USAID/OTI Kenya Fact Sheet
June 2008
USAID’s Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) launched the OTI/Kenya program in June 2008 following the adoption of the February peace accord and power-sharing agreement. Kenya’s competing political parties accepted the agreement in the wake of interethnic violence that followed flawed national elections. Under the power-sharing arrangement, Mwai Kibaki continues as president, while Raila Odinga will serve in the newly created position of prime minister. However, it is uncertain that the agreement will provide an enduring settlement to underlying ethno-political frictions. The two principal political parties now face the challenge of working out the implementing details of the power-sharing agreement and recovering from the conflict. In addition to death and property destruction, many areas of Kenya have experienced recent population shifts related to ethnicity; up to 600,000 people have been displaced from their homes.
The OTI program in Kenya will contribute to the overall U.S. goal of supporting peace and stability in the Greater Horn of Africa, as the recent political violence has severely undermined Kenya’s position as an anchor of stability in a regional arc of instability running from Somalia to Sudan and Chad. The United States has committed to providing resources to Kenya to assist in reducing tensions and enabling economic, political, and social recovery from the recent post-election violence.
OTI will address the following program objectives:
- Defuse national tensions by facilitating greater transparency in the political processes launched by the February 2008 accord;
- Support community leadership to reduce the likelihood that violence will re-ignite; and
- Advance Kenyan national recovery efforts through strategically targeted assistance.
In close coordination with the Government of Kenya, the U.S. Embassy, the USAID Mission in Nairobi, other donors, independent media outlets, and civil society, OTI/Kenya will use an in-kind small-grants mechanism to support the above objectives at both the local and national levels. OTI has selected Development Alternatives Inc. as its partner in Kenya to assist with implementation of activities within the framework described above.
OTI/Kenya Contact: Brendan Wilson-Barthes, Africa Program Manager, (202) 712-5072,
bwilson-barthes@usaid.gov
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