produce enough to sell.
Kenya needs external resources to supplement the limited domestic resources, as recognized by the draft Kenya External Resources Policy. External resources supplement domestic resources (most of which are provided by Kenyan taxpayers) for investment and delivery of services. Used appropriately, they can hasten progress from poverty and vulnerability to prosperity and security.
KJAS partners' support will be focused on three key
areas:
Infrastructure,
private sector development, agriculture and rural development, and sound
environmental management.
Education,
health, HIV/AIDS, and social protection.
Strengthening
public sector management and governance in all its dimensions.
KJAS partners will channel most of their support
through projects and programs. Some will
consider providing general or sector budget support if governance, fiduciary,
and monitoring and evaluation can offer sufficient assurance that funds are
used for their intended purpose. KJAS
partners will continue to work closely with nonstate actors-including
faith-based and civil society organizations, academia, the media, and trade and
professional bodies-both to implement activities and to encourage them to serve
as watchdogs to ensure the best outcomes for Kenyans.
In addition to financial support, KJAS partners
will support analytical work and professional advice to help the government
prioritize expenditures and improve public financial management, reform
policies, and strengthen capacity in key areas to more rapidly achieve Kenya's
development targets and the MDGs. Such work will help inform and prepare the ground for future programs
and projects.
A fundamental goal of the KJAS is to improve the development impact of available resources. Towards this end, the KJAS partners will agree on a more effective division of labor to better align assistance with government programs and to coordinate assistance more effectively among themselves. To reduce the burden on government of dealing with multiple donors, KJAS partners will strive to increase their selectivity in the program and policy areas in which they are engaged, while ensuring that the level of financing by donor and by sector is maintained. They will also work to achieve greater harmonization at the sector level, and focus on achieving results for Kenyans.
The KJAS partners provide support to Kenya on highly concessional terms. The great majority of funds will be given as grants. The remaining funds will be offered as soft loans (normally referred to as credits) from the African Development Bank and the World Bank. These carry a zero interest rate, and have a 40-year repayment period, including a 10-year period of grace.
To accelerate growth and reduce poverty, making the best possible use of all available resources, is critical and requires a strong focus on results. In the spirit of harmonizing and aligning behind the government development program, KJAS partners will, to a large extent, rely on the government’s own assessment of the results of its strategy in judging the development effectiveness of the KJAS. The government is establishing an annual strategy review mechanism that will draw on existing reporting and review arrangements. The government is also developing a robust national monitoring and evaluation system that allows for regular reporting of strategy implementation and results.
KJAS partners recognize that strengthened public financial management and reduced corruption are critical for development. One of the most effective approaches is to strengthen government’s own systems of accountability. To this end, KJAS partners are helping the government to manage public finances and procurement efficiently and soundly. Assistance to strengthen the rule of law, the judiciary, electoral processes, local governance, the parliament, and the public service is helping to implement the government’s Governance Action Plan. Recognizing that the government is ultimately accountable to Kenyans, KJAS partners are encouraging the government to engage civil society in its monitoring and evaluation efforts. KJAS partners are also to helping to strengthen citizens’ voices through support for the parliament, media, judiciary, civil society organizations, and the private sector. Finally, acknowledging that, where there are bribe-takers, there are bribers, some KJAS partners are publicly listing the names of individuals and companies found to be engaged in corrupt practices, and penalizing them. They are also working to stop money laundering and to recover stolen assets hidden abroad.
Risks to
successful implementation of the KJAS exist. However, the KJAS partners have developed
specific measures to mitigate these risks.
Major risks
include:
Vested
interests that prevent reform.
Reforms
that are too ambitious with respect to capacity for implementation.
Poor
governance that prevents effective use of resources and discourages private
sector investment.
Political
uncertainty that discourages investment.
Unpredictability
of donor funding that disturbs macro and fiscal management.
Unwillingness
of development partners to adhere to the KJAS and its principles that reduces
the general effectiveness of aid.
External
factors-such as major terms of trade shifts against Kenya's exports, poor
weather, avian flu, and political instability of countries of the region-that
pose unknown risks.
The Road to Accra
From September 2-4, 2008, ministers from over 100 countries, heads of bilateral and multilateral development agencies, donor organizations, and civil society organizations from around the world will gather in Accra for the Third High-Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness. Their common objective is to help developing countries and marginalized people in their fight against poverty by making aid more transparent, accountable and results-oriented.
Kenya: Poverty and Inequality Assessment, May 2008Wednesday, 11 June 2008 The World Bank embarked upon a program of poverty analysis in Kenya in
2005. The recent release of parts of the 2005/6 national household
survey has finally enabled this work to be undertaken in earnest. The
expected areas of focus will build on the reports already released by
the KNBS, and include levels and trends in provincial differentiation,
the labor market, youth and public spending. The perspective will
largely be on long term and structural issues, while taking into
account short term needs and constraints.
The analysis will draw on a range of sources, both quantitative and
qualitative; official and non-governmental. The latter includes
analysis carried out in partnership with the African Population and
Health Research Council (APHRC) and that undertaken by the Tegemeo
Institute.
In order to inform the analysis and policy discussion in the
assessment, a series of discussions will be held with researchers,
academic institutions and think tanks. The proposed timeline for
completing the work is late June, to help inform among other things,
the medium term plan that is under preparation.
Action to Reduce the Proliferation of Small Arms and Light Weapons in KenyaTuesday, 20 May 2008 The Global Week of Action on Small Arms and Light Weapons (GWA) runs
from June 2 to 9, 2008 and will be commemorated globally as well as
locally. Efforts will start earlier in Kenya beginning in West Pokot on
May 28 when 104 reformed warriors will be inducted into a peace
building network, following surrender of arms early this month.
The Kenya Action Network on Small Arms (KANSA) in collaboration with
PeaceNet is developing advocacy strategies to strengthen awareness
campaigns during this week. PeaceNet will work closely with the Kenya
national focal point and Safer World to strengthen the already
established district and provincial task forces. KANSA convened its
first GWA planning meeting on Wednesday, May 21, 2008. However,
further support will be required to sustain the momentum and bring
sharp focus on this issue. Interested donors are encouraged to contact
PeaceNet or KANSA directly.
A meeting to launch the Conflict Mitigation and Management working group took place on April 17, 2008.
Conflict, peace and reconciliation issues have not had
a donor group that focuses explicitly on them, which saw some members of the
Democracy and Governance Donor Group (DGDG) suggest that the formation of a
sub-group on this be explored. DFID added that they felt the need for this
group to be established to specifically look at these issues, and find a niche
for them.
Joint support for human rights abuses investigation following post-election violenceMonday, 14 April 2008 Donors provide joint support to the Kenya National Commission on Human
Rights for the investigation and documentation of human rights abuses.
This initiative has been fully funded by six partners: UK, Germany,
OISEA, Finland, Norway, and Sweden.
The GTZ Good Governance project is seeking to hire a Senior Project Officer
Applicants should
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by July 28th, 2008 to
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The Ministry of Water and Irrigation plans to undertake the Annual Water Sector Review in August/September 2008. The MWI has started the procurement of 2 International Experts and 4 National Experts to undertake the assignment.
If interested,
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at the MWI.
NAIROBI - On September 10th, 2007, he Kenyan Government and development partners launched a joint assistance strategy and signed Partnership Principles to strengthen their collaboration and significantly improve prospects for sustained growth and poverty reduction.
Halake heads a family in Moyale near the Kenyan border with Ethiopia, where
guerillas occasionally cross the border, exposing the locals to violence and
insecurity. He has five children—three in school and two at home. His family
earns its living from the sale of livestock: cattle, goats and camels.
Wanza lives in Kitui in Eastern Province. She is 22 years old and has three
children, ages seven, five, and one. She cultivates pigeon peas, maize and beans
on a small plot of 50 meters by 50 meters that she leases for 2,000 KSh a year.
Her plot is too small to allow her to produce enough to sell. 
From September 2-4, 2008, ministers from over 100 countries, heads of bilateral and multilateral development agencies, donor organizations, and civil society organizations from around the world will gather in Accra for the Third High-Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness. Their common objective is to help developing countries and marginalized people in their fight against poverty by making aid more transparent, accountable and results-oriented.
The World Bank embarked upon a program of poverty analysis in Kenya in
2005. The recent release of parts of the 2005/6 national household
survey has finally enabled this work to be undertaken in earnest. The
expected areas of focus will build on the reports already released by
the KNBS, and include levels and trends in provincial differentiation,
the labor market, youth and public spending. The perspective will
largely be on long term and structural issues, while taking into
account short term needs and constraints.
The Global Week of Action on Small Arms and Light Weapons (GWA) runs
from June 2 to 9, 2008 and will be commemorated globally as well as
locally. Efforts will start earlier in Kenya beginning in West Pokot on
May 28 when 104 reformed warriors will be inducted into a peace
building network, following surrender of arms early this month.
