Part Two of a two-part series on data at the subnational level | By Christine Ajulu, Deputy Director – Open Institute Earlier this year, I wrote about why data so rarely moves at the county level. That first article sat with an uncomfortable set of obstacles: data that clashes with political agendas, county staff with…
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Across East Africa, governments have made significant investments in public participation processes. Constitutional provisions, county forums, digital platforms, and citizen consultations have become increasingly common. Yet despite these efforts, participation often remains procedural rather than meaningful. Citizens are invited to meetings, budgets are published online, and draft laws are shared for comment. But an important…
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By Furaha K. Hesketh – Community Manager, Maono Space and Data Values Advocate When I joined the Data Values Fellowship, I thought I was signing up to learn about data. In many ways, that was true. Over the months that followed, I was introduced to concepts around data governance, ownership, inclusion, stewardship, and the ways…
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There is a quiet disconnect in development data that lies between where data is collected, who it serves, and whether it ever makes its way back to the communities that generated it in the first place. Across East Africa, that disconnect is starting to close. Civil society organisations, county governments, data journalists, and community members…
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Across Africa, researchers are producing credible, rigorous, and often urgent findings. Governments are making decisions without them. This is not a research problem. It is a power problem, a communication problem, and an honest reckoning with who the evidence is actually made for. There is a version of this conversation that is easy and safe…
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Part One of a two-part series on data at the subnational level published by Christine Ajulu, Deputy Executive Director Imagine a nurse in a county health facility somewhere in Kenya. Call her Amina. Every month, she fills in a register on how many children have been immunised. She writes the figures neatly, signs the form,…
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Citizens in Kilifi met with their Governor and his cabinet to present their needs - with data.
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In 2019, Kenya launched the first Kenya Strategy for the Development of Statistics (KSDS I) – our first attempt to organise how the nation produces, manages, and uses official statistics. It promised four things: a stronger national data system, better quality, smarter investments in people and technology, and wider use of data by citizens. Six…
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The Devolution Conference 2025 convened in Homa Bay marked a key milestone in Kenya’s political and development calendar. It was a moment to reflect on over 12 years of county-level transparency since the 2013 Constitution. For us at Open Institute, it marked more than a decade of collaborating with counties to build open, responsive institutions…
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Over the past year, Kilifi County has emerged as a shining example of how communities, civil society, and government can come together to use data for meaningful change. With support from the Open Institute and through partnerships with youth-led community-based organisations, such as Kilifi Youth Assembly (KIYA) and the Maono changemaker network, citizens in Kilifi…
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📅 Dates: November 25 & 26, 2024
📍 Location: Nairobi, kenya
Unlock the future of data governance with industry leaders, insightful sessions, and networking opportunities!
