The UNDP is an international developmental framework that promotes the search for and access to

capital, skills, and knowledge that States need to grow and improve the lives of their citizens. The relations between UNDP and Kenya began in 1964 when the Kenyan administration signed a treaty with the United Nations that saw Kenya become actively engaged with UNDP initiatives. Since then, the UNDP has been prioritizing its development initiatives in Kenya in four key aspects namely cohesion and security in the society, environmental sustainability, the manufacturing sector, and accountability and decentralization of governance (About UNDP Kenya, 2019). With that in mind, the following brief expounds on the interactions between the UNDP and Kenya with the focus being on the above initiatives and how their interactions have evolved with time.

What UNDP Does

As stated above, the UNDP, one of the UNs agencies, is a universal development organization that

currently works with over 170 States to help them solve local and global development obstacles. This organizations Head offices are in New York with other regional offices spread across the world. The UNDP was instituted to develop resilient countries and empower the lives of billions of people. Essentially, the UNDP aims at bettering peoples lives of people in terms of granting them opportunities and assisting them in making informed decisions. In this regard, it backs State initiatives aimed at bolstering sustainable human growth, minimizing social disparities, and fighting abject poverty. These objectives fall under three key categories, namely disaster resilience, self-governance and cohesion, and sustainable growth (United Nations Development Programme, 2015).

The Interaction between UNDP and Kenya

Sustainable development is one of the main pillars that underpin any countrys growth. Emas (2015)

acknowledges long-term environmental and economic stability as the overarching aim of sustainable development. This aim can only be realized through the recognition and amalgamation of social, ecological, and economic issues in the governance process. With that in mind, sustainable development is the recurring theme in the UNDP operations in Kenya.

Kenya is a third-world country. As such, the countrys main objective revolves, arguably, revolves

around the development. Sustainability is among the key considerations in any of its development plans. Sustainable development, one of the four areas of prioritization under the UNDP-Kenya initiative, specifies issues such as sustainable land management, the promotion of the use of green energy sources and sustainable environmental use. To this end, the UNDP recognizes the importance of intergenerational equity by championing the protection of current environmental resources to maintain their quality and quantity for the sake of posterities. The UNDP approaches this issue by integrating sustainable growth initiatives into Kenyas planning and policy structures in addition to fostering partnerships with the country in the form of funding (About UNDP Kenya, 2019).

Other than sustainable development, the UNDP also runs other programmes in Kenya. These include

the social unity and community security initiative that involves peace and security mission. This initiative aims at enhancing Kenyas resilience. Additionally, with Kenya having decentralized its governance structures after promulgating a new constitution in 2010, the UNDP is committed to ensuring accountability in every sector, push for restructurings in the judiciary and police service and advocate for the protection of civil liberties. The other core operation by UNDP in Kenya is in the productive sector where the organization implements schemes meant to create jobs for underprivileged persons and actualize the revenue generation (About UNDP Kenya, 2019).

How the Interactions between UNDP and Kenya have Evolved

Kenya has a master plan referred to as the Vision 2030 that highlights its aim of becoming a middle-

income economy by the year 2030 and the approach it intends to use to realize this aim. Therefore, over the years, the UNDP has had to align its operations based on the Vision 2030 roadmap. However, the four core operations are still prioritized even as the UNDP synchronizes its programmes to suit the countrys development plan. For instance, the organization undertakes routine reviews of Kenyas progress in those four main areas (UNDP Kenya, 2016).

A notable cog in the relations between UNDP and Kenya has been the United Nations Country Team (UNCT), an arm created by the United Nations to organize functions between multiple agencies and oversee the decision-making process of each Member State. In Kenya, the UNCT has facilitated operations done by the UNDP and the Kenyan government specifically with regards to their planning and implementation (UNDP and the UN, 2019). Through the UNCT, the UNDP is able to guarantee the realization of noticeable outcomes that are in line with Vision 2030.     

Through the Resident Coordinator, the UNDPs country team meet monthly to discuss the progress of

UNDPs and other UN organizations programmes in Kenya. This country team has been operational since 1977 when it was decided that the operations of UN organizations such as UNDP needed to be controlled by one official (UNDP and the UN, 2019). With time, nonetheless, the functions of this country team in Kenya and other nations have evolved to enhance the effectiveness of the UNDP agendas. 

Furthermore, the UNCT continues to play a crucial role in UNDPs schemes in Kenya that are acrossthe-board. These schemes are not only wide-ranging but also implemented jointly by the UNDP and other

UN bodies. For instance, the issue of environmental sustainability is a priority for the UNDP as well as

UNEP (United Nations Environmental Programme), which deals specifically with environmental issues. Therefore, when assisting Kenya in addressing its environmental concerns, the UNDP will now almost certainly call upon representatives from UNEP to give their input (UNDP Kenya, 2009).

In an annual report, UNDP Kenya (2009) noted the lack of suitable partnerships and a shortage of

necessary resources as a key setback to Kenyas push for sustainability in growth as part of the millennium development goals roadmap. Through the strong ties that UNDP had already established with Kenya, it immediately stepped in and provided a way forward in availing the necessary resources and advice to the Kenyan government. Such prompt intervention has been growing ever since the UNDP became committed to ensuring the four focus areas stated earlier are taken into consideration exhaustively.    

Concluding Analysis

The relations between UNDP and Kenya have largely been successful based on the positive

outcomes that have been, and continue to be, witnessed in the country. In a recent assessment of the Medium Term Plan II that ran between 2013 and 2017, the UNDP observed that through its push for the national government to espouse devolution, county governments are becoming more capable of mitigating an imbalanced economic growth and the exclusion of some societies. With this capability, counties have been able to create opportunities for the youth and women by ensuring that a third of the government tenders are awarded to them (UNDP Kenya, 2016).

Besides, UNDP policy advisors are increasingly becoming committed to reinforcing the capacity of

the Devolution ministry with regards to the necessary resources to improve its efficiency in formulating and delivering economic assessments (UNDP Kenya, 2016). These advisors have also been heavily involved in the establishment of county profiles as well as their comprehensive growth agendas that are essential in determining how resources will be distributed. The advisors have also backed the creation and distribution of pointers that show how Kenya is fairing in its Vision 2030 agenda.             

However, despite these challenges, the cooperation between UNDP and Kenya has had to deal with

some emerging issues. For instance, UNDP Kenya (2016) stipulates that following the decentralization of governance, conflicts about constituency and county boundaries have severely inhibited the organizations efforts to promote social cohesion and security. Some constituencies had to be created while others merged to meet a new constitutional limit. Due to these changes, recurring disputes about their boundaries have been inevitable, thereby prompting the UNDP to focus more on conciliating warring factions. Furthermore, Kenya continues to be plagued by land disputes and unauthorized extraction of resources, which are also a challenge to UNDPs agendas in fostering sustainable land management and resource utilization in the country.

Therefore, in light of the above problems, the UNDP needs to advise Kenya more on the importance

of inclusivity when redefining county borders that, arguably, affects residents of that county. The government should agree with citizens on how to define their borders since this issue is also tied to the problem of land disputes and resource extraction.      

References

About UNDP Kenya. (2019). Retrieved from

http://www.ke.undp.org/content/kenya/en/home/operations/about_undp.html

Emas, R. (2015). The concept of sustainable development: definition and defining principles. Brief

for GSDR, 1-3.

United Nations Development Programme. (2015). UNDP for Beginners: A Beginners Guide to the

United Nations Development Programme. Retrieved from https://www.undp.org/content/dam/jposc/docs/Recruitment-documents/UNDP%20for%20Beginners%20-

%205%20edition%20-%20May%202015.pdf

UNDP Kenya. (2009). Road to 2015: Driving the MDGs. 2009 Annual Report.

Retrieved from https://www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/library/MDG/english/MDG%20Country%20Reports/Kenya/2009%20undp_

UNDP Kenya. (2016). Building Resilient Communities: 2016 UNDP Kenya in Focus. Retrieved from https://www.undp.org/content/dam/kenya/docs/Annual%20Reports/UNDP%20Kenya%202016%20Annual%20Repo

UNDP and the UN | UNDP in Kenya. (2019). Retrieved from

http://www.ke.undp.org/content/kenya/en/home/about-us/undp-and-the-un.html