March 26, 2024 (Public Communication and Media Relations)
The Deputy Governor H.E. Dr John Erus hosted a delegation from USAID’s Bureau of Humanitarian Affairs (BHA) from Washington DC led by Tim McRae.
The purpose of the visit to Turkana is to inspect the progress and effectiveness of the General Feeding Programme (GFD) and witness resilient and relief activities implemented by different partners including UNICEF, WFP, Mercy Corps, and Concern Worldwide.
The discussion focused on resilience and food system interventions in Turkana.
The Deputy Governor stated that Turkana owed its progress to collaboration between development partners. He expressed his appreciation for the support from the American people through USAID.
“The Governor and I understand that without support from national government and development partners, progress may take much longer,” he said.
He added that the Governor’s focus was spearheading the Food Security Programme and developing a food hub for the region adding that WFP was a valuable partner in the development of the Food Security program.
Tim thanked the County Government for allowing USAID to support the county in emergency response programs targeting host and refugee communities.
“We will continue to work with the County Government to reduce acute malnutrition. We see ourselves as partners, and we would like to ensure that the partnership continues over the next 3 years and beyond”.
Dr Erus added that access to finance was still a challenge. He said: “We appreciate the cash transfer program which has transformed lives for the communities in Turkana. We previously made a plea for partners to increase the cash transfer limit and are pleased that many partners were able to increase the amount.”
The County Programme Manager, Concern Worldwide, Golicha Dima affirmed the support they received from the BHA cushioned community during the drought seasons in the last 3-4 years. He revealed that unconditional cash transfers cushioned approximately 6,900 households. Currently, 4,000 households are receiving Kshs 12,000 through Sapcone.
The Deputy Governor also mentioned that the county had put appropriate social protection policies with support from USAID Nawiri and UNICEF.
The Chef of Party for USAID Nawiri, Hussein Noor added that the programme had the largest footprint with up to 70% of their investment in Turkana, and is present in 23 wards. He stated that Nawiri has many projects across different sectors in Turkana including community health systems, drought response, and women groups but is currently prioritizing water in Turkana with over Kshs 300 million invested in the water sector alone.
DG Erus stated that the One Health Initiative continues to be a great example of what multi-sectoral support can achieve.
“With the One Health influence across borders, this could be a peace dividend that would continue to promote peace with our neighbors,” he said.
The Head of Field Office in World Food Programme in Lodwar, Sarah Ayodi highlighted they receive support from BHA for the Lisha Jamii programme targeting 41,623 households in general food distribution across the County.
“Additionally through BHA support, WFP procured supplementary feeds for the treatment of moderate acute malnutrition for both children under the age of 5 years, pregnant and breastfeeding women.”
The Chief of Lodwar Zonal Office at UNICFE, Rotuno Kipsang, declared that BHA has been their biggest partner in health, nutrition, and outreach.
“Over three-quarters of emergency response in health and nutrition in Turkana is supported by BHA. In collaboration with the County Government of Turkana through the healthcare workers whom we provided logistical support, we have achieved 85% of treatment outcome coverage and have managed to reduce the mortality rates”.
Furthermore, Concern Worldwide in collaboration with the County Department of Livestock is targeting 1.2 million livestock for vaccination.
The Chief Officer for Fisheries and Aquaculture, Evans Lomodei cited how valuable the partnerships are for the County.
“We have partners who care. We value the partnerships and continued support towards assisting the vulnerable populations in Turkana and our communities”.
In his final remark, DG Erus stated, “Sustainability is not a challenge, the challenge is getting partners to support long-term projects with high impacts for the communities through co-creation and fund-matching”.
Several senior County Government officials were present including Deputy County Secretaries- Dr Albert Gamoe and Joseph Nyang’a, Directors among others.
