Kenya is a key country to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). With a current population of 51 million people and projections of growth to 67 million by 2030, investments in health and economic development are critical to unlock productivity and innovation, cut poverty, create opportunities, and generate prosperity. This is especially important in Kenya given its influence across Central and East Africa as a large, advanced economy and innovation leader. The Government of Kenya is committed to achieving SDG priorities through its Vision 2030 to become a newly industrializing, middle-income country providing a high quality of life to all its citizens in a secure and clean environment. The Government has also developed related national priorities through the Medium-Term Plan III and President Kenyatta’s Big Four Agenda. This creates a transformational opportunity to help catalyze progress in health and development towards achieving Kenya’s vision for the future.   

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation engaged Camber Collective in 2018 to support a policy and advocacy strategy, recognizing the opportunity to strengthening their alignment and approach to partnership with the Government of Kenya and other key stakeholders. Camber conducted in-depth qualitative research involving 70+ interviews with Kenyan government officials, regional influencers, and grantees. We worked closely with Gates Foundation staff to understand internal priorities and lessons learned from years of investing in Kenya. We synthesized our research into a detailed fact base, including a situational analysis, landscape of advocacy partners, and funding analysis. The effort culminated with development of an advocacy plan and operating model for the Gates Foundation that defined a framework for prioritizing grants and cultivating partnerships.   

We found key cross-sector opportunities to support the Government of Kenya in achieving their development goals including primary health care as the focus of universal health care; agriculture and nutrition for food security and economic opportunity; inclusion and gender equality; and innovation and research & development. For each of these areas, we supported the Gates Foundation in understanding the opportunity, defining strategic goals, and developing an execution plan to achieve the objectives. This resulted in increased funding to support high capacity, well-resourced public institutions and civil society organizations, alongside a concerted effort to empower a more diverse and better coordinated donor coalition in Kenya.