MDGs exit with mixed bag for Kenya as world ushers in fresh goals

Corporate News

School children at an event. Free primary education has boosted enrolment in public schools. PHOTO | FILE 

By SARAH OOKO

In Summary

• Kenya, just as most African countries made strides but did not meet the MDGs.

In the sprawling slum of Kibera, 15-year-old Maureen Anyango buys groceries from a makeshift shop. On the edge is a busy bus terminal. Matatus are in a hooting match as conductors woo commuters to board.

“One day I would also like to have a fleet of vehicles transporting passengers around the city. That would be my side business. But I wouldn’t like my employees to make so much noise. They should talk politely to customers,’’ she says wittily.

Amid the chaos of Kibera slums, Anyango can now afford to realise her dreams, years ago she could not. She completed Class Eight last year and joined one of the top performing secondary schools in Nairobi. When she talks about her life and future dreams, she does it with a passion unlike most poor children her age years ago.

The third born in a family of three, Anyango is among the early beneficiaries of the free primary school education launched by the government in 2003.

As global leaders hold talks on the sustainable development goals (SDGs) in New York today, Anyango knows nothing about the growth targets. But she is a beneficiary of strides made by Kenya to achieve universal primary education — one of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Although still grappling with challenges such as shortage of textbooks, big class sizes, Kenya has made strides in giving children education.

Free primary education has opened the world’s doors to girls like Anyango from poor households who can now dream of a bright future just as other children.

“I am actually the first one in my family to finish primary school and proceed to secondary school. My elder siblings were not able to do so. Mum couldn’t afford to raise the school fees,” she says.

“Had it not been for the free education, I would probably be married and with many children now. Mum made sure I enrolled in school as soon as I came of age. I wish she was still here to see what I’ve become. I want to always make her proud,” she says.

It is powerful stories such as this, replicated in most low income countries, which make today special for world leaders, civil society organisations and other stakeholders gathered at the UN headquarters in New York to usher in the SDGs.

The new set of goals are expected to replace the MDGs that have guided the global development agenda over the past 15 years.

Kenya, just as most African countries made strides but did not meet the MDGs.

1.3 million children

For instance, net enrolment ratio in primary education is now about 96 per cent against a target of 100.

The introduction of free primary education opened up learning opportunities for children from poor backgrounds like Anyango that would have otherwise been locked out of schooling. The 2003 Standard One class was the first beneficiary of free primary education. The class had 1,311,700 children.

Kenya has made progress on HIV whose prevalence has declined. But it's challenged in taming rising infections among youth. About 435,225 adolescents (ages 10 to 19) are HIV positive while another 119,899 have the virus “but are not yet identified”, according the National Aids Control Council.

Maternal mortality has risen from 414 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2003 to the current 488 deaths.

Having lost her mother five years ago out of birth complications, Anyango knows only too well the pain, social and economic consequences that such losses bring.

“It has been tough moving on without her. I had to do menial jobs to help my siblings raise money for food and rent. But we eventually got support from relatives,’’ she says.

Kenya, just as the world has learned a great deal from the failures and successes of implementing the MDGs. The world has changed and new problems have emerged.

Many Kenyans still live in poverty, hundreds of women die each year due to pregnancy and childbirth. While school enrolment has gone up, the quality of teaching is still poor in some public school. High youth unemployment are some the goals that need to be addressed as countries like Kenya grapple with job creation.

“We are saying that no one should be left behind this time,” said Wilmot Reeves, economics adviser at United Nations Development Programme Kenya.

Inequality is cited as a major contributor to Kenya’s inability to achieve the MDGs.

For instance, only about 42 per cent of children in the northern Kenya region are fully vaccinated compared to about 73 per cent at the Coast.

Similarly, Nairobi has a HIV prevalence rate of about five per cent unlike Nyanza with a rate of 15 per cent.

‘‘These regional disparities now need to be addressed going forward,” said Gideon Mailu, director of the MDGs Unit in the Devolution and Planning ministry.

Analysts have cited minimal financial resources as another key reason that contributed to countries failing to achieve MDGs. During the adoption of the goals in 2000, it was hoped that most of the implementation funds would come from donors.

Mr Mailu noted that rich nations had agreed to set aside a proportion of their revenue to help low-income nations overcome development hurdles, but as recession bit, the donors tightened the purse strings. Despite these funding gaps, African nations have also been blamed for the misuse of development resources through corruption and inefficiencies in operations.

With hindsight, therefore, the SDGs have come with a thought-out funding mechanism, putting an emphasis on in-country mobilisation of local resources for sustainability purposes.

Mr Reeves said the government can achieve this through partnerships with the private sector, civil society organisations, foundations, well wishers and other development partners.