Why Lobbying and Advocacy?

The Strategic Plan 2006-2010 spells out USK’s new direction and mission, that of socio-economic empowerment of street children, vulnerable youth and marginalized poor urban and rural communities through lobbying and advocacy, capacity building, access to education and training and the creation of linkages aimed at reducing poverty for the attainment of decent livelihoods.

Recognizing that the causes of poverty, inequity and injustices are mainly systematic and cannot be solved by piecemeal interventions but by having a supportive policy and legal environment at all levels, the L&A Programme seeks to become a powerful voice of conscience in advocating for policy and law reforms in an effort to reduce suffering and address the root causes of poverty and marginalization.

In July 2007, with the support of its partners, USK took a proactive step towards mainstreaming L&A in the organization and the work it does by establishing the office of the Lobbying and Advocacy Coordinator. The main functions of the office are to coordinate on-going lobbying and advocacy activities carried out in USK’s social programs and to propel the organization into national, regional and international advocacy.

The program will be informed by the ongoing transition process in Kenya that reflects similar processes across the African continent in which issues of political, social and economic justice will have a profound impact on the human rights discourse in the continent.

Our Road Map

USK’s new direction will not only be centered on mainstreaming lobbying and advocacy at the community level but will also include influencing policy and legislation reform at the national, regional and international levels.

Coalition building will also take center stage; we shall collaborate with like-minded organizations and stakeholders to promote poverty reduction and the full implementation of children rights as envisaged in the Children’s Act 2001 and in various international instruments.

The programme will play a catalytic role in networking between different Kenyan institutions/organizations involved in the lobbying for the enhancement of rights of children living on the streets, undertaking community empowerment, training and capacity building. It will also facilitate sharing of experiences and best practice models between relevant GOK departments and organizations both internationally and in the region in the aforementioned areas.
 
The L&A program will commence by carrying out the following key activities, in order to inform its main objectives;

• Policy and Legislation Research
• Documentation

Where we are

The Children and Youth Programme will be undertaking a qualitative and quantitative survey next year (2008), on glue sniffing and other inhalants commonly abused by children living on the streets.

The Education and Training Programme is currently undertaking a survey on the gains and/or drawbacks of Free Primary Education-FPE, since its inception in 2003, in the Kibera slums, findings of which will be disseminated widely thereafter.

The Undugu Community Empowerment Programme is currently fact finding on the challenges facing the implementation of 3 key decentralized funds: the Constituency Development Fund (CDF), Constituency Bursary Fund (CBF) and Local Authority Transfer Funds (LATIF).

The Fair Trade Unit , which empowers marginalized communities and producers through providing market access, has identified some challenges facing producers of handicrafts in the country. Consequently, the Unit is currently carrying out a comparative policy and legislation research on fair and free trade policies both locally and internationally, including the World Trade Organization policies.

Finally, SAM (Secretariat, Administration and Management) continues to play a paramount role in the realization of this new direction by facilitating not only the L&A office but the whole organization through policy guidance and coordination, governance, resource mobilization and utilization, public relations and compliance.