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| Nairobi Kenya |
NAIROBI,
19 September 2012 — The USAID-funded FANIKISHA Institutional Strengthening
Project announced the launch of the Kenya Civil Society Portal for Health, an
online repository providing credible information on the health and social
service civil society organizations (CSOs) in Kenya.
"Information
can only translate to power if it is credible, timely and used. This portal is
a classic example of how emerging information and communication technology
(ICT) can be used to support the delivery of better health services to the
people through the provision of quality information for decision making,"
emphasized Minister for Public Health and Sanitation Beth Mugo through her
representative at the event, Dr. Ayub Manya,
Deputy Director, Medical Services, Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation.
The Ministry
also appreciated the fact that the portal is accessible free of charge.
"This has been made possible by the kind support of the American people,
through USAID/Kenya," Dr. Manya said.
Currently
there is no comprehensive database cataloging the CSOs in Kenya. For the new
portal, www.csokenya.or.ke, FANIKISHA worked with stakeholders - including
those already hosting similar databases - to establish a "One Stop
Shop" site for quality data-driven decision making on Kenyan CSOs.
"USAID
supported this innovation to transform institutional strengthening and the
capacity of civil society organizations in Kenya. We believe that together,
Kenyan civil society and the Government of Kenya will produce tangible results
to impact positively on the health and wellbeing of all Kenyans," stated
USAID/Kenya's acting Mission Director, James Hope.
The portal
will be managed and maintained by the National AIDS Control Commission (NACC),
a public entity, in line with the Global Health Initiative approach of
country-led, country-owned, and country-managed programming for sustainability.
The Kenya
Civil Society Portal for Health was launched by Dr. Manya as a representative
of Hon. Beth Mugo, Minister for Public Health and Sanitation. Other key guests
included representatives from the donor community, the private sector
associations, civil society and the academia. The event also included a
discussion forum on the use of ICTs to conceptualize and deliver quality health
services to all Kenyans. Renowned panelists included Mr. Chris Finch, World
Bank's Social Development Specialist; Ms. Hital Muraj, Cisco System's CSR
Manager for East Africa; Mr. Allan Ragi, KANCO's Executive Director; and Chris
Msando, NACC's Head of MIS, led the discussion.
United
States Embassy Nairobi