In Kenya, important programmes include the ASAL, designated to arid and semi-arid regions in the country, the Orphans and Vulnerable Children cash transfer, the Hunger Safety Net Programme, the Persons with Disabilities and Older Persons Programme (monthly transfer of USD15), the Slump upgrading and the Low Cost Housing Programme, the Free Primary School Education, the Subsidised Secondary Education and the Hospital Fee Waiver. Besides these, there are also the Economic and Social Empowerment Programme: Secondary School Bursary Scheme, the Youth Empowerment Scheme and the Women Enterprise Fund. There are pensions for orphans and vulnerable children and vouchers for elderly people, and a system for health care and other safety nets for family and communities.
The National Social Security Fund was established in 1965 by an Act of Parliament (CAP 258 Laws of Kenya). At its core, it manages the social security benefits and grants, such as age/retirement, withdrawal, invalidity, maternal and survivor benefits. It also coordinates the contributory scheme for the formal sector workers.
The School Feeding Programme was launched in 1979/80 by the government of Kenya in a partnership with the UN World Food Programme. It aims to maintain and increase enrolment rates, prevent drop-outs and stabilise attendance, and to improve children’s attention span and, ultimately, their learning capacity by relieving short-term hunger.
Kenya has an extended list of Development funds, such as the Constituency Development Fund, the HIV/AIDS fund, the Free Primary Education, the Local Authority Transfer Fund, the Secondary School Education Bursary Fund, the Road Maintenance Levy Fund, the Rural Electrification Programme Levy Fund and the Women Enterprise Development Fund.
There is a Cash Transfer programme for OVC (orphans and vulnerable children) supported by UNICEF that covers 25,000 households and transfers at a rate of USD23 per family per month. Created in 2004, it aims to provide a social protection system through regular and predictable cash transfers to families with OVC in order to encourage the fostering and retention of OVC within their families as well as to promote human capital development. In 2001, the government enacted the Children Act. A Draft of the Orphans and Vulnerable Children Policy and a Draft of the National Policy for Children have also been put together.
The Government of Kenya has also designed and implemented a Cash Transfer for the Elderly and People with Disabilities, targeting those above 70 years of age or those having a form of severe disability and suffering with extreme poverty. It aims to provide some kind of relief from poverty while enhancing basic rights. The transfer is USD15 per household per month. The Elderly Persons Vouchers Health Care System also assists the elderly, in which people over 65 years of age receive health care in hospitals throughout the country.
The Hunger Safety Net Programme is an unconditional cash transfer programme targeted at the chronically food insecure. It provides a regular cash transfer to 60,000 households every two months for three years in the arid and semi-arid districts of northern Kenya. A Monitoring and Evaluation project is being carried out to assess the impact and efficiency of the Hunger Safety Net Programme.
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