Globalisation in Kenya Essay Example for Free

Globalisation in Kenya Essay Globalisation is the process of integrating the world community into a common system,on the economical and social grounds. The economic integration is the initial phase globalization,which ensures reduction of geographical inequalities by first creating jobs and business opportunities all over the world. This is then followed by social integration which is the second phase of globalization. (www. worldbank. org/kenya ) Globalisation involves the opening up local standards to measure with the international standards. Globalisation in this context implies the process of transforming a country to a higher level in terms of economic and social development. United Nations Development Program is a global Development Network,that purports to create change and connect countries to knowledge,exposure and resources that enable their citizens lead a better life. It was established in Kenya in the the year 1964,by then known as Technical Assistance board. It was a a kind of agreement with the Kenyan Government. This program operates on attaining the following objectives;creating job opportunities,empowerment of the community,assist in enhancing security, Sustainability and Strategic Outreach. ( http://www. ke. undp. org/index. htm ). UNDP-Kenya involve itself actively in poverty reduction through improved groups which create employment and continuous income generation made possible. It ensure community empowerment by advocating the human rights,gender,judicial reforms and police. Security is enhanced through peace and security projects, without forgetting its role fighting out the spread of HIV/AIDS among the Kenyan sustainability projects address the preservation and conservation of Kenyan natural resources for the future generations,where strategic Outreach involves in creating an environment for in promoting partnerships for Aid and donor coordination and advocating initiatives related to sustainable human Development and mainstreaming of Kenyas policy,planning and visioning frameworks. The UNDP-Kenya also gives intelligence on socio-economic trends ,resulting from periodic analysis. Kenya is in East Africa and it was initially called Kirinyaga and later named Kenya,a name derived from the second highest Mountain in Africa. It is a country composed of people from different ethnic groups ranging over forty two tribes,with diverse cultures, making a total population of over thirty millions people. Statistics show that 80% percent of the Kenyan population are mostly farmers(www. worldbank. org/kenya ),and they live in dispersed rural settlements. The remaining 20% of the population lives in concentrated urban areas of Nairobi and Mombasa. The country is faced by problems like ethical divisions,drought,poverty and and the HIV/AIDS Epidemics,(http://www. fh. org/cdi_kenya ). Kenya is among the countries with highest population growth in the world,and it frequently experiences droughts,implying that it is unable to sustain its growing population . Poverty in Kenya can be seen evaluated from various angles ranging from increased dependency,inability to participate in development activities,high level of unemployment,inability to feed its population,lack of proper housing ,inappropriate and poor health facilities,inability to educate the young ones and in meeting their basic needs. The country is lacked as being the 30th most unequal societies globally in terms of resource distribution and gender biasness,where the top 10% of the of the population controls the Kenyas wealth. The group of people that is adversely affected by abject poverty includes the pastorals communities,agricultural laborers,unprofessional workers,female headed households,orphans and street families. (World bank website). Poverty reduction. Kenya is characterized by a high level of poverty like most developing countries of Africa,which a huge percentage of its population leaving below the the poverty line. This calls for intervention in attaining economic globalisation. UNDP-Kenya actively involves itself in poverty reduction throughout creating a favorable environment for trade,investment expansion and creation of employment among the Kenyan population. The enhancement of a favorable environment for trade automatically encourages both local and foreign direct investments which later leads to more employment opportunities hence income for the Kenyan population which increases their level of income,that adversely reduce poverty and increase the national output. At the executing level in attaining these goals,UNDP undertakes projects that involve improved groups ,which generate income and create employment. The projects are carried out in conjunction with the Government of Kenya ministries mostly the ministry planning and the ministry of youth affairs,and Non Governmental organizations at the community level. UNDP ensures the achievement of the above objectives in reducing poverty by the observation of the following practices; Resource development for Kenyan Capital market Authority,direct support to the Agricultural sector it being the backbone of the Countrys economy specifically in the tractor project,the development of bee and Honey products export processing related industries,provide professional and expert support to the Kenya Private sector Alliance,support the youth Employment scheme and the small enterprises Program,growing sustainable Business program,women empowerment in the â€Å"fanikisha† project,creating a link between the informal sector and trade opportunities, and last the enhancement of foreign direct Investments in commissioning the United National Conference on trade and Development(UNCTAD) to review the Countrys Investment laws and policies. UNDP gives an hand to exporters , small scale producers , manufactures and service industry a link to export marketers, and provides technical assistance to targeted products and developing their markets. This adds value to the Kenyas exports and thus a common good to the countrys economy and its people welfare. Democracy and good governance are the basis for the social Globalisation and it involves the respect of human rights,observation of just and the rule of law. This ensures smooth running of the government and the efficient allocation of resources , without forgetting accountancy in the use of public services. UNDP ensures Democracy and good governance is exercised in the country in Major national and local level institutions. It acts as a watchdog for the Kenyan people in ensuring efficiency,effectiveness,transparency,accountability and equality in the provision of public services and perpetuating the public confidence in ht e governments financial management system. UNDP ensures this by giving a hand in budgeting,planning and economic management process. The practices of UNDP that guarantees the achievement of Democracy and governance include the following; Engineering the formation and capacity building of Public Reform and Development Secretariat which design development priorities,improve the development partner relations and approving public money spending. UNDP also ensures democracy through community empowerment through active participation in ensuring that humanity and human rights are observed like in support of Women Advocacy through federation of women lawyers in Kenya who solely specialize in ensuring that women rights are not violated,establishing organizations taking care of needs of persons with disabilities,empowering of youth through the ministry of youth affairs,providing elections assistance programs and giving a hand in the implementation Human Rights in attaining a sustainable human Development. UNDP-Kenya supports the attainment of the the countrys new constitution and its willingness are assessed in its participation in support for the referendum, co-financed by Department of Finance and International Development, Swedish International Development Agency, Norway and Netherlands. UNDP-Kenya supports the public sector reforms,enables parliamentary participation,supports anti-corruption efforts, and also gives an hand in Kenya restoring the rule of law and observation of justice through creating awareness about the human rights,in an attempt to assist Kenya attain millennium development goals. Ensuring that there exists security is wide sphere among the Kenya communities,ranging from physical security to the provision of basic needs like food and health. Kenya is characterized with poor disaster management and preparedness which lead to massive destruction on a calamity striking,leading to a bigger loss than when measure we to me taken on either disaster management or preparedness. Calamities strike from natural to human initiated. UNDP-Kenya actively participates in ensuring food security,safety from physical harm and conflict, and healthy security. It tries to reduce the danger and the vulnerability of the population to natural catastrophes like drought and flood,and the man made catastrophes like war,in working closely with the Kenyan government,civil society and other United Nations agencies. It achieves its purported objectives by building disaster capacity management,mitigation,prevention and preparedness. Kenya is prone to inter-ethical wars because of its many different ethical communities, and UNDP ensures the formulation of policies that and programs that prevent conflict ,and rather promote peace and co-existence among the Kenyan communities. Health issues are addressed through the Programs HIV/AIDS prevention policies. Environmental management and conservation. Kenya is characterized by environmental abuse in terms of pollution , the inappropriate way of disposing refuse and depletion of indigenous species. This call for an intervention so as to conserve the environment and its constitutes for the coming generations and better stay of the current generation,in either protecting the species or avoiding the break up of health complications. UNDP actively involves itself in the environmental conservation and management and poverty into Kenyas National policies,planning process and strategies,reinforce community environment and natural resources governance,and ensure the development of sustainable energy sources and distribution of the energy in meeting the household needs,that generate income by creating employment opportunities and in meeting the energy requirements in other sectors of the Kenyan economy. Reaching out to donors and Consultants, and the provision of advocacy. There is normally a gap between the potential donors and the governments that need aid,and this is due to lack of negotiation ground and lack of trust. This requires an Intermediary in joining the to ends,which is in this case UNDP in Kenya,which also provide the advocacy. UNDP-Kenya provides an avenue for the Kenyan population to get assistance from within and outside the country. This is through its intensified network in Africa and all over the world given that its a global organization t helps in promoting partnership for both foreign and domestic aids and donor coordination and advocacy initiatives intended for sustainable Human development and its coming going into the Kenyas policy,planning and focusing framework. It also gives the Kenyan government an underground hand in preparing papers and reports for presentation in consulting Group meeting. Conclusion. Globalisation is seen as an integration of the world on either economically or socially in meeting the international standards. Economics integration involve the opening up of trade channels,investing all over the world and most importantly meeting the international standards. Social integration normally come after economic integration and it involves improving the peoples welfare in terms of their living standards,life style and respect human right through an informed judicial system that respects law and justice. United Nations development is an international network that solely aims at improving humanity by connecting countries to knowledge,exposure and resources that enable their citizens lead a better life. It is a vehicle to globalisation in the countries where it is established are mostly in the Developing countries like Kenya. Kenya like any other developing countries faces problems that need to be solved by reorganizing themselves and setting out solutions through a third party assistance. UNDP is among the third party participants in ensuring globalisation in Kenya and it intervenes through small improved groups,and in giving the government of the day technical advice and at times given responsibility to act on behalf of the government,given its expertise in analysis and implementation in attaining globalisation. It intervenes through its specialized programs in ensuring security in terms of food,health and physical security,it provided outreach services to the country in acting an advocacy role between donors and government,it directly involves it self in projects that reduce poverty by reaching the affected groups directly,it provides the government of the day with professional issues like budgeting and related economic issues like strategic planning. References Food for the child website: http://www. fh. org/cdi_kenya Tripod Website: http://lautbry. tripod. com/cpce/globalization/index. htm United Nations Website: http://www. ke. undp. org/index. htm