Focus on Kenya

The foundation of our work in Kenya has been the links we¹ú²úÊÓƵ™ve made with local community partners. Collaborating with groups who bring on-the-ground local expertise means we¹ú²úÊÓƵ™re able to apply vital contextual knowledge to our work. For example, we engaged Kenyan communications partner Livestream Impact, who helped ensure early childhood education and development has become part of prominent discussions in the national media and on social channels. Research has been another crucial component of our work in Kenya. By commissioning deep analysis of the country¹ú²úÊÓƵ™s political, social and economic layers we¹ú²úÊÓƵ™ve gained information that we can share with partners at a local level. This is important because education budgets in Kenya are controlled at a local county level; and with 47 different County Governments nationally, the peculiarities of individual regions¹ú²úÊÓƵ™ systems and strategies can be difficult to navigate. Investing in research means we¹ú²úÊÓƵ™re able to identify formal policy mechanisms within government, but also, crucially, the more informal social and cultural levers that can influence change. We¹ú²úÊÓƵ™ve shared these insights through advocacy workshops with local civil society groups across several counties in Kenya, so we¹ú²úÊÓƵ™re using our resources to equip collaborators in a sustainable way. The information we gather remains within communities who become more able to make the case for improving the opportunities for their youth. As our work in Kenya progresses we want to raise the profile of pre-primary care further by widening our focus beyond institutional education. For example, we aim to highlight the impact parents and caregivers can have on early years educational development. We¹ú²úÊÓƵ™ve already seen some success here, with a prominent TV panel discussion highlighting the importance of parental engagement while children were at home during the pandemic. Education has the power to transform lives, and this begins with the first years of a child¹ú²úÊÓƵ™s life. We¹ú²úÊÓƵ™re going to continue to demonstrate to those in power why 10% of Kenya¹ú²úÊÓƵ™s education budget needs to go towards the early years – and why more investment overall needs to go to children during their first five years.