Background

Amkeni Wakenya is Swahili for ‘Kenyans let us arise’, and is espoused from the second stanza of the National Anthem, a clarion call to all Kenyans to actively participate in Nation building. It is a UNDP-led Facility dedicated to empowering citizens to participate effectively in democratic Governance by providing support through Civil Society Organizations. Established in 2008, then known as Civil Society Democratic Governance Facility (CSDG), the facility provided financial and technical support to CSOs to promote democracy, human rights, governance reforms, and the integration of a rights-based approach in social and economic reforms in Kenya. The CSDG facility later rebranded as Amkeni Wakenya and it broadened its scope to include support for CSOs engaging in the implementation of reforms within the context of the National Accord on Peace and Reconciliation that was adopted by the Kenya Government in addressing the calamitous post-election violence of 2007/8.

Since its inception, Amkeni Wakenya has provided support to over 400 Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) across Kenya in form of grants, capacity building and learning and knowledge management. Targeted organisations include, small grassroots-based CBOs as well as medium size and bigger national-level CSOs/NGOs.

Project objectives

Since December 2017, Amkeni is focusing on CSO-led legal aid and assistance to the poor and marginalised, as well as policy support and advisory to judicial institutions, intended to strengthen the status of paralegalism in Kenya as well as operationalise the National Legal Aid Act 2016 and raise awareness of the National Legal Aid Service. There are currently over 30 CSOs engaged in the Amkeni Wakenya programme, which is supported by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and by the European Union through the PLEAD partnership in conjunction with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

The project contributes to: the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) Strategic Priority 1, Transformational Governance, focused on Outcome : By 2022 people in Kenya access high quality services at devolved level that are well coordinated, integrated, transparent, equitably resourced and accountable; Outcome 1 of the UNDP Kenya Country Programme Document; and the Big 4 Agenda.

Read and Download the Baseline Survey for Phase II of the Amkeni Wakenya Program here.