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DFID in Kenya: Our work in one of Africa's poorest countries
18 January 2008 (Updated 05 February)
On
27 December 2007, millions of Kenyans queued peacefully to cast their votes in
one of the most hotly contested polls the country has ever seen. Since the
announcement of the election results - whose validity many have questioned -
Kenya has experienced political instability and violence. As a result of the
unrest, more than 1,000 people have lost their lives and 304,000 have
been forced to leave their homes (Source: Kenya Red Cross).
On 03 January, the UK announced it would give £1 million to support the work of the Red Cross in helping those affected by the violence. On 04 February, a further £1.226 million from the UK’s aid programme was announced, £1 million of which will go to the Red Cross and the rest to Medecins Sans Frontieres Belgium. The money will provide shelter, food, clean water and basic healthcare for up to 500,000 people whose lives have been severely disrupted.
DFID is also closely monitoring the situation, and will provide more assistance if it is needed. Secretary of State for International Development, Douglas Alexander, has stressed the need for dialogue between Kenya's political leaders to resolve the crisis in a fair and democratic way. Read Douglas Alexander and Foreign Secretary David Miliband's joint statements on Kenya.
Ongoing action to beat poverty
The
post-election unrest has been felt most severely by the country's poorest - the
very people that DFID's work in Kenya is designed to help. DFID's assistance
shows its longstanding commitment to fighting poverty in Kenya. Over the last
seven years, DFID has spent £170 million to help improve the lives of the
Kenya’s people – money which has gone towards better healthcare, increased
educational opportunities, economic growth, tackling corruption and providing
emergency aid following disastrous floods and droughts.
The UK is currently Kenya’s second largest bilateral donor, this year
contributing £50 million – which, amongst other things, will support the
construction of nearly 12,000 classrooms, and provide 11 million potentially
life-saving bed nets. Read more about DFID's programme in Kenya.
In
recent years, there has been some progress towards reaching the
Millennium
Development Goals on education, gender and HIV/AIDS, but Kenya still suffers
from widespread inequality, poverty and hunger. Although national absolute
poverty has declined from 52.3% in 1997 to 45.9% in 2005/06, the basic food
needs of one in five Kenyans are still not being met. But there has been
progress: 86% of children are currently enrolled in primary schools (compared to
62% in 1992), gender equality in primary schools is now at 98% and HIV/AIDS
prevalence has halved in the past ten years to 5.1%.
If Kenya is to meet the MDGs, it is crucial that the Government takes decisive
action to ensure that a programme of key reforms is implemented.
Future international support to Kenya
The
international development community has expressed
its grave concern over the continued political crisis in Kenya. It is not
working on a business-as-usual basis and has drawn attention to the
lasting impacts on the confidence in Kenya's democratic institutions, and on
investment, growth, and poverty reduction in the country, if a mutually
acceptable solution is not found soon.
The UK is keeping its development programme in Kenya under review because of the
current situation, but our commitment to the Kenyan people remains undiminished.
It is too early to make any decisions about long term impacts on our aid but the
size and content of the future programme will reflect the extent to which
political differences can be resolved. The UK continues to support efforts for a
peaceful resolution to the political unrest and instability.
DFID Kenya: Standing together
On Friday
01 February, in the first of several initiatives to promote peace,
staff from DFID's Kenya office walked to Freedom Corner in Uhuru Park, Nairobi,
to lay flowers as a symbol of remembrance for all those who have been killed,
raped, wounded or lost homes. The memorial is the idea of the Concerned Citizens
for Peace, a group of mainly Kenyan people and organizations that have a common
interest in ensuring an immediate end to the post-election violence.
During the approach to the park, flowers were given out to passers-by and several members of the public - men and women, old and young - joined the group. Even one police officer, who had been guarding the park for several weeks to stop protesters congregating, laid a flower and said he was praying for peace.
“What struck me was how willing people were to join us," said one member of DFID staff. “It felt good to be part of something that sends a clear message for peace. Whatever our tribe - Kenyan or British - we are all living through this together and want to see an end to suffering and violence.”
Links
Read our case studies, which tell the story of some of our work in Kenya:
Find out more about development in Kenya, the recent election, and keep up to date with news on the situation in the country:
