Gauging Development Progress In Kenya

(Begin with gauging development progress in Kenya and see all other articles in this set below)
The survey also asked respondents to take stock of the country's development success over the past few years, providing a demand-side benchmark for development organizations working on high-profile issues. Survey respondents were asked how much progress had been made during the last four to five years in achieving six key development criteria derived from the Millennium Development Goals, which participating countries have pledged to meet by 2015 (Chart 1). [1]

Chart 1
             

More than two-thirds of respondents perceived either some or a lot of progress in maternal health care and family planning, literacy and primary education (other possible responses were “not a lot of progress” and “no progress at all”). Measured objectively, there clearly is still a great deal of work to be done in these areas, though public perceptions of progress help to explain why the quality of health care and education were less frequently cited as serious problems in the question about issues’ importance.

Understanding the grassroots perceptions of development issues, as well as the information upon which those perceptions are based, is a first step in designing effective development programs. But, as will be highlighted throughout this report, the development needs and priorities of Kenyans are not uniform across demographic groups. For example, men in the survey were more likely to say there had been progress toward gender equality in Parliament (47 percent of men said some or a lot of progress had been made, compared to 41 percent of women). Development approaches need to be tailored to the specific views and needs of specific populations.

(click on each link to get a complete picture of the development context in Kenya) 

[1] The complete list of Millennium Development Goals is available at http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/