UN agency examines approach to decentralized operations in Africa

Nairobi, 13 June 2016 – Government representatives and agricultural development specialists will gather in Nairobi 13-14 June to discuss the International Fund for Agricultural Development’s (IFAD) approach to decentralizing its operations in Africa.

The workshop will focus on IFAD-funded operations in eastern, southern, western and central Africa and will inform an independent evaluation of IFAD's decentralization approach that is scheduled to be released in December 2016. The Nairobi event is one of the four regional workshops being organized by IFAD’s Independent Office of Evaluation (IOE) to capture feedback and insights from stakeholders of IFAD-funded.

With headquarters in Rome, Italy, IFAD began its decentralization process in 2003 and now has 40 country offices worldwide. The process echoes a trend in several multilateral development institutions, such as the World Bank and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), which have strengthened their presence in countries where they run operations. IFAD currently has 20 country offices in Africa, including a special regional service centre for Eastern and South Africa including the Indian Ocean island states, based in Kenya.

FEMNET In Solidarity with Victims of Garissa Attack, Kenya

African Women's Development and Communication Network, FEMNET would like to express solidarity with the people of Kenya in the wake of the terror attack at Garissa University College. Like the rest of the world, we are horrified by the events that took place in Garissa and recognize its impact not only on Kenya but also on the global community.

As a pan African women's rights organization with over 400 members across Africa and the Diaspora, we join regional and global voices in condemning this heinous act of terrorism that has left 148 innocent civilians, promising young leaders dead. This act of violence has no justification and like all other forms of violence must be condemned. Even sadder is that this attack comes just days before the world commemorates the one year anniversary of the abduction of hundreds of girls in Chibok, Nigeria, whom we have not forgotten and continue to call for their immediate release and rescue. Both events took place at institutions of learning and were a result of fundamentalisms and extremisms that have no place in our world.