Kenya-EU partnership changing lives

This year, the European Union celebrates 40 years of partnership with Kenya. Europe Day celebrates the day the "Schuman Declaration" was presented by French foreign minister Robert Schuman, on 9 May 1950.

It proposed the creation of a European Coal and Steel Community, whose members would pool coal and steel production. The ECSC (founding members: France, West Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg) was the first of a series of European institutions that would ultimately become today's European Union.

To honour these important milestones, we look back to four decades of highly successful ties across the political, economic, trade and development fronts.

Our relationship with the Government of Kenya has grown from focusing on technical and financial aid to a more comprehensive and full partnership aimed at tackling mutual strategic interests and challenges. We are proud that 2016 is also the year of the establishment of formal political dialogue with the Government of Kenya, as a further witness to the extent to which our relations are truly evolving into a full and comprehensive partnership. In this regard, the EU has committed itself to work even closer with the Government to assist to meet its Vision 2030 goals.

The European Union and its 28 Member States are proud to be partners with the Kenyan Government and the people of Kenya. In the area of trade, the EU continues to be Kenya's largest trading partner accounting for 26 per cent of overall exports from Kenya. It is the largest importer of Kenya's agricultural products with Kenya's annual exports to the EU amounting to over Sh100 billion annually. Horticulture by itself provides jobs to hundreds of thousands of Kenyans in different parts of the country.

In agriculture, the EU and its Member States have invested up to Euros 496 million (about Sh57.5 billion) for the period 2014-2017. This is intended not just to improve the value of products across the value chain, but to also improve livelihoods directly and indirectly for millions of people who depend on agriculture, by helping farmers sell their produce more easily and be more competitive in the market.

In line with Kenya's development plans, the EU recognizes transport infrastructure and rural roads in particular as critical in achieving economic and socio-economic growth in Kenya. The EU has significantly contributed to the 63,575km of Kenya's tarmacked road network. The current funding of Sh20 billion towards rehabilitation of Kenya's rural roads will not only open up roads to farmers and other road users but also provide employment to about half a million Kenyans in the rural areas.

In a bid to support the Government of Kenya attain universal access to electricity by 2020, the EU together with the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) are financing the last Mile Connectivity Programme. Together with our partners we are committed to increase installed capacity for electricity generation by 5,538 MW. Across 33 counties in rural Kenya we aim to connect every household and customer within 600m of the distribution transformers. Overall, the EU and its partners finance almost 50 per cent of all programmes in the energy sector in Kenya.

In support of Kenya's devolution process, we are now even more committed to supporting the people of Kenya in fully implementing the Constitution of 2010. Through our Instruments for Devolved Advice and Support (IDEAS) programme, we are working with key stakeholders to strengthen inclusive participation and accountability in county governance. Our aim is to enhance the capacity of the public to better monitor public funds and enhance accountability of public institutions.

In line with Kenya's stated goal to achieve gender equality, we are strongly supporting increased participation of women in governance and leadership through our recently unveiled European Instruments for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR) programme. We are also working with the Government to ensure the justice system is made available to a wider diversity of Kenyans. The EU has also committed Sh570 million to strengthen the electoral process to deliver credible elections in 2017, centred on issues of public interest.

To be more aligned to the needs of the people of Kenya, we have embarked on the Joint Programming (JP) initiative where member states now jointly map development sectors, pool resources and implement development initiatives to support Kenya's development priority areas.

The programmes are expected to respond more efficiently to the Country's priority needs to boost livelihoods and benefit the Kenyan people.

Going forward, we will be launching our new mantra - Growing Together - to signify our commitment to growing the partnership between Kenya and the EU.