Making Voices Heard and Count in Kenya

The Leave No One Behind coalition in Kenya was founded in 2018. Country co-leads are VSO Kenya and Plan Kenya. The SDGs Kenya Forum is chair of the national steering committee.

Current members (June 2024) are:

ActionAid Kenya
ADRA Kenya
Caritas Kenya
CBM Kenya
Citizen Rural Network
Development Initiatives Africa Office
Humanity and Inclusion
International Federation for Red Cross in Kenya
Islamic Relief Kenya
Plan International Kenya (co-lead)
SDGs Kenya Forum (head of steering committee)
United Disabled Person in Kenya (UDPK)
VSO Kenya (co-lead)

The country coalition has delivered a project pilot between, focussing on women, people with disabilities, young people, farmers, elderly people and slum-dwellers. Target SDG was SDG 10.2.

The scaled up aimed to amplify the voices of marginalised groups, including women, people with disabilities, youth, and grassroots civil society organisations, in the implementation of the SDGs. It targeted SDG 10 to reduce inequalities within and between countries, with a particular focus on indicator 10.2, which seeks to empower and promote the social, economic, and political inclusion of all, regardless of age, gender, disability, race, ethnicity, place of origin, religion, or economic status. It also targeted SDG 16 to promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, ensure access to justice for all, and build effective, accountable, and inclusive institutions at all levels, focusing on indicators 16.6 on government spending within budget and satisfaction with government services, and indicator 16.7 on representation in public institutions and inclusive decision-making. The Kenya initiative also explored possible collaboration with Partners for Review (P4R) to influence the recognition of non-state data. It worked with LNOB initiatives in other countries, including Nepal. The initiative aimed to reach 3000 people, specifically 750 people with disabilities in each of four counties (Embu, Makueni, Taita Taveta and Siaya), to identify the drivers and extent of marginalisation. A collaborative approach was adopted, involving key stakeholders such as civil society organisations, disability organisations, religious institutions, local media, and government institutions such as the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights and the National Gender and Equality Commission.

The collective voices from these dialogues played a significant role in influencing Kenya’s voluntary national reporting to the UN. Working with other partners and the National Bureau of Statistics, the coalition conducted joint case studies on the growing use of citizen-generated data in Kenya.

Some key achievements include:

– Providing capacity building sessions to 28 grassroots CSOs and 66 individuals in Siaya and Makueni counties on various aspects of the SDGs, participatory approaches, county budgeting processes, citizen-generated data, and accountability mechanisms.

– Disseminated research findings on barriers and opportunities for inclusion of persons with disabilities in VNR mechanisms, reaching 60 people directly (including 38 persons with disabilities) and 200 people indirectly, including members of local civil society organisations.

At the national level, our achievements include:

– Increased knowledge capacity of persons with disabilities and grassroots CSOs on Community-Led Monitoring (CLM) and community-generated data approaches.

The main beneficiaries were marginalised groups and grassroots CSOs, especially persons with disabilities through their organisations. The project also empowered disabled people’s organisations at the local level to amplify their voices and participate in local development processes. In addition, stakeholders within the coalition contributed to the implementation of the project in the targeted districts.

Looking ahead, the country coalition aims to undertake activities at the national government level to further promote inclusivity and participation.

Pilot Project Ongoing Project

Country Publications Targeted SDGs

Kenya Pilot

SDG Target

Target 10.2:

By 2030, empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion, economic or other status.

Target groups

Women, people with disabilities, young people, farmers, elderly people and slum-dwellers.

How did we engage marginalised groups in SDG monitoring?

LNOB partners convened community dialogues in five sites where approximately 500 citizens, including representatives of marginalised groups, shared their views on the implementation of Target 10.2.

Ways target groups are left behind

The government has made efforts to include citizens in development processes, but marginalised groups are often excluded in practice.
Devolution in Kenya has created a structure for citizen engagement at local levels, but the majority of counties sampled have yet to effectively implement citizen engagement.
Discrimination on the basis of ethnicity or tribal affiliation, corruption and nepotism are factors hindering social inclusion.
Rigid perceptions and prejudices about gender and social roles impact on social exclusion or inclusion (for example, boys’ education is preferred over girls’).
Specific minority groups such as people with disabilities, elderly people, girls and women suffer from discrimination in local culture, preventing their voices from being heard in their communities.

What is missed in national reporting?

Marginalised groups remain largely invisible in official statistics and data is rarely disaggregated enough.
Data on people with disability is contentious due to inappropriate methodology used for data collection.
Although CSOs and networks representing marginalised groups collect data on issues affecting those groups, this data is not integrated into the official national government reporting system. As a result, marginalised groups are often excluded from SDG implementation frameworks.

National advocacy impact so far

The coalition in Kenya, has been engaging with government through consultation meetings on planning and statistical processes and through a UN-supported accountability program. The coalition has engaged with the State Department for Planning and National Treasury to influence the review of planning, statistic and monitoring and evaluation legislation, advocating for the recognition of non-state led data in official reporting systems. The coalition also submitted a memorandum to influence the Statistics Law.

Recommendations

Create a citizen’s forum to support citizens’ strategic engagement in policy advocacy.
Promote inclusive public participation in development processes and institutionalise participation and representation mechanisms for marginalised groups in SDG processes.
Improve civic education among marginalised groups so they can meaningfully participate and demand accountability. Use local media to heighten awareness on SDGs.
Enhance information access particularly for people with disabilities and in local languages.
Recognise non-state led data in official reporting in government systems, including SDGs.
Contextualise SDG indicators for effective inclusion of marginalised groups as defined by the Constitution of Kenya.
Build partnerships with marginalised groups and development actors in the implementation and monitoring of SDGs.
Ensure plans and actions are responsive to the needs of marginalised groups.

Ongoing Project (2020-2022)

Country Publications Targeted SDGs

Kenya Ongoing Project

Kenya Publications

Our Target SDGS in Kenya

Click on the SDG to reveal more information

1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere

Extreme poverty rates have been cut by more than half since 1990. While this is a remarkable achievement, one in five people in developing regions still live on less than $1.90 a day, and there are millions more who make little more than this daily amount, plus many people risk slipping back into poverty.

Poverty is more than the lack of income and resources to ensure a sustainable livelihood. Its manifestations include hunger and malnutrition, limited access to education and other basic services, social discrimination and exclusion as well as the lack of participation in decision-making. Economic growth must be inclusive to provide sustainable jobs and promote equality.

Learn more from the UN here >>

Related Kenya Targets

1.4

By 2030, ensure that all men and women, in particular the poor and the vulnerable, have equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to basic services, ownership and control over land and other forms of property, inheritance, natural resources, appropriate new technology and financial services, including microfinance

5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls

While the world has achieved progress towards gender equality and women’s empowerment under the Millennium Development Goals (including equal access to primary education between girls and boys), women and girls continue to suffer discrimination and violence in every part of the world.

Gender equality is not only a fundamental human right, but a necessary foundation for a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable world.

Providing women and girls with equal access to education, health care, decent work, and representation in political and economic decision-making processes will fuel sustainable economies and benefit societies and humanity at large.

Learn more from the UN here >>

Related Kenya Targets

5.5

Ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic and public life

5.a

Undertake reforms to give women equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to ownership and control over land and other forms of property, financial services, inheritance and natural resources, in accordance with national laws

10. Reduce inequality within and among countries

The international community has made significant strides towards lifting people out of poverty. The most vulnerable nations – the least developed countries, the landlocked developing countries and the small island developing states – continue to make inroads into poverty reduction. However, inequality still persists and large disparities remain in access to health and education services and other assets.

Additionally, while income inequality between countries may have been reduced, inequality within countries has risen. There is growing consensus that economic growth is not sufﬁcient to reduce poverty if it is not inclusive and if it does not involve the three dimensions of sustainable development – economic, social and environmental.

To reduce inequality, policies should be universal in principle paying attention to the needs of disadvantaged and marginalized populations.

Learn more from the UN here >>

Related Kenya Targets

10.2

By 2030, empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status

10.3

Ensure equal opportunity and reduce inequalities of outcome, including by eliminating discriminatory laws, policies and practices and promoting appropriate legislation, policies and action in this regard

10.4

Adopt policies, especially fiscal, wage and social protection policies, and progressively achieve greater equality

16. Promote just, peaceful and inclusive societies

Goal 16 of the Sustainable Development Goals is dedicated to the promotion of peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, the provision of access to justice for all, and building effective, accountable institutions at all levels.

Learn more from the UN here >>

Related Kenya Targets

16.6

Develop effective, accountable and transparent institutions at all levels

16.7

Ensure responsive, inclusive, participatory and representative decision-making at all levels

16.10

Ensure public access to information and protect fundamental freedoms, in accordance with national legislation and international agreements