Italian development aid in brief

1. Background and main reasons for the presence of Italian Cooperation

The Italian Cooperation is deeply rooted in the country. Government cooperation began in 1985 with the ratification of the first bilateral agreement between the two countries, and an important three-year program agreement, worth more than 95 million euros, dates back to 1991. The Local Technical Unit was established in 1997, with competence on Kenya, Somalia, Tanzania and Seychelles. With the 2011-2013 guidelines, Kenya was given the priority country status for the Italian Cooperation, and it still mantaines it today. Over the past 30 years, Italy granted Nairobi aid for more than € 134 million and accorded soft loans for about 50 million euro.

Since 2003, a period of structural reforms aimed at strengthening the institutions, fight corruption and promote economic development began. The Kenyan government has repeatedly stated that its activity is based on the principles of the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness and the Italian Cooperation participates to the coordination of public development aid since 2004.

The priority of the Kenyan-Italian cooperation is the fight against poverty, with particular attention to rural development, water and health, together with specific interventions in the field of rehabilitation of degraded urban and suburban areas.

2. Other international donors, coordination and opportunities of division of labor, joint evaluation exercises (Harmonization)

The Italian Cooperation is actively involved in the alignment and coordination process of public development aid since 2004, when the Donor Coordination Group (DCG) was created, following the first High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness, held two years before in Rome. THE DCG brings together representatives of all the international donors.

The dialogue between the donor community and the Government of Kenya is pursued through the Development Partnership Forum: it is a high-level meeting which gathers every six months to discuss the achievements and future priorities for the development of Kenya and how international aid can contribute to the achievement of the Vision 2030. The HAC Group (Harmonization, Alignment and Coordination) - later renamed AEG (Aid Effectiveness Group) is another forum for the dialogue between the Government and donors. It is chaired by the Government of Kenya and coordinates the work of various sector groups.

Beyond the coordination meetings, the specific document on aid effectiveness is the Kenya Joint Assistance Strategy (KJAS): it was approved in 2007 and revised in 2009, and contains a number of recommendations apart from establishing a Results Assessment Framework to evaluate the results achieved.

In 2010, the Italian Cooperation signed the Joint Statement of Intent, a programmatic document aimed at defining the objectives and main activities to be undertaken by the Group on Aid Effectiveness. In this context, it has been possible to help counterparts by funding a specific programme supporting aid effectiveness policy, that allowed the italian cooperation to acquire a crucial role within the donors community.

The primary objective is to improve the process of division of labor among donors: some areas still remain "orphans", like the Nairobi metropolitan development, or governance.

The Kenyan government has pledged to harmonize the definition of policy areas among its various documents: the Vision 2030, the Mid Term Plan and the Mid Term Expenditure Framework. The new definition of sectors will be useful for the alignment of the Sector Working Groups and the development of Sector Wide Approach too, with a view to greater concentration and more efficient aid.

In addition, the European donor countries coordinate with each other through a special council (EUDC), whose deliberations have become more important and incisive following the approval of the European Code of Conduct relating to development aid.

Following the proposal made by the European Commission at the meeting of the EU Directors-General for Development Cooperation (Brussels, 12.12.2012) related to the launch of member States Joint Programming, the DGCS has identified Kenya as country partner in the initiative.

During 2013, the exercise of indirect centralized management will be finalized, thanks to a technical assistance mission from Brussels requested by the European Union Delegation in Nairobi. Although the process is still in its early stages, most of the Member States, including Italy, have confirmed their interest in the cooperating exercise. In practical terms, throughout 2013 we will proceed to establish the action plan to give effect to Joint Programming in the light of the Medium Term Plan 2.

3. Other expressions of the Italian Cooperation System in the country (NGOs, universities, local authorities, private sector) and strategies for their involvement

Cooperation between the various italian actors operating on the field will be enhanced through synergies with NGOs, civil society and local Italian authorities and institutions, as well as private operators active mainly in the tourism sector, in order to exploit the peculiar characteristics of the “Italy System”, based on wide administrative and decision-making autonomies in a widespread solidarity system, complementary to the central action of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

4. General objectives of the Italian cooperation in the country, sharing with counterparts and consistency with international guidelines on aid effectiveness

Kenya Vision 2030, the 2007 strategic document for the development of the country, identified three pillars for the country's development: economic, social and political. For each pillar, priority actions were identified to achieve three specific objectives: a sustained annual economic growth of 10% over the next 25 years; cohesive, equitable and sustainable development in a safe environment; a responsible democracy, citizen- centered and results-oriented.

Based on the achievements and difficulties encountered in implementing the First Mid Term Plan 2008- 2012, in 2012 consultations started for the preparation of the Mid Term Plan II from 2013 to 2017, the new five-year action plan alongside the Kenya Vision 2030.

The main objective for the second phase is the reduction of poverty, with the creation of a million jobs a year, the promotion of a "green and inclusive growth", with more investments in education, health and agriculture and an approach based on human rights and the reduction of social inequality. Another priority of the Mid Term Plan II is the infrastructure development, in particular the construction of new bypass to reduce the gap with the neighboring countries. The aim is to invest, finally, in transport and communication, and to revive the tourism sector.

In the next programming and the definition of the areas of intervention, the Italian Cooperation will take into account the development priorities of the country as identified especially in the Kenya Vision 2030 and in the Kenya Joint Assistance Strategy (KJAS), apart from the Millennium Development Goals. The Italian strategy will be also directed at geographic rationalization, in order to achieve the objectives of rural and urban development established by the national strategies.

The Italian Cooperation concretely experienced the efficiency of “country systems”, when carried on with a special attention on initiatives monitoring. Positive examples are represented by several projects funded by the system of debt conversion (Kenya-Italy Debt for Development Programme) and the Integrated program for the development of Ngomeni-Malindi, entirely managed by public and government institutions and ruled by national financial and management procedures.

The use of country systems will be strengthened, according to the principles set out in the Rome and Paris Declarations and in the "Accra Agenda for Action", in order to improve the effectiveness of Official Development Assistance (ODA). Italy is committed to ensuring continuity in development cooperation and more predictability of financial commitments.

In compliance with Kenyan regulations, Italy and the other donor countries refer to the Ministry of Finance for the notification of development cooperation guidelines. The above-mentioned Ministry plays a coordination and liaison role with other Ministries and donors, with the aim of matching the needs of the countries that provide APS with the requirements that come from the various ministries, and of avoiding duplications of funded initiatives.

5. Sectors of intervention and expected results

Italy is strongly committed to support the Government of Kenya in the fight against poverty and in the pursuit of the MDGs. On the base of the Italian Cooperation guidelines and the experience gained and in agreement with the main Kenyan government authorities and with other donors in the country, Italy identified the water sector, urban development and rural development as priority areas.

The identification and definition of these sectors are made in consultation with civil society and representatives of NGOs operating in the country. The Italian strategy is thus focused on sector concentration of interventions and geographic rationalization, in order to determine an overall strategic approach to poverty reduction, based on the objectives of rural and urban development established by the Kenyan Government. As regards the water sector, Italy intends to focus activities on irrigation, reclamation and management of water resources, with a view to environmental conservation and rural development. The choice of these sub- sectors is due both to previous experience in this field (the Italian Cooperation has invested considerable resources with the Kenya-Italy Debt for Development Program and the launch of important soft loans), and to the need to comply with the directives contained in the Paris Declaration and the Accra Agenda for the division of labor.

It therefore intends to give priority to initiatives that:

• recover degraded rural land through appropriate techniques for water collecting and regulation, and soils management;
• increase agricultural production, by taking advantage of irrigated areas;
• contribute to the conservation of major river basins of the country, through appropriate actions agreed with national authorities.

With regard to urban development, Italy has promoted an urban renewal project in the slums of Korogocho. The project, financed through funds made available by the debt conversion program and in line with national policies (ie KENSUP Kenya Slum Upgrading Programme) and the sixth Millennium Development Goal, aims at addressing all the structural problems for a lasting urban regeneration and at intervening at the political level on the issue of land ownership, which is essential to increase the level of safety of slum inhabitants. The project is based on a holistic and participation approach aimed at solving major social and urban problems related to the redevelopment of the area, and supports also interventions in the health and water sectors, in order to ensure a broad impact in terms of fight against poverty and a real improvement in living conditions. Particular attention is given to the general issue of gender equality. In particular, within the support program on the effectiveness of development aid, two documents were drafted: the "Rapid Gender Assessment Report" and the "Gender Mainstreaming Guidelines", for the integration of gender issues in future Kenyan national policies. For the execution of cooperation activities, Italy will make use of different funding instruments, considering also the increasing degree of procedures harmonization and alignment for the use of ODA in the country. A program based approach will be followed and Multi Donor Trust Funds will be also used. Particular attention will be paid to monitoring and joint evaluation of results. On the basis of this activities, the appropriate decisions will be taken in order to ensure maximum efficiency and effectiveness.