Communications Officer
The Communications Officer seeks to reach millions of Kenyan citizens in innovative and inspiring ways, with a particular focus on the education sector. Creating materials, working with partners and developing annual plans are some of the key elements of the role.

Learning Officer
The Learning Officer is responsible for developing and fostering a culture of learning and innovation within Twaweza, including Twaweza’s partners.  Monitoring of programs and documenting lessons learned for internal and external use are also a key part of this role.

Program Officer, Media
The Program Officer will be responsible for implementing the country program, exploring, creating and managing innovative media partnerships that reach millions of citizens with inspiring information.

Senior Program Officer, Research
The Senior Research Officer will be responsible for planning and implementing Uwezo’s annual national learning assessment. Tasks include recruiting and managing partners, ensuring trainings of trainers and volunteers take place, supporting data entry and analysis and report writing.

The framework aims to gather evidence on two key questions:

Is there evidence that, at least in the short-term, Uwezo assessment has an effect on parents of assessed children, and on the communities in which the assessment takes place?

These effects are to be measured in terms of what parents know about their child’s learning levels, the messages around supporting/encouraging learning, and involvement in school; and in terms of the community dialogue on learning.

In other words, does the large effort of Uwezo testing contribute to change at household and community level?

Is there evidence that the communication of Uwezo results has had an influence on the national-level discussions on education and learning? Or, at the regional/district levels?

These effects can be measured in terms of use/citation of findings, discussions about priorities in education and therefore where/how to allocate funding, among others.

This will also assess the strength and focus of the Uwezo communications strategy itself. If effect is limited, it it because the strategy has not been implemented or because it is not effective.

Monitoring Framework

The first of these briefs was recently released in Kenya.  Kenya’s new constitution requires decentralisation in a number of key areas of spending and service delivery. Through an analysis of the health sector, IBP have highlighted some of the key challenges and issues around this process.

The brief was launched with an event that included 60 participants from government and civil society, including the media. Importantly the Transition Authority, which has oversight of devolution in Kenya and could potentially address some of the outstanding concerns, were represented.

Health was chosen because is the most important and expensive social sector to be devolved, and it is one where the consequences of failures in service delivery can have a big impact on people’s lives.

The brief covers three key areas.

1. Who is responsible for what?

An unclear division of responsibilities between national and county governments could paralyse vital services. The divisions require clear rationales, so that the logic of decision-making is transparent and coherent, and timeframes, since devolution is scheduled to take place over the next three years. The lack of this information raises concerns about continuation of, and accountability in, service delivery.

2. What costs what?

Although a number of arms of government have committed to a clear costing of individual activities within sectors , this is currently unavailable. The budget is obtuse when it comes to specific allocations in various sectors. Without clear and specific costs, allocation of funds between county and national governments becomes impossible and any shortfalls are unidentifiable. Ultimate authority for making these decisions rests with the Transition Authority, as per the Transition to Devolved Government Act. 

3. Where does the money go?

Devolution of spending should be based on the clear division of responsibilities. In the current budget, services have been devolved while money for them remains with the national government. Similarly some budgets have devolved while national government remains responsible for delivering those services. The danger is that the different levels of government will not have adequate resources to deliver the services they are responsible for, resulting in delays and stoppages that could be fatal.

The brief also outlines some clear recommendations to improve the current situation.

1. 
   Release any existing documents explaining their views on the correct division of responsibilities between the two levels of government


2. 
   Release all information related to the cost of delivering services.


3. 
   Provide a narrative explanation of why particular functions and finances have been assigned to particular levels of government, and explain how this is consistent with the Fourth Schedule and the principles proposed by the Taskforce on Devolved Government.


4. 
   Highlight the implications of this proposed division of functions for all major programs that provide services to the public so that citizens know who will be accountable for running these.


5. 
   Organize a series of open public consultations by sector (e.g., health, education, agriculture) on the sharing of responsibilities between levels of government at which the public is properly informed about the key issues and given an opportunity to provide feedback.


6. 
   Revise the overall distribution of functions and financial flows in accord with substantive feedback received from the public on the appropriate distribution.


7. 
   Provide a detailed timeline for the implementation of Steps 1-6.

In the first story medicines are not available at the local dispensary. The people are angry, thinking that they have been stolen. Bibi steps in and suggests that they try amongst themselves to sort it out. She asks a young man to call the local health official to check if the medicines have actually been sent or not. The mood changes. A young lady suggests that she can call someone, and a teacher volunteers to check on the situation when he travels to the area for a meeting.

In the second story Bibi is shown trying to flag down a local doctor. He is in a rush and reacts angrily to her, clearly indicating that he is in no mood to be stopped. But to his surprise, instead of asking for help, Bibi thanks the doctor wholeheartedly for curing her granddaughter. ‘If there were only 10 doctors like you in the world…’ The doctor feels appreciated, his mood changes, almost as if Bibi reminded him about what matters. He then goes off to the clinic, and greets patients with a refreshing level of caring and responsiveness.

The third story again takes the issue of medicine. In this case the government in Tanzania is part of a program to subsidise the most effective malaria medication on the market (according to World Health Organization guidelines). Unfortunately it is often not sold at the regulated price. We see a familiar scene of a young father being denied the medicine even though he has the correct money. The young man refuses to give in and sits outside the pharmacy in protest. Bibi sees what is happening and gives the pharmacist a long hard look. Other people are also walking buy seeing what is happening. The pharmacist cannot hold out and sells the young man the medicine at the right price.

In the final story there is a long line of people waiting for the doctor at the clinic. They are understandably angry because he is late. As he arrives trying to explain that his bicycle broke there is an air of intolerance. Again Bibi steps in and kindly but firmly tells the doctor that her grandson will pick him up on his bicycle so that he can get to work on time. Again this causes a switch in the atmosphere with others offering the various modes of transportation they have available, including a donkey!

And hidden in the stories are some familiar faces...

Do they make sense? Will the work be effective? Do you think it represents value for money? You have a cool idea of how to attain our goals more effectively? Feedback welcome to info@twaweza.org

Annual Reports for 2012 are expected out by April 2013, once our Advisory and Governance Boards have gone through them.