Deep in the heart of the county of champions, in the scenic and partly remote wards of Arror, Tambach, Kayego and Kaptarakwa, the activities for the citizen-led household census in Elgeyo Marakwet County are underway, targeting data collection in 101,000 households. The training of enumerators, data collection and data entry activities have been taking place…
When we started the Open Institute, we never imagined that it would achieve so much in such a relatively short time. Don’t get us wrong – our ambition was, and still is, humongous. We truly want to see a world where citizens are so active that they tell their governments what to do and how…
SDG 8 aims to “promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all”. Sustainable Development Goals Martin Wairegi is a vibrant young man, who got a job working at a factory in Nairobi’s Industrial Area. The Industrial Area is the city’s central hub of manufacturing that employs the…
Today I attended a meeting organized at the Ford Foundation offices by the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data. The major part of the conversation was to consider the recommendations made by the Friends of the Chair of the UN Statistics Commission on Non-Traditional Data. How do we get Citizen Generated Data to be trusted…
We at the Open Institute, are proud to announce that our Founder, Al Kags, has been invited to join the Technical Advisory Group (TAG) of the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data (GPSDD). GPSDD comprises of Data Champions who aim to harness the data revolution to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Open Institute…
We at the Open Institute are very excited as just this week we witnessed the launch of Kenya’s first sub-national data desk in Elgeyo Marakwet County (EMC), famously known as the home of Champions. The launch day was a big deal for my co-founder, Jay Bhalla and myself in particular. A data desk is essentially…
In all mining areas, we found that mining work, in general, is gender-segregated – women will not go down a mine shaft to do the actual mining. In most areas, women are only limited to working on sorting the gravel that makes up the crumbs of the mining exercise. The men, who went into the…
Public participation should not be just a way of ticking a box Communities in Lamu are united in its fervent opposition to the proposed coal plant that is to be established there. We went to the coastal town and met with various members of the community who were categorical in that they were not adequately…
Kenya has a vast array of natural resources. From Gold and Gemstones to soapstone and fluorspar to Titanium and Oil, Kenya is rich with natural minerals that have the potential to not only grow the economy exponentially but also to improve the well being of many ordinary citizens in all parts of the county. Decisions…
In the last post on this series, we were commencing activities in Elgeyo Marakwet and Baringo counties. We defined the Open County (OC) Initiative and argued that it provides a structured framework through which county-level engagement between county government, private sector and civil society can be sustained. This is with the focus being data use…
