The summit, organised to bring together the various components within the developing world to realise the crucial synergy between short-term humanitarian relief and long-term sustainable development through cross-sector collaboration, provided three days of dialogue, discussion and debate, welcoming representatives from the United Nations, international non-government organisations (NGOs), donor agencies, global corporations, foundations and local Kenyan companies and NGOs.

One of the key aims of the summit was to encourage greater involvement from the private sector in aid and development initiatives, fully utilising the vast sums pledged to assist the various projects and programmes being undertaken across the globe and ensuring that these resources are not squandered.

The summit opened on the morning of Wednesday 17 October with a prestigious opening ceremony, which welcomed a number of senior representatives from the Government of Kenya, including Minister of Planning & National Development Henry Obwocha, Assistant Minister of State for Special Programmes Ali Wario and Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Education Karega Mutahi.

Opening Remarks

He also highlighted a number of advances made in health, education, growth, trade and poverty reduction in Kenya, before once more emphasising the need for collaborative efforts to achieve more.

This message was reinforced by Hon. Ali Wario, who touched on many of the key issues covered by his Ministry's mandate, including the coordination, formulation and implementation of policies and institutional frameworks for disaster management, disaster risk reduction, aid lands resource management, relief and rehabilitation, national food security and a number of HIV/AIDS programmes. One of the key messages delivered during this address was the need for increased funds from the private sector and perhaps more importantly improved partnerships with local Kenyan companies to aid economic development in both Kenya and the region as a whole.

The importance of education in aiding the development of Africa cannot be overstated. The Humanitarian Development Summit devoted a considerable part of the opening ceremony to the importance of education, with Hon. Prof. Karega Mutahi emphasising the importance of giving all Kenyans access to quality basic education, with action required to prevent marginalisation of disparate social groups.

Further emphasis on education was provided by Dr Henry Chasia, Deputy Chairperson of the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) E-Africa Commission, which showcased its important E-Schools initiative, established to provide teachers and students alike with ICT and knowledge skills, facilitate more efficient management and administration within schools and to ensure every learner is health literate through information technology.

The importance of Africa's youth was further reinforced by El Khidir Daloum, Regional Advocate for Save The Children, who highlighted the risk to young life in the region and called on the aid and development world to do much more to prevent the death of 10.5 million children per year through preventable diseases, before a final address from George Mikwa, Chairman of the Kenyan Independent Schools Association, gave a first hand account of the many challenges faced.

Exhibition & Meet the Partners

The United Nations pavilion included strong representation from the various UN agencies, including a large delegation from the UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS), including its Regional Director for Africa, several regional offices, the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) and UNOSAT, the UN satellite agency, both of which fall under the UNOPS remit.

Other participating agencies included the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and the UN Logistics Base (UNLB).

The health sector was also strongly represented, with participation within the pavilion from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Stop TB Partnership.

Within the separate NGO pavilion, some of the leading organisations within the aid and development sectors were present to hold keynote discussions on the importance of collaboration in projects and programmes; these included the likes of the E-Africa Commission, Save The Children, International Committee of the Red Cross, Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, WaterAid, International Diabetes Federation, Telecoms Sans Frontieres, Merlin, Adventist Development & Relief Agency, International Peace Operations Association and the Global VSAT Forum, among many others.

Furthermore, a special meeting area was allocated to the Inter-Agency Working Group on Disaster Preparedness (IAWG), which featured strong representation from organisations such as World Vision, Catholic Relief Services, Concern, Merlin, UNHCR and OCHA.

Conference Seminar Sessions

With so many of the leading organisations from the aid and development sectors in attendance, the summit promised an unrivalled line-up of keynote speakers, with a series of insightful presentations and addresses being given. These were delivered during various sector-specific seminar sessions, which took place over the course of the three days, running parallel to the exhibition and Meet the Partners roundtable discussions.

The sectors covered included Public & Private Partnerships, Health Promotion & Disease Prevention, Information & Communication Technology, Water & Sanitation, Logistics & Supply Chain Management, Emergency Response and Peacekeeping & Security. Day 3 of the summit was hosted by the IAWG, with their senior management and established members addressing many of the key issues in Logistics, Supply Chain Management, Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Response.

A full list of the addresses and presentations given at the summit and links for downloading the various slides can be found below:

HDP Seminar Sessions

Day 1
Opening Ceremony – Government of Kenya
	Honourable Henry Obwocha, Minister of Planning & Development, Government of Kenya
	Honourable Ali Wario, Assistant Minister of State for Special Programmes, Government of Kenya
	Professor Karega Mutahi, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Government of Kenya
Special Education Session
	Henry Chasia, Executive Deputy Chairperson, NEPAD E-Africa Commission
	El Khidir Daloum, Regional Advocacy & Institutional Relations Manager, Horn of Africa, Save The Children
Public/Private Sector Collaboration & Project Implementation
	Jose Salema, Regional Director for Africa, UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS)
	David Dickie, Director, Advance Aid
	Betty Maina, CEO, Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM)
Health Promotion & Disease Prevention
	Martin Silink, President, International Diabetes Federation (IDF)
	Jeremiah Chakaya, Chair, DOTS Expansion Working Group, Stop TB Partnership, World Health Organisation (WHO)
	Kingsley Moghalu, Head of Global Partnerships, The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria
	Francis Njangiru, Director, Kenya HIV/AIDS Business Council

Day 2
Fleet Forum Conference 2007 – Introduction & Key Objectives
	Honourable Ambassador Chirau Ali Mwakwere, Minister of Transport, Government of Kenya
	Rob McConnell, Coordinator, Fleet Forum
Fleet Forum Workshops
	Clean Fleets: Rob De Jong, Acting Head, Urban Environment Unit, UN Environmental Programme (UNEP)
	Road Safety: George Mboya, Chief Officer, Kenya Institute of Logistics and Supply Chain Management
	Vehicle Leasing: Matthew Bader, Regional Representative, Jacana
Information & Communication Technologies
	Cosmas Zavazava, Head, Special Unit for Least Development Countries, Small Island Developing States and Emergency Telecommunications, International Telecommunications Union (ITU)
	Oisin Walton, Information & Communications Coordinator, Telecoms Sans Frontieres
	Alain Retiere, Director, UNOSAT
	Martin Jarrold, Chief, International Programme Development, Global VSAT Forum
	Luc Temmerman, Skylogic
Water Supply, Sanitation & Hygiene Development
	Lydia Zigomo, Head Of East Africa, WaterAid
	Lakis Papastavrou, Infrastructure Specialist, UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS)
	Samuel Wambua, Executive Director, Network for Water & Sanitation (NETWAS)

Day 3
Logistics & Supply Chain Management
	George Fenton, Associate Director, Supply-Chain Management, Humanitarian & Emergency Affairs, World Vision
	Peter Geets, IAWG Logistics Sub-Group, Catholic Relief Services (CRS)
	Douglas Osmond, Senior Supply Officer, UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
Emergency Response
	Besida Tonwe, Head of Regional Office for Central and East Africa, UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
	Erasmus Morah, Regional Representative, Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS)
	Maurice Bisau, Emergency Supply Officer, Emergency Preparedness & Response Section, UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
	Bruce McKerrow, Head of Infrastructure, UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS)
	Bud Crandall, Country Director, CARE International
Peacekeeping, Security & Post-Conflict Reconciliation
	Dan Pike, Director, Office of African Affairs, US Department of Defence (DOD)
	Doug Brooks, President, International Peace Operations Association (IPOA)
	Jim Pansegrauw, Program Director, UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS)
	Mark Daubney, Commandant, International Mine Action Training Centre (IMATC)

Fleet Forum @ HDP

One of the key strengths of the Humanitarian Development Program is the forming of close relationships with leading organisations through an Official Steering Committee, established to extend the reach of the established network and ensure the highest possible level of representation from all relevant areas.

One of the strongest aspects of the 2007 Summit was the strategic partnership with the Fleet Forum, a joint initiative undertaken by the World Food Programme, International Federation of the Red Cross and World Vision International. As a result of this strong relationship, the summit welcomed some of the pre-eminent vehicle, fleet and logistics companies, keen to discuss potential projects, partnerships and collaborations with Fleet Forum member organisations, ahead of their annual meeting in Vienna the subsequent week.

The Fleet Forum hosted a special conference morning on Day 2 of the summit, with sessions devoted to private sector collaboration, safely, clean fleets and issues of vehicle leasing and fleet financing. This special session was opened by the Kenyan Minister of Transport Chirau Ali Mwakwere, who addressed many concerns regarding transport within the region.

The morning session was followed by a special BBQ function and subsequent afternoon of of networking between Fleet Forum member organisations and relevant companies within the vehicle, fleet and logistics community. Participating member organisations included the likes of CARE, Oxfam, Merlin, Adventist Development & Relief Agency, Medecins Sans Frontieres, Save The Children, UNHCR, Concern, World Vision, Catholic Relief Services, UNEP, FAO, ICRC, IFRC, WFP and WHO.

The summit also featured a special vehicle exhibition area, providing the opportunity for the leading companies in the field to showcase their products and demonstrate their willingness to aid this important sector.

The Fleet Forum’s decision to host a day at the summit was due in part to its desire to engage its African participants ahead of its November pilot test of a new training programme focusing on Fleet Safety, designed to establish a culture of road safety and safety standards within humanitarian organisations. During the pilot test, more than 1,500 staff from drivers to senior management of five humanitarian organisations based in Nairobi will be trained as the first step in rolling out the worldwide Fleet Safety training programme.

Nairobi’s position as a growing humanitarian operational hub has led to hundreds of agencies basing their Africa-wide operations there, employing thousands of staff in the process, which has led to its selection as host for the pilot test.

The HDP will be holding the next HDP Nairobi Summit in Autumn 2008, with plans also afoot to use the successful summit model for a series of other interrelated events from early 2008. For more information about any of our projects please email us on: info@developmentprogram.org