WaterFund receives prestigious UN award for excellence in public service

Ambassador Mary Khimulu, Chairlady Water Fund Board of Trustees, receiving the award on behalf of WaterFund. [Courtesy]

For the second year in a row, WaterFund is the recipient of the prestigious 2021 United Nations Public Service Awards (UNPSA).

This is after its Output-Based Aid Programme was selected as one of the winners of the award under category of “Enhancing the effectiveness of public institutions to reach the SDGs”

The 2021 UNPSA ceremony took place in Dubai, United Arab Emirates from December 13, under the theme “Innovating the Future Public Service: New Government Models for a New Era to Reach the Sustainable Development Goals.”

At hand to receive the award on behalf of the WaterFund Was Ambassador Mary Khimulu, Chairlady Water Fund Board of Trustees.

The Kenya delegation included Cabinet Secretaries Margaret Kobia (Public Services and Gender) and Joseph Mucheru (ICT) and Sidian Bank, one of the sponsors of WaterFund was represented by Loice Mwangi, the Bank’s Manager, Branches.

WaterFund is also a recipient of the 2019 UNPSA, after its Up-scaling Basic Sanitation for the Urban Poor (UBSUP) programme was selected as one of the winners of the award under the “Delivering Inclusive and Equitable Services to Leave No one Behind” category.

The UNPSA is the most prestigious international recognition of excellence in public service.

It rewards the creative achievements and contributions of public service institutions that lead to a more effective and responsive public administration in countries worldwide.

Through an annual competition, the UNPSA promotes the role, professionalism and visibility of public service.

The UN Public Service Day intends to celebrate the value and virtue of public service to the community; highlight the contribution of public service in the development process; recognise the work of public servants, and encourage young people to pursue careers in the public sector.

Since the first awards ceremony in 2003, the UN has received an increasing number of submissions from all around the world.

While the announcement of the 2021 winners was planned in June, the UNPSA ceremony was rescheduled for December in the United Arab Emirates due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The ceremony was co-organised by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) through its Division for Public Institutions and Digital Government (DPIDG) and the Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA) of the Government of the United Arab Emirates.

Previous UNPSA winners from Kenya are the Agricultural Sector Development Support Programme in 2018 and Huduma Kenya Programme under the Ministry of Public Service, Youth and Gender Affairs in t2015. Every year UNDESA makes calls for proposals requesting for submissions of projects that promote and support innovation and excellence in the public service.

The 2019 UNPSA were awarded to public institutions that distinguished themselves in various categories.

The UNPSA promotes and rewards innovation and excellence in public services in support of the realization of SDGs and the principle of ‘leave no one behind’.

The award is organized by UNDESA.

The significance of the award is to promote professionalism and visibility of public service for the realisation of the 2030 Agenda.

The Water Sector Trust Fund (WaterFund) implemented the Kenya Water and Sanitation Output-Based Aid (OBA) fund for low-income areas.

The project is incentivizing Kenyan water service providers (WSPs) to extend water and sanitation services to low-income areas using commercial loans from domestic lenders on market terms.

The programme is supported by World Bank, with funds from Swedish International Development Agency. Locally, Water Service Providers were provided with loans from Sidian Bank, Family Bank And Co-operative Bank. WSPs also received technical assistance to support sub-project preparation and implementation, including development of bankable proposals to secure commercial loans.

The project provided a US$11.10 million grant (amount at approval) to the Government of Kenya which was signed on September 5, 2014. A subsidiary agreement was executed between the government and WaterFund to implement the project.?