I Now Have The Confidence To Carry Out My Role My involvement in the process enhanced my skills
Mr. Dadacha (in the brown suit) helps out as the Isiolo Governor H.E. Mohamed Kuti and the Head of DFID Julius Court as they sign an MOU between DFID and Isiolo to start of the UEP development process
I feel empowered to carry out my role effectively. SUED’s technical support towards the development of Isiolo’s UEP has provided me with the skills to better manage the urban center.” —Mr. Halake Dadacha, Municipal Manager – Isiolo Municipality SUED is a £70 million five-year programme supported by the British Government through DFID. The programme is working with 12 municipalities to develop UEPs and attract investment for critical infrastructure and value chain projects. To learn more about SUED visit www.suedkenya.org
“When we received the notification from the Sustainable Urban Economic Development Programme that we were successful, I was overjoyed. I couldn’t believe it. It had been a month of hard work between my teammates and I that finally bore fruit. Out of 59 municipalities, we were among the initial 10 that would be supported to develop urban economic plans. At the time, I wasn’t too sure of the magnitude of our achievement” shares Halake Osman Dadacha, Isiolo’s Municipal Manager. Isiolo Municipality was one of the 10 successful municipalities that applied to benefit from the support of the UK Government funded Sustainable Urban Economic Development Programme (SUED). SUED put out a Call for Proposals (CfP) that invited all municipalities in Kenya to apply for the opportunity. Out of a possible 59, 53 applied with 10 succeeding, Isiolo among them Municipalities were required to develop a proposal that demonstrated how they would work with SUED to deliver inclusive economic growth. “To be honest the preparation provided by SUED really helped. the information sessions held in Isiolo for all the frontier1 counties and the technical review conference ensured that we had the right information to help us improve the quality of our proposal.” He additionally shared. In the lead up to CfP deadline SUED had two vibrant engagement sessions with municipalities. The first session held with counties within the regional blocs2 helped provide clarity to the municipalities on the Programme mandate and how they could take advantage of the funding opportunity. This was followed by a technical review conference which dealt with the specific needs that the CfP requested and provided the Technical Leads from the municipalities with critical information to ensure that they were compliant to the requirements of the CfP. The conference’s intended purpose was to ensure no one party had more or better information than the other3.“The selection led to tremendous excitement in the County and in particular the municipality as it was a notable feat. We were hopeful that the UK Government would work with us to develop Isiolo to show case to the world how sustainable urban economic development was done.” Mr. Dadacha stated. SUED’s support to the municipality is aimed at providing technical assistance through the provision of urban economic planners, investment climate advisers, investment attraction experts as well as capacity building specialists. The TA is geared towards working with the municipalities to
\ Kenya’s frontier counties are part of the Frontier Counties Development Council that brings about seven counties that have been previously economically marginalised and have suffered fragility due to insecurity resulting in high-levels of poverty. 2 http://www.devolution.go.ke/regional-economic-blocs/ 3 Information asymmetry 1
improve their effectiveness in urban planning and management. “When we commenced the urban economic plan development process, I was keen to ensure that all stakeholders involved as this would be the first ever urban economic plan for the municipality and would greatly impact its future.” The Municipal Manager shared. The Programme commenced its support towards the municipality to help develop an urban economic strategy that would guide the municipal and county leadership to develop Isiolo in an inclusive and sustainable way. SUED worked closely with the Municipal Manager and key local stakeholders to build on the existing priorities outlined in the County Integrated Development Plan as well the Capital Investment Plan. The Programme sought insights from key stakeholders to determine the main challenges experienced in the municipality and see how best to address them. As a result, the Programme was able to develop a responsive Urban Economic Plan (UEP) for the municipality. “What I liked most about the UEP development process was that the technical team working with us were able to share with us how we could apply the same methodologies that they used to improve on the plan if we wanted to expand it in the future. Personally, I saw how key county and municipality specific statistics is in the planning process. They showed me the importance of critically looking at the past through the data to see what strategies worked and which didn’t. This helped both the stakeholders and I to quickly identify Isiolo’s potential economic sectors, infrastructure and value chain projects.” Mr. Dadacha shared. SUED approach entailed a comprehensive assessment into Isiolo’s economy, demographics, infrastructure, environment and climate change risk profile utilising the locally available statistics and comparing it against national and international context. This helped the Programme to ensure that the economic growth opportunities that were prioritised through the UEP process were aligned with the municipality’s infrastructure and value chain needs as well as environmental context.