Region: East Africa
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Kenya’s Makueni County joins a global initiative on local procurement reforms
Makueni County ‘s adoption of the open contracting approach in 2018 signaled its commitment to improve efficiency, participation and openness in public procurement. Today, the county has made a step closer in transforming its public procurement processes by joining a movement of local governments and municipalities globally from Phillipines, Indonesia, Argentina, Ghana, Mexico, Columbia, Bolivia,…
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Hivos East Africa and partners at the Open Government Summit 2019
Session: storytelling for public contracting reforms Delivery of quality goods and services is paramount to attaining social transformation in any country. Proper roads, hospitals, schools, electricity, food, medicine among others are the cogs that are necessary to enhance the quality of life of citizens. This year’s theme at the Open Government Partnership: participation, inclusion and…
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‘Aluta Continua’: the struggle for human rights continues
Today’s High Court ruling against the petitions seeking to decriminalize Section 162 (A, C) and 165 of the Kenyan Penal Code is a huge step backwards from the fulfilment of human rights for all. These sections – remnants of Kenya’s colonial-era laws – consider homosexual acts a felony punishable by up to 14 years of…
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Seed is the heart and soul of biodiversity.
Hey you… Do you know me? Do you know my name? Or where here I am from or the gifts I proclaim… Life – health –wellness You should feel my need in these great times we live They have dropped some of us along the way – We were not fit they would say… One…
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Biodiversity is much more than the simple measure of species numbers
Biodiversity is the spice of life, the foundation of our food and health and the greatest promise for the future of human kind. Biodiversity does not provide only food and income, but materials for medicine and performs other services of maintenance of the environment, essential for human survival. The 2019 State of the World’s…
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IDAHOT Extravaganza in Kenya’s Kisumu County
In just a couple of days, Kenya’s high court is expected to make a ruling that will turn the tide for Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) rights in the country. Same sex relations in Kenya are outlawed under the penal code and considered punishable with a sentence of up to 14 years. While…
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Hivos and partners in Uganda to mark biodiversity day
Uganda is famous around the world for its richness in terms of biological diversity. Whether one is in Northern or Central Uganda, chances are you have access to a greater variety of food than your parents or grandparents once did. But even as the offerings become more diverse, the global diet as a whole –…
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Religion: the unusual ally of LGBTI inclusion
Interview with Sheikh Ibrahim Washenga, an imam from Mombasa Kenya’s debate on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Intersex (LGBTI) people has been fueled by our historical penal code 162 that criminalizes homosexuality. While we could make history on May 24, 2019 by decriminalizing the penal code, justice towards LGBTI persons in Kenya still has a…
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“You don’t need a title to be a leader”
By Odette Ntambara Alphonsine Murebwayire lives in Kagitumba, Nyagatare district with her husband and six children. She has been working in the shed department at Garden Fresh Rwanda – a farm in Nyagatare District, Eastern Province which produces and exports fresh French beans— for the past two years as a cleaner. Currently, she is one…
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Changing lives a day at a time: Biogas in sub-Saharan Africa
The voices around climate change adaption have often been dominated by shift in policies, decision makers in governments and sometimes involve citizens at the bare minimum. While the shift is a massive move globally to mitigate the current climate crisis, most citizens at the bottom of the pyramid continue to grapple with food insecurity, environmental…
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The need for agro-ecological farming systems in Kenya
Despite increased food production in the world today, it is estimated that more than 800 million people are undernourished and many more suffer from hunger and malnutrition. This paradox reaffirms that the high levels of hunger witnessed in different parts of the world have less to do with production but are more closely related…
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Radical changes to the global food system needed to halt environmental destruction and prevent ecosystem collapse
By Nout van der Vaart, Advocacy Officer Sustainable Food One million. One million plant and animal species are potentially under threat of extinction because of human activities, especially thanks to our ever-expanding hunger for food and energy. This development is part of a wider trend. Since the 1900s, some 75 percent of plant genetic diversity…