Enhancing Locally-Led Development in Kenya

The Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) formed the Development Assistance (GDA) partnership since 2014 to 2023 towards financially sustaining Kenyan civil society and fostering locally led development at the counties. The Yetu Initiative was a vehicle designed to use Collaborative, Learning and Adapting approaches and through the use of evidence-based action research, collaboration with various stakeholders and pause & reflect sessions, the initiative has successfully co-created and built the capacity of 323 CSOs from across 42 out of 47 counties in Kenya; cumulatively raising $2.8M. Local development organizations (DOs) were also formed to response to the needs of COs and to provide a collaborative space for all development actors at the county-level to convene, collaborate, tackle barriers impeding locally led development and establish a mechanism by which local organizations convened to address citizen priorities. Eleven LDOs comprising of a membership 10,726 local organizations were formed through a community-led, community-owned and community-managed process. Social mobilization of members was conducted in an inclusive and gender-sensitive approach leading to the recruitment of 5,218 were women-led, 2,112 youth-led and 616 people living with disabilities local organizations.