Africa-Press – Kenya. United States Senator from Delaware Chris Coons held a sideline meeting with Shining Hope for Communities (SHOFCO) Founder and CEO Dr. Kennedy Odede in his recent visit to Kenya.
Coons praised Dr. Odede’s work in Kibera saying it has uplifted the lives of vulnerable women and youth.
“I’m happy to be with you Kennedy and I’ve enjoyed seeing what you have done for your community in Kibera. God bless you and SHOFCO,” Coons said in a short video clip shared by Dr. Odede on social media.
SHOFCO runs the largest grassroots movement in Kenya, Shofco Urban Network (SUN), with a membership of over three million, mainly in informal settlements and semi-rural areas.
Apart from SUN, the organisation runs six other programs which include education, healthcare, GBV response and prevention, WASH, sustainable livelihood program, and women empowerment program.
It is for this reason that President Ruto reached out to Dr Odede this year to advise on the slum upgrading program that the government is currently carrying out.
The SHOFCO boss was last year introduced by former United States President Bill Clinton as a family friend during the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) forum held in New York.
President Clinton also lauded Dr. Odede saying his initiatives have made a difference in society.
“Pleasure to introduce someone who to me truly embodies the best of CGI. His (Odede’s) work has improved lives in the most impoverished communities on earth. A long-time friend of our family,” the former President said before ushering him to the podium to speak.
Dr. Odede was appointed to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Advisory Committee by Samantha Power last year.
Over many decades, the committee has evolved to play a key role in fostering cooperation between the US government and a range of NGOs, and it has provided a platform for civil society to engage with USAID and help inform its approach to US foreign assistance.
The appointment came less than two years after the Dr Odede hosted USAID boss Samantha Power at the inaugural World Communities Forum (WCF) where he shared with her, alongside other global leaders, how his focus on community-driven change has seen his organisation’s impact over three million slum dwellers in Kenya through various causes.
The forum brought together high-profile development experts such as Chelsea Clinton, Darren Walker, Dr Oby Ezekwesili and Cecile Richards who listened and learnt about grassroots solutions from community-based leaders while inspiring a localisation revolution to decolonise development.
It is at the forum that Dr. Odede challenged Power and the other leaders to invest more in community-led solutions and as a result, USAID has since committed 25 per cent of its resources to local organisations with a promise to do more.
Dr. Odede founded SHOFCO in 2004 in Kibera slums in Nairobi and it has now expanded to 16 counties across Kenya, serving over three million people directly.
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