Reflections by Steve Ogutu, MCLD East Africa Regional Coordinator
On February 26, 2026, the Movement for Community-led Development (MCLD) Kenya convened about 50 member organizations in Nairobi for its 2026 Annual General Meeting (AGM). The members, drawn from different parts of the country, are championing community-led development (CLD) across diverse areas including food security, women and girls’ empowerment, climate action, disability inclusion, and peacebuilding, among others. The AGM provided an opportunity for members to pause, reflect, and strategize for 2026 and beyond.
2025 Highlights
The organization also used the platform to share key achievements from the previous year. In Kenya, MCLD focused on two main areas.
First, strengthening devolution. In 2025, MCLD continued its capacity-building program with Makueni, Taita Taveta, Kisumu, Vihiga, and Bomet county governments. These trainings are designed to support counties to become more community-led in how they design, implement, and evaluate development programs and policies. Through the Kenya School for CLD and Devolution – a joint initiative between MCLD and the County Government of Makueni – a cohort of 35 participants comprising county officials and CSOs was trained on Community-led Climate Action and Environmental Risk Reduction.
Second, strengthening CSO engagement. In 2025, MCLD members were actively involved in campaigns around human rights, good governance, and anti-gender-based violence, including participation in the 16 Days of Activism Against GBV. The organization also continued linking members with government actors to improve CSO-government relations. Additionally, MCLD provided capacity strengthening support to members in areas such as advocacy and fundraising.
2026 Focus
In 2026, MCLD Kenya aims to formalize engagements with two additional county governments, continue capacity strengthening for existing partner counties, promote joint fundraising initiatives, grow MCLD Kenya’s membership base, and enhance overall fundraising efforts.
The drastic changes in the global development sector have significantly impacted how organizations like MCLD Kenya operate. During the AGM, members shared insights on how to build strong, resilient systems amid the shrinking civic space and limited funding opportunities triggered by regional and global geopolitics. To ensure sustainability, members resolved to diversify fundraising strategies by targeting the diaspora community and engaging the private sector through corporate social responsibility initiatives and foundations.
This year’s AGM was graced by Gunjan Veda, MCLD’s Global Secretary, who used the opportunity to share updates on strategic initiatives undertaken by the Global Secretariat and the Global Assembly, and how National Associations-including MCLD Kenya-can effectively plug in to advance these priorities.
Gunjan is on a two-week mission in Kenya to, among other activities, support the launch of the new book, Community-led Development in Practice, launched in Kenya on February 27 in partnership with the Aga Khan Foundation at the Aga Khan University, and to strengthen partnerships with development partners and Kenya’s government agencies.