ActionAid Kenya, a non-political, non-religious organisation that has been working in
Kenya
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since 1972 to tackle the problem of
poverty
Poverty is the state of having few material possessions or little income. Poverty can have diverse social, economic, and political causes and effects. When evaluating poverty in ...
. It is one of the leading anti-poverty agencies working directly with over one million poor in Kenya. ActionAid Kenya employs a multi-dimensional approach in alleviating the poverty issue in Kenya, which involve the promotion and defence of
human rights
Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...
by improving access to
education
Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Va ...
, food, water and
medicine
Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pract ...
. Instead of direct monetary assistance, these services for the community would come under long-term sustainable programmes working for permanent change in Kenya.
Ensure poor have access to medicine
ActionAid Kenya actively campaign for lower prices and greater availability of
anti-retroviral
The management of HIV/AIDS normally includes the use of multiple antiretroviral drugs as a strategy to control HIV infection. There are several classes of antiretroviral agents that act on different stages of the HIV life-cycle. The use of multiple ...
(ARV) drugs for the poor. It is part of the Kenya Coalition on Access to Essential Medicine (KCAEM), which is made of various NGOs campaigning for greater access to medicine. KCAEM was successful in campaigning for changes in
legislature
A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make law
Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its p ...
including the re-amendment of the Intellectual Property Act (IPA) in 2002 which allowed
generic drug
A generic drug is a pharmaceutical drug that contains the same chemical substance as a drug that was originally protected by chemical patents. Generic drugs are allowed for sale after the patents on the original drugs expire. Because the active ch ...
s to be imported for the treatment of
HIV
The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...
.
Ensure basic rights for poor farmers
Sugar cane
Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fibrous stalks t ...
is essential to
Kenya's economy and the main contributors to
sugar
Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double ...
production are mostly small farmers. The farmers are often excluded from decision-making processes, hence leading to exploitation by the sugar companies. Kenya makes about £24 million a year in revenue from sugar, but farmers are owed more than £16 million in delayed payments. ActionAid realised the need for farmers to work together in order to increase their bargaining power and thus helped to set up Sugar campaign for change (SUCAM) in which the farmers were informed of their rights by ActionAid. In 2002, a new Sugar Bill was adopted and the first law to regulate the sugar industry comes intro act. This Bill states that 7 out of the 14 members of the Sugar Board must be elected farmer representatives, and farmers now have to be paid within 30 days of their crop being collected. SUCAM and ActionAid are continuing their efforts to lobby for the recognition of the rights and interests of farmers through national and international campaigns. The program will benefit the farmers in terms of timely payments and fair compensation for their sugar produce.
Ensure equal rights for women and water sustainability for the community
Women traditionally played a minimal role in development activities in
Thakara
''Thakara'' is a 1979 Indian Malayalam-language drama film directed by Bharathan and written by Padmarajan. It stars Prathap Pothan, Surekha, Nedumudi Venu and K. G. Menon in pivotal roles. The film was a breakthrough in the career of Bharathan ...
. They were expected to do most of the household chores and would walk up to 15 km a day to collect
drinkable water
Drinking water is water that is used in drink or food preparation; potable water is water that is safe to be used as drinking water. The amount of drinking water required to maintain good health varies, and depends on physical activity level, a ...
. Access to clean water was their main problem and ActionAid Kenya identified a local river as a potential source of piped water. After discussions with local community, Thakara Women Water Users Association (TWWUA) was formed and women were put in charge of the project reflecting their traditional role. Women were trained in management techniques, protection of the water supply, maintenance techniques and record keeping. This improved their confidence, self-esteem and power in the community. Eleven separate
kiosk
Historically, a kiosk () was a small garden pavilion open on some or all sides common in Iran, Persia, the Indian subcontinent, and in the Ottoman Empire from the 13th century onward. Today, several examples of this type of kiosk still exist ...
management committees were set up and 14,000 households now have easy access to clean water and remain free from
water-borne disease
Waterborne diseases are conditions (meaning adverse effects on human health, such as death, disability, illness or disorders) caused by pathogenic micro-organisms that are transmitted in water. These diseases can be spread while bathing, washing ...
s. Profits from the kiosks have been used to run further educational courses.
See also
*
ActionAid International
References
External links
ActionAid Kenya website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Actionaid Kenya
International development agencies
Non-profit organisations based in Kenya
Mine action organizations