France commits to finance Kenya Red Cross Society and Fresh Life Initiative through the Agence Francaise de Developpement (AFD)

On the occasion of Bastille Day, tampered this year, by the running COVID-19 pandemic and mostly virtually celebrated, S.E.Mrs. Aline Kuster Ménager, Ambassador of France to Kenya, Dr. Asha Mohammed, Secretary-General of the Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS), Mrs. Lindsay Stradley, Fresh Life Initiative (FLI) Executive Director, and Mr. Ghislain de Valon, Agence Francaise de Developpement (AFD) Kenya Director, agreed on two projects in support to vulnerable households in informal neighborhoods of Nairobi, as part of the fight against the spread and consequences of COVID-19.

AFD committed to finance a KRCS cash transfer project with a 500 000 euros grant (about 60 million Ksh), that aims to support about 2000 families – 10 000 people – during 3 months. It will directly increase the resilience of these households as a response to the crisis, but will also contribute to strengthening of national social protection mechanisms in the longer run.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Government of Kenya has embraced the use of cash transfers to deliver its shock responsive safety nets. Their advantages range from empowering vulnerable populations and providing flexible options that allow the affected communities to address their needs, to promoting local economy with positive multiplier effects. However, due to over-stretched government resources, the regular beneficiaries enrolled in the social protection systems receive a monthly allocation which is deemed too low to cover the Minimum Expenditure Basket in time of such crisis.

Women, in particular, will be considered a priority targeted population in this program, given their roles as caregivers in the home and community, their over-representation in the informal economy, their low access to health information and services and their susceptibility to sexual and gender-based violence as a result of quarantine measures.

Additionally, AFD committed to finance FLI project with a grant of 1 million euros (about 120 million Ksh), which aims to improve access to sanitation and hygiene for about 35,000 inhabitants of Nairobi’s informal settlements, thereby fighting, in the short-term, against the spread of Covid-19, and providing sustained safe sanitation in the long-term. Undertaken by Fresh Life Initiative, it will include construction and installation of 882 toilets during the project’s first year, in the wide informal settlements of Mukuru and Mathare.

In addition, specific actions will be undertaken aiming at raising COVID-19 awareness and limiting transmission of the virus, including campaigns via mobile phone applications and SMS, training materials and posters on each toilet, awareness and hygiene campaigns directed at operators, users, and communities, as well as purchase of Personal Protective Equipment for FLI staff.

Original source: AFD
Published on 13 July 2020