Region category: East Africa

On 28 November 2017, Edwin Huizing, executive director of Hivos, opened the Open Contracting Global Summit together with Gavin Hayman, director of the Open Contracting Partnership, María Zuleta, vice chair of the Open Contracting Partnership’s advisory board, and Hans Docter, director of Sustainable Economic Development at the Dutch foreign ministry. He welcomed the attendees with […]

Update 30 November 2017: At the end of the Open Contracting Global Summit on 29 November, Transparency International and its partners Hivos, CoST – the Infrastructure Transparency Initiative, Open Contracting Partnership (OCP) and Article19, launched the Clean Contracting Manifesto. The aim is to implement the whole lifecycle of public procurement in keeping with the highest possible standards of transparency, accountability and efficiency to safeguard […]

Kenya’s creative sector has often been referred to as a sleeping giant. While the country’s economy is the biggest in Eastern Africa, its growing fashion and creative industry continues to face serious challenges in regional and global expansion. The Kenya fashion sector is currently disjointed with different value chain players participating in their own silos […]

Defending the rights of journalists, enabling freedom of the press and protecting freedom of expression are crucial building blocks of democracy. However, press freedom is increasingly under siege around the world, with ever more journalists facing threats of violence or imprisonment for carrying out their duties. In Kenya, the situation is not any different. The […]

On Wednesday evening, after a twelve-hour plus hearing, the Turkish judge ruled that two human rights trainers and six human rights activists belonging to the so-called Istanbul 10* may await their trial in freedom. Hivos is relieved that the trainers Ali Gharavi and Peter Steudtner and the others can return home to their families after […]

The call for the revival of indigenous traditional foods dominated the World Food Day celebrations in Kabarole district, Uganda.  The celebrations, organised by Hivos and Kabarole Research and Resource Centre, were held under the theme ‘Reviving the production and consumption of traditional and indigenous food varieties for better health, food security and rural development’. Local […]

Declaration of Ouagadougou endorsed by 11 West and Central African Countries  The International Conference on Biodigester Technology concluded on 12 October 2017 in Ouagadougou with the President of Burkina Faso, His Excellency Roch Marc Christian Kaboré presiding over the public reading of the “Declaration of Ouagadougou” concerning the promotion and dissemination of biodigester technologies in […]

100 DAYS OF LEARNING is the 2017 programme – and final edition – of knowledge platform Age of Wonderland, a global learning programme initiated by Hivos and Baltan Laboratories in 2014. This year, innovators, scientists, engineers, artists, designers, social entrepreneurs and thinkers from around the world were invited to share stories and ideas gained from […]

Globally, it’s estimated around 1.3 billion people lack access to electricity; Africa’s population alone accounts for almost half of that figure. Sadly, the use of traditional biomass as fuel for cooking and a reliance on expensive diesel-powered, polluting generators have been the norm in Africa. While it’s been argued that access to energy propels socio-economic […]

On September 22, websites of international NGOs and regional and local organizations all over the world turned their home pages blank. So did Hivos. We were protesting against the oppression of active citizens and organizations who want their voices to be heard, who want to gather or demonstrate peacefully. We went silent in solidarity with those […]