• Mr. James Oduor, The Chief Executive Officer, National Drought Management Authority,;
• The County Executive Committee Member for Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, Marsabit County, Dr. James Dokhe
• Representatives of Various Institutions and USAID partners in the Partnership for Resilience and Economic Growth
• Distinguished guests
• Ladies and gentleman

It gives me great pleasure this afternoon to see all of you together, reflecting on collaborative approaches to building resilience. Indeed, your presence here is a testimony of an inspired, energized and mobilized cross-sectoral team.

Building resilience is complex. The wide-ranging activities that form the Partnership for Resilience and Economic Growth (PREG) reflect that complexity.

• From health and nutrition to accessing water, hygiene and sanitation services.
• From conflict mitigation between warring communities to improving governance and drought preparedness.
• From priorities like building infrastructure – including roads, markets and water supplies – to identifying ways to diversify livelihoods, promote large and small business development, and strengthen the livestock sector.
• And, finally, management of wildlife, rangelands and natural resources are central to building resilience, as are strategies to improve public policy, promote greater gender equity, and ensure the inclusion of youth and marginalized groups.

I am delighted to note that this partnership learning event has enabled you to reflect on shared visions and clear actions to enhance collaboration. Already, I see a dynamic, focused and united team; full of vigor and ready to advance our efforts towards eradicating extreme poverty and ending drought emergencies.

This is a milestone in my career as a Mission Director in Kenya and East Africa. When I came to Kenya in 2012, the country was experiencing one of its worst droughts. The need for engaging in resilience building was evident.

Two weeks ago, President Barack Obama spoke at the White House Summit on Global Development. While he noted that the United States is one of the world’s largest donors of humanitarian aid, he said, “instead of just responding after crises happen, what we've been focused on is helping communities in countries build resilience to shocks and to be in a position to avoid crises.”

That’s why we’re here today. The partnership we celebrate leads to the achievement of Kenyan goals over time, including sustainable economic growth and the delivery of social benefits to the pastoralists and agro-pastoralists of Northern Kenya—including youth, women, and extremely poor households.

I note the tremendous amount of effort you, as a team, dedicate to your work in order to make a difference in the lives of vulnerable families of Northern Kenya. You have shown your commitment to helping these communities prepare for, adapt to, and ultimately thrive amidst climate-related emergencies. This is despite the very challenging circumstances you all face in your everyday life.

Your joint efforts are bearing fruit. We are improving the nutrition of families, reducing resource-based conflict, and increasing business among communities and incomes at household level.

A survey done by USAID in 2015 provides compelling evidence of results achieved in two and a half years through the partnership’s and others’ collective efforts, including a 12 percent reduction in the depth of poverty and a 28 percent increase in women’s dietary diversity in the nine targeted counties. Additionally, the survey results indicate positive trends in children’s dietary diversity, reduced household hunger and access to improved water sources.

Resilience is, at its heart, the ability to adapt to change. As innovators and thought leaders, our capacity to be agile and have the vision to shepherd in change, oftentimes over many years, is what will improve the lives of those in the communities we serve.

In the past year, our new USAID Administrator, Gayle Smith, has spoken many times about the importance agility and adaptability to building a sustainable response to crises, and to development in general. Earlier this year, she posed three important questions that we, as a global community, need to answer with one voice. These are questions that I hope you think about as you work with your fellow leaders:

One – Are we bold enough to invest now to manage a future of rapid and often tumultuous change?

Two -- Do we have the strategic patience to support the transitions before us until they succeed?

And three – Are we willing to adapt our systems and our institutions to the world we face?

I think these are questions that we can answer together. Through the Partnership for Resilience and Economic Growth, we are building a model for doing business differently that delivers results.

By partnering together, we will strengthen the resilience of the people in Kenya’s arid lands and improve the survival, well-being, and productivity of the people of this great nation.

I wish to end with a saying among pastoralists:
If you want to go fast, then walk alone; but if you want to go far, then walk together.

I look forward to the great successes and the future of this partnership.

Thank you so much - Asanteni sana