To enhance community resilience and address the unique challenges Turkana County faces from time to time, the County Government and USAID implementing partners under the Partnership for Resilience and Economic Growth (PREG), concluded a five-day pause, reflect and co-creation meeting in Lodwar.

The Chairperson to the PREG, who is also the Field Director for USAID Nawiri, Gabriel Ekuwam said the implementing partners funded by USAID, continue to build on the Resilience Learning Activity’s (RLA) support to the USAID Mission and County Governments in the co-creation, co-implementation, co-monitoring of the county level joint work plans.

“The quarterly progress review session aims at providing an opportunity for a multi-sectoral platform for partners to review progress against the FY’2022/2023 Joint Work Plan, and to share lessons, challenges, collaborations, and achievements; specifically looking into sequencing, layering, and integration (SLI) activities identified in February 2023.” Said Ekuwam.

The PREG consists of the 14 USAID-funded partners working in Turkana and supporting the County Government in 8 various sectors.

The Nawiri’s Field Director said the co-creation and pause and reflect meetings facilitated by USAID RLA and implemented by LOKADO, aim at USAID IPs harvesting indicative county sector priorities, thereby, negotiating and identifying joint priorities, and preparing draft JWP for FY’ 2023/2024.

To help the County Department get its programs incorporated into the co-creation planning, the Directorate of Economic Planning prepared and presented the overall county development priorities, as approved in the Annual Development Plan (ADP) FY’23/24.

The County Departments presented a summary of sectoral ADPs capturing the programs, sub-programs, activities, performance indicators, and budgets against the same implementing partners’ summary of their work plans.

On the first day, the County Government and partners visited and assessed honey production at Kalemung’orok, the Water & Sub-county Health Facility at Katilu, and Boy-Girl Groups at Lokapel.

All these were meant to fortify this vital partnership.

The visit also availed valuable data to inform in the co-planning for the current FY’23/24.

The Deputy County secretary Joseph Nyang’a reiterated, “The commitment of the County Government towards the joint work planning (JWP), helps to forge ahead a strategic partnership with partners that address livelihood challenges for the residents in Turkana.” Nyang’a said.

He said USAID had spread its implementing partners across the county and their impact was evident in health, water provision, trade, agriculture, and other sectors of the economy.

Additionally, the DCS described the joint planning approach as a step in the right direction for a more inclusive outcome that resonates with the needs of the local people.

The Chief Officer for Trade, Enterprise Development, and Cooperatives, Samuel Ekale, expressed his optimism about the collaboration between USAID-PREG and Turkana County.

He emphasized that the partnership signifies a deep commitment to improving livelihoods and addressing the distinct challenges communities face in Turkana.

Chief Ekale described PREG coordination as a people-focused initiative with a clear mission to tackle the unique challenges prevalent in arid counties like Turkana.

The challenges include, CCO said, are not limited to issues of trade, access to healthcare, and security concerns, but are widespread in nature.

During the closing meeting, participants discussed the imperative need to address governance issues in water and trade management with the goal of maximizing the benefits of the critical sectors and ensuring efficient resource mobilization.

Additionally, the replication of successful projects and the adoption of Collaboration, Learning, and Adaptive (CLA) emerged as one of the felt priorities. It aims at institutionalizing best practices and promoting continuous improvement in the program implementation Process.

One of the key outcomes of collaborative efforts under PREG is the alignment of partner actions with the pressing priorities of the community.

This strategic alignment not only eliminates duplication of efforts but also ensures that resources are directed toward addressing the most critical needs in the community.

The strengthened partnership between the County Government of Turkana and USAID-IPs through the PREG holds great promise for the people of Turkana. It is a testament to the commitment of both PREG and the County Government to improve the living standards of the local community and build a more resilient future.