Background Information

After independence, the first president was interested in achieving three things for the country; ie the eradication of extreme poverty, illiteracy, and extreme hunger. This was necessitated by the fact that then and through the colonial system, Kenyans had been treated as second-class citizens which increased their vulnerability and exposure to the three issues.

However, this was not achieved then and subsequent governments have been trying to address these issues by encompassing them in development plans and policies. The promulgation of the new Kenyan constitution in 2010, brought forth government’s commitment to providing for vulnerable populations that are unable to meet their basic needs, including women, children, older persons and the youth. Kenya’s economic blueprint (Vision 2030) contends that “no society can gain social cohesion if significant sections of the population live in abject poverty.” Reducing vulnerability and poverty is a key element of many social policies across government ministries in Kenya.

Social protection and safety nets programmes play a key role towards reducing the vulnerability of the Kenyan people. The importance of this has been underlined in the National Social Protection Policy drafted in 2011 which provides a framework to guide the design, implementation and national oversight of social protection programmes in the country.

From 2005 to 2010, social protection expenditure in Kenya rose from Ksh 33.4 billion to 57.1 billion, which was equivalent to 2.28 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2010. This training workshop aims to look at these programmes and the entirety of their operations and rollout in an effort to understand and replicate their success while addressing any shortcomings that might be pointed out in lessons learned.

Duration

5 Days