Creating Collaborative Solutions through the County Liaison Teams

In response to (2010) Kenya’s new constitutional order that adopted devolution as the governance structure with 47 county governments, USAID/KEA had to adapt its way of engaging with the people of Kenya through the devolved structures. In its Country Development Cooperation Strategy 2020 - 2025, the KEA Mission has structured strategic collaboration at the county level in 25 priority counties. For this to be effected, the Mission has established cross-Mission County Liaison Teams (CLTs) that bring together 5-6 Mission staff from across the teams to be the strategic focal point for relationship building with the counties’ public, private and civil society sectors. The Mission currently has 15 operational CLTs which are improving USAID/KEA’s two-way communication and customer service at the county level. They represent the Mission’s Front Office in the relationships with senior county officials as well as serve as a feedback loop to the Mission on award performance, relationship management and local ownership and sustainability. The CLTs coordinate, liaise and institutionalize knowledge sharing and relationships with counties, thus strengthening the alignment of USAID’s work with county development priorities.