War on Aids, economic growth to suffer as donor agencies downscale

The fight against HIV and Aids, as well as economic development, are likely to be compromised as the United States and the United Nations scale down operations in the country because of rising insecurity.
The US Embassy in Nairobi is in the process of moving about 40 staff members and their spouses in a massive scale-down of its operations in Kenya.

On Friday morning the embassy was in the process of returning to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs the accreditation of the affected staff, who will be moving to Tanzania, Uganda and Djibouti.

Though the main reason given for the scaling-down is insecurity, there is a possibility that the poisoned diplomatic relations between the Jubilee administration and western governments due to their stand on the International Criminal Court cases could be a contributing factor.

News of the scale-down came as the US government on June 19 issued a fresh travel advisory on Kenya and heightened security around the embassy’s premises following the June 15 terrorist attack in Mpeketoni, Lamu County, in which about 60 people were killed. Ambassador Robert Godec has also requested additional Kenyan and American security personnel.

TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS

The advisory restricts US government personnel from travelling to all coastal counties, the former North Eastern province and Nairobi’s Eastleigh estate.

“Based on the recent changes in Kenya’s security situation, the embassy is also relocating some staff to other countries. However, the embassy will remain open for normal operations,” read the advisory on the US government website.

Meanwhile, Usaid East Africa is said to have moved from Kenya to Djibouti, taking with it most of the staff members. Usaid Kenya, however, remains in Nairobi.

Sources told the Sunday Nation the United Nations Office in Nairobi (Unon) is working on a proposal to present to the UN General Assembly when it resumes sittings in September or thereabouts to move some agencies out of Nairobi.

Only Unep, whose main governing body the United Nations Environmental Assembly (Unea) meets for the first time in Gigiri from tomorrow to June 27, it is understood, will remain and operate at optimal capacity.

At the moment, Unon is home to UN agencies UN-Habitat and Unep, as well as the regional offices of 20 other agencies, such as UNDP, Food and Agriculture Organisation (Fao), and International Labour Office (Ilo) and UNAids. Four UN entities are also hosted there.

Ms Sahle-Work Zewde, the director-general of Unon, had on March 28 written to the ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding security incidents affecting the United Nations community in Kenya.

The letter was a follow-up to a note verbale (diplomatic communication) of January 22, 2014 that Unon had sent to the government as well as a meeting on March 20, 2014 between Ms Zewde and Ms Mohammed over rising insecurity.

Between March 26 and 27, Ms Zewde says, there were three separate break-ins at staff residences and one attempted break-in.

“More broadly, the United Nations Office at Nairobi notes with particular concern that over the first quarter of 2014, in comparison to the same period in 2013, the rate of carjackings and violent robberies against UN staff in Nairobi has doubled, whilst residential armed break-ins have tripled. In addition to this alarming increase, these incidents have also shown a pattern of criminals being both more heavily armed and increasingly violent,” the letter stated.

Senior officials told the Sunday Nation that as a result of the security uncertainties, certain offices and functions such as the UN Assistance Mission in Somalia could be moved.

However, a UN spokesperson downplayed the state of affairs. “With reference to your queries, kindly note that a full complement of the UN system is based in Nairobi and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future,” Ms Eshila Maravanyika, the United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) deputy director for Kenya, Uganda and the Seychelles said.

The UN, through its agencies and regional offices based at Unon, as well as Usaid, are key donors to the government mainly in the health sector while UNDP is actively involved in economic development.

USaid, for instance, works through the President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (PEPfAR) to combat the Aids epidemic in Kenya by supporting a wide range of activities for prevention, care and support, and treatment. The agency’s support to government’s HIV treatment programme was about 631,000 in 2013 from 36,000 in 2005.

PEPfAR Kenya leads the HIV Development Partners in Health Kenya (DPHK) consortium where donor and development partners’ health and HIV integrated agendas are promoted and shared.

Signs that all is not well have also been noticed in the reduction of funding for HIV and Aids programmes from more than Sh45 billion to Sh42 billion. 
According to Mr Godec, “PEPfAR Kenya remains one of the largest PEPfAR countries globally, even with the reduction in funding.” 

“I understand a number of Western donors are considering pulling out because of the insecurity and disillusionment with the government. The impact will be felt most in the health sector which benefits a lot from western donor funds,” said Mr John Githongo of Inuka Trust.

Mr Godec, while assuring Kenya of his government’s continued commitment to assist Kenya combat HIV and Aids, said “The Kenya government continues to look at options available to increase funding to the HIV epidemic” to bridge the deficit. 

ALREADY FEELING STRAIN

The Sunday Nation has learnt that, already, some local donor-funded organisations and programmes have started laying off staff as a result of the scale-down. Among those affected are Impact Research and Development Organisation, which has been providing HIV testing and management as well as voluntary male circumcision in 42 districts across the country.

IRDO, for instance, has laid off about 60 staff members who consist of nurses, counsellors, and clinicians in Ndhiwa District over the past two months.

But CEO Prof Kawango Agot says that the layoff was temporary as the organisation had reached its targets. “We are victims of our own success. We moved too quickly and that is what we are controlling a bit,” Prof Kawango said, adding: “Maybe our slowing down in May and June is being misinterpreted. Our funding has not been reduced even by a single cent.”

The NGO Co-ordination Board did not rule out the possibility that some of its members could be scaling down. However, deputy executive director Andrew Ogombe said the board is yet to receive “formal” information. 

Western governments have not had a smooth relationship with the Jubilee administration because of their stand on the ICC cases against President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto. The recent travel advisories and evacuation of Western tourists further soured ties, with President Kenyatta defiantly accusing them of double standards in the fight against terrorism.