End Child Poverty participated at a World Bank Group – East African Civil Society Organizations dialogue session on June 23rd 2016. The meeting that gathered about 20 participants from Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and the World Bank staff, took place at the World Bank Office in Nairobi, Kenya. End Child Poverty was represented by its Director, Fred Nyabera.
The session updated regional civil society stakeholders on World Bank priorities and jointly reflected on tools for CSOs to effectively engage with the World Bank. The session provided a deep dive into World Bank operations, especially the project cycle, citizen engagement, and entry points for CSO involvement. This was also an important opportunity for the Bank to receive feedback from key regional civil society representatives to help foster more regular and structured dialogue.
The dialogue session included a site visit to a Bank-financed project (East Africa Trade and Transport Facilitation Project) in Kibera Resettlement area. This visit provided examples of concrete actions that are being effectively implemented in a tripartite partnership that bring together the Civil Society Organizations, the Kenyan Government and the World Bank. Kibera is the one of the largest informal settlements in Kenya with a majority of the population being low income families.
The meeting developed a draft action plan on Civil Society Organizations – World Bank Group engagement that will move the dialogue from talk to action.
End Child Poverty welcomes this initiative and affirms that, a closer collaboration and stronger partnerships are integral for furthering our common goal of ending poverty around the globe.