ActionAid Kenya 1
Who We Are ActionAid has worked in Kenya for 40 years ActionAid International Kenya (AAIK) is an affiliate of ActionAid International, a global federation committed to finding solutions to end poverty and injustice. ActionAid Kenya is Kenyan based and is governed by a General Assembly and a Board drawn from communities we work with in Kenya. ActionAid Kenya has been operating in Kenya for 40 years; it has consistently taken sides with the people living in poverty and exclusion to empower and build their capabilities to claim and realize their rights. ActionAid Kenya 3
A clan elder during a PVA training in Ijara
Where We Begun Today ActionAid works with partners directly with communities across Kenya ActionAid started operations in Kenya in 1972 as a youth focused organization, working with 4K clubs in rural Kenya. In the formative years ActionAid Kenya provided direct aid; basic services like water, health, education and infrastructure. ActionAid built thousands of schools, dispensaries and roads ensuring that thousands of people had basic needs. Today, ActionAid partners with communities across Kenya challenging the root causes of poverty, building their skills and knowledge and impacting lasting changes. ActionAid Kenya 5
Our Unique Identity Change is happening everyday due to passion, vision and commitment of people together across regions, social groups and experiences Our Vision A world without poverty and injustice in which every person enjoys the right to a life of dignity. Our Mission To work with people living in poverty and exclusion to eradicate poverty and injustice. ActionAid Kenya 7
Why We Are Here Poverty arises from unequal power relations from the household level to country level ActionAid believes that the indignity of poverty is a violation of human rights, arising from unequal power relations from the household to national level. Gaining evidence from our programmes we have seen, how traditions and practices, the state, the family often perpetuate inequality and injustice -through exclusion, exploitation, patriarchy, and other forms of discrimination. We seek to end poverty by purposeful connections and partnerships, led by the active agency of people living in poverty and supported by solidarity, credible rightsbased alternatives and campaigns that address the structural causes of poverty. ActionAid Kenya 9
How We Work We tackle the root causes of poverty ActionAid Kenya links grassroots organisations, and their work to a wider network with shared interests to identify the root causes of poverty in Kenya. Being rooted in the community, ActionAid Kenya is able to link it s work across the country, sharing successes and also raising the most pressing concerns of the poorest communities with powerful bodies in order to affect change. ActionAid Kenya 11
Who We Work With We work with women, children, youth and people living in poverty and exclusion to claim and realize their rights ActionAid works with communities living in poverty and exclusion and the organizations that represent them, in the most remote parts of the country. We are specifically committed to working with women from these excluded groups and to making sure that we promote women s rights across all our work. ActionAid Kenya 13
Our Focus We have been at the forefront entrenching basic rights and women s rights in the national constitution review process ActionAid Kenya connects communities- people living in poverty and exclusion to challenge power and ensure equal access to basic rights. We target necessary changes not just in policy and practice, but also in attitudes and behaviours. Our work is anchored on three pillars... Empowerment: Our participatory action-reflection processes with the most excluded groups at local level. These empowerment processes are crucial for building effective mobilization and strategic action, supporting grassroots organizations and strengthening social movements that represent excluded groups and their causes. Solidarity: We build and strengthen solidarity by connecting and organizing people committed to a common cause. ActionAid Kenya 15
We link people at the community level, local and national levels; building social movements to address unequal power relations and ensure social justice. Campaigning: Campaign and influencing is embedded in our rights-based-approach. Some of the fundamental causes of poverty lie beyond the immediate location or boarders where the effects are felt, and can be addressed by effective campaigns mobilizing people to shift national policies or practices.
Where we Work The majority of our Local Rights Programmes are based in rural We work in the most remote parts of Kenya and most marginalized communities in Kenya. We go where many do not dare and work with people who are alienated from basic services and rights. ActionAid Kenya 17
Our Partners ActionAid Kenya works in close partnership with communities, grassroots organizations, governments and donors. Our programmes are funded by money raised by supporters, governments, corporate, multilateral organizations, trusts, companies and individuals ActionAid Kenya 19
Our Values Mutual Respect Equity and Justice Honesty and Transparency Solidarity with the poor Courage of Conviction Independence Humility