The Rift Valley Budget Hub is led by 12 Budget Facilitators. These are individuals drawn from civil society organizations operating in Baringo, Nakuru, Elgeyo Marakwet, Kericho, West Pokot, Bomet and Nandi Counties; who have been trained on budget content and advocacy and work with communities within their counties to engage with national and county budget processes to improve their livelihoods.
Each budget facilitator works with a minimum of 15 Budget Champions and thus there are more than 180 Budget Champions linked to the hub. For effective policy level advocacy, the Budget Facilitators work with coalitions of Civil Society Organizations at the County level. Some of the CSO networks are further organized into thematic groups that are aligned to public/sectors – Education and Vocational Training, Health, Agriculture, Climate Change and Community Resilience etc.
The budget champions have gone further to form networks below the ward level referred to Community Budget Cells. A budget cell comprises of up to 30 local development animators who push the community budget agenda throughout the budget cycle. These include i.e. Local development Committees (representatives of Health Facility Management Committees, Water Project Committees, Cattle Dip Committees, Climate Change Committees etc) networks of local business persons, religious leaders, traditional leadership structures (council of elders), Self-Help Groups etc.
To amplify the voice of vulnerable and marginalized the hub has also incubated special budget cells for women, PWDs and youth. This is based on the learning that women and PWDs in their own spaces are able to deliberate budgets at their own pace and in their own ‘language’; as opposed to conventional spaces, where their voices are drowned in the voices of the other more influential groups. These spaces improve their knowledge, confidence and skills to negotiate on budget matters. They also come up with budget priorities that address their unique needs. Even where, these priorities are similar to those identified by the larger community, their experiences in service delivery provide stronger justifications.
Click Here to view the structure.