Safeguarding Democratic Space in Kenya (SADES-K) Quarterly Progress Report

The project aims to strengthen Kenya's governance architecture and promote democratic space in the country. The project's start-up activities during the reporting period included convening regional consultations and co-creation sessions, hiring program staff, and conducting bidders' conferences across Kenya. Regional consultations and co-creation sessions were held in four regions: Western, Coast, Rift Valley, and Eastern (including Mt. Kenya and North Eastern regions). These consultations informed the subsequent co-creation sessions for Result Area II and Result Area III. SADES-K carried out five bidders' conferences in preparation for the Request for Applications (RFA) that was advertised in November. The RFA closed on December 1, and the SADES-K team carried out the grants evaluation process in December 2018, which culminated in a short-list of 11 potential grantees. SADES-K held seven consultative meetings with the government-led Building Bridges to Unity Advisory Taskforce (BBI) to acquaint them with the SADES-K program and explore potential areas of partnership. These meetings culminated in mutual understanding of each other's role in promoting national dialogue and emerging consensus on potential areas of partnership. The project has experienced logistical challenges resulting from the lack of a dedicated vehicle to the project. The program has had to hire vehicles to facilitate the team to undertake activities. SADES-K will be well-served by the handover of the vehicle from the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES). Laptops donated and shipped from the Carter Centre did not perform optimally, and FHI 360 had to initiate a process to procure new laptops for staff. In the subsequent quarter, SADES-K will focus on budget finalization and supporting the BBI process through the five strategic areas identified: 1) strategic communication, 2) county engagements, 3) technical assistance, 4) reflection/validation workshops, and 5) procurement of computer supplies. SADES-K will also conduct pre-award assessments of the potential grantees and submit grants packages for approval to USAID. Once approved, SADES-K will issue subawards to the organizations and plan for a partners' inception meeting. Result Area I: Kenya's Governance Architecture Revisited and Strengthened, laid a solid foundation for the roll-out of activities under this Result Area. SADES-K leadership engaged key stakeholders within the BBI to create awareness about the project, build trust, and identify potential entry points for SADES-K support and partnership. USAID and the SADES-K team held consultative meetings with Senator Yusuf Haji (Chairman) and Professor Adams Oloo (Vice-Chairman) on October 17, and a follow-up meeting with Dr. Eng. Karanja Kibicho, Principal Secretary (PS), Ministry of Interior (MOI) on October 25. These engagements led to the December 19 meeting, where a larger team comprised of SADES-K and BBI stakeholders discussed potential areas of partnership. The project's budget allocation for sub-awards under Result Areas II and III is limited, and SADES-K only selected proposals that were outstanding and had the most promising impact for advancing SADES-K's goals. The project will be well-served by the handover of the vehicle from the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) and the procurement of new laptops for staff.