ADEP participated at the 9th edition of the Africities Summit in Kisumu May 17th-21st, 2022.
The history as background for this participation is complex.
First, it was a continuation of process that started with a participation at the 4th edition of the Africities Summit in Nairobi 2006 by Ira Sundberg, Co-founder of the international think tank Another Development Foundation (ADF) who then met Yvonne Anyango, Director of Cooperation Arena for Sustainable Development in Africa (CASDA). It was start of long collaboration that involved me as the founder of ADEP and Another Development Foundation. Since then, the collaboration has evolved working together in many ways, and in many projects.
During 2006, CASDA, ADEP and ADF. However, now they exist as active organisations working within international development cooperation for the purpose of sustainable development, human rights, gender equality, freedom from violence and peace.
During the summit in Kisumu, CASDA, ADEP and ADF invited partners to a special session on the history of working together from the basis of funding from Swedish International Centre for Local Democracy (ICLD) and Swedish Institute. The session was carried in close collaboration with partners who are situated in the County of Västerbotten, Sweden and The County Government of Homa Bay, Kenya.
The session, and the participation at the summit, also provided a space for talking about opportunities for the future, i.e. building interest and relationships necessary for a continued dialogue in which the partners investigate entry points and commonalities that can be the foundation for partnerships. This dialogue took place during the session, at the summit in general, and in contact with representatives for different organisations that participated at the summit; municipalities, cities, counties, countries, international organisations, the embassy of Sweden etc.
When this is written, i.e. May 23rd 2022, it is to early to know what the outcomes will be of the participation at the summit in Kisumu. However, we know for sure that partnerships will developed and established. And, ADEP will communicate news on these developments when are ready and have the news.
To finalize, the participation was very successful and promising for the future.
The people in the photo are: Elin Larsson, Lycksele Municipality, Sweden, Francis Aila, Homa Bay County, Kenya, Anne Ouma, Department of Epidemiology and Global Health, Umeå University, Sweden, Stacy Otieno, Homa Bay County, Kenya, Yvonne Anyango, CASDA, Kenya and me as a representative for both ADEP and ADF.