As part of the COVID-19 response in Kenya, a Public Health Emergency Operations Centre (PHEOC) was instituted to support coordinated engagement. The government also established a National COVID-19 Taskforce that brought together key stakeholders including the Ministry of Health (MOH), other government agencies, UN agencies, development partners, NGOs, and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs). The Taskforce was key in facilitating mobilization of technical and financial resources to support the Ministry of Health and other ministries in implementing the agreed-upon interventions. The Office of the Cabinet Secretary released daily news briefs and regularly engaged with the media to provide necessary updates.
The collective focus of partners was on how to mitigate harms from COVID-19, at both national and sub-national levels. At county level, various partners worked closely with the County Departments of Health to enhance engagement of community members. These partners included WHO-Kenya, USAID, UNICEF, CDC, AMREF Health Africa, Kenya Red Cross Society, Afya Bora, and the Interreligious Council of Kenya, among others.
[SOURCE: Kenya’s Experience: Factors Enabling and Impeding the COVID-19 Response. Mwakisha et al., Health Promotion Practice, 2023, https://doi.org/10.1177/15248399221117566 ]