Lodwar – March 12, 2026 (Public Communication and Media Relations)

The County Government held a Health and Sanitation Services’ sector partners coordination meeting aimed at strengthening collaboration and align interventions.

The meeting, held in Lodwar and supported by Amref Health Africa, brought together county health leadership and partner organizations to review ongoing programs, map partner interventions, align activities, and discuss co-creation with county health priorities.

Speaking at the forum, the County Executive Committee Member (CECM) for Health and Sanitation Services, Dr. Esekon Joseph Epem, noted that shifts in the global funding environment had affected partner engagements, making the coordination forum necessary to understand the current landscape of health support in the county.

“Since the dynamism in the funding world, we have not been able to convene such a partners meeting. We want to understand where we are standing, the partners remaining, what they are doing, the scale of their interventions, duration and the areas of implementation,” CECM said.

He emphasized that the Department of Health has clear priorities that require collective support from partners to improve service delivery across Turkana.

“We also have priorities, so the question is how we can work together with partners to address these priorities,” he added.

On Universal Health Coverage (UHC), he highlighted three key areas: availability, affordability, and acceptability of health services.

“We are looking at UHC in terms of availability through decentralization of services and affordability through Social Health Authority (SHA). This is to reduce out-of-pocket expenses, and acceptability in how communities perceive and embrace the services being offered,” he said.

Dr. Epem also emphasized the need to strengthen maternal and child-health through the Antenatal and Perinatal Death Surveillance and Response (APDSR) system.

“APDSR at both facility and community level is critical. Communities cannot be able to reduce maternal and antenatal deaths if all stakeholders are not involved and working together,” he noted.

He further highlighted nutrition as a priority area requiring a multi-sectoral approach.

“In nutrition we need to have a multi-sectoral approach bringing together all stakeholders including agriculture, livelihoods, security and governance. We need to change how we react to malnutrition,” he said.

The CECM also stressed the importance of strengthening monitoring and evaluation systems through the digitization of health data.

“M&E is a priority in terms of tracking our progress supported with evidence. Digitization of our data collection tools will ensure that facilities are digitized towards tracking progress centrally,” he explained.

He additionally called for stronger advocacy to support sustainable healthcare financing.

“Advocacy is an important tool in financing healthcare. Through the Ward Development Plan Revenue we can work with the County Assembly to channel some resources to healthcare. Co-financing os the most progressive way of financing healthcare,” he said.

Speaking at the meeting, the Deputy Director for Resource Mobilization, Partnerships, and Donor Coordination, Michael Aupe noted that the County Government remains committed to strengthening partnerships that directly support health service delivery.

“We are very deliberate on partnerships especially where service delivery is key and where health comes first, activities that save lives,” he said.

He noted that the number of development partners operating in the county has reduced due to global funding shifts.

“Before the funding dynamics shifted, the county had about 112 partners, we however currently only have about 83. Initially health partners were 64, the highest across sectors, and we are now in the process of mapping to know exactly how many remain,” Aupe added.

He added that improved documentation and coordination of partner activities is necessary to strengthen collaboration.

“During the World NGO Day, reports indicated that Turkana has about 260 partners but from our county government database, only about 90 have been captured,” he shared.

Aupe further emphasized that partnership coordination aligns with the ninth Governor’s Nine-Point Development Agenda.

“Strategic and collaborative partnerships form part of the Governor’s Nine-Point Development Agenda, and our role is to align, map and advise county departments accordingly,” he said.

The Kenya Red Cross Society representative, Daniel Lagat, said the forum provides an important opportunity for organizations to collaborate more effectively in the current funding environment.

“This is a platform to understand who does what and where, for purposes of collaboration, co-creation and co-financing,. This will complement each other so that we fit within the current situation where we are required to do more with less,” he said.

Similarly, Sharrif Abdalla, Program Manager from Save the Children International, highlighted the financial pressures currently facing humanitarian organizations globally.

“The humanitarian world is currently facing a crisis, and this is becoming more transactional, whether driven by economic or political interests,” he said.

“As the funding portfolio continues to shrink, we need to come up with solutions that supplement government efforts. With limited resources, we must work as one entity with clear accountability to achieve greater impact,” he added.

UNICEF Representative, Francis Kidaka emphasized the need for sustained collaboration with the County Government to improve the wellbeing of women and children, urging partners to strengthen climate-resilient health programming and explore innovative and co-financing mechanisms to support healthcare in Turkana.

The discussions were led by Lobokan James, Director for Monitoring and Evaluation, and Dr. Jacob Khaoya, Deputy Chief of Party at Amref Health Africa.

Other partners present who also participated in the discussions included Malteser International, International Rescue Committee (IRC), Peace Winds Japan, World Relief, AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), and UNICEF.