Nairobi, 2 July 2022 (TDI): According to Wu Peng, the Director-General of the Department of African Affairs of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, China provided $1 million to a health project in Kenya.
The project aims to promote health services for maternal, newborns, and children in the country.
Moreover, data provided by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) introduced that the project offered both medical equipment and professional training.
UNICEF was responsible to operate the project between Jan 1, 2020, and Dec 30, 2021. During this period, the project also completed the procurement and distribution of medical equipment and medicines.
The implementation of the project benefited 159 health facilities in 8 counties across Kenya with over 3 million local people.
By the end of the program, the Chinese Embassy in Kenya and UNICEF held a ceremony to celebrate the success of the project.
In addition, the project was designed and implemented under the umbrella of South-South cooperation with the engagement of UN agencies.
According to Zhou Pingjian, the Chinese Ambassador to Kenya, the success of the project has shown the efficiency and quality between China and the UN’s cooperation.
China and UNICEF’s Contribution to the Development of Kenya
Cooperation between China and Kenya in health has been going on for a long time. Early in 2022, China and Kenya signed various agreements to implement the Comprehensive Strategic Cooperation Partnership signed in 2018.
Zhou Pingjian, China’s seventeenth Ambassador to Kenya, attended an interview with Kenya’s local media on March 4th, 2022.
Moreover, the Ambassador emphasized in the interview that both China and Kenya are major developing countries.
Zhou especially highlighted that development holds the key to people’s well-being.
Accordingly, even in the context of COVID-19, China and Kenya never stopped their cooperation in development fields.
Currently, China is focusing on cooperating with African countries specifically in 9 sectors. They are called the “Nine Project”, which was announced by Chinese President Xi Jinping at the eighth Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation.
The nine key areas include medical service and health, poverty reduction and agricultural development, trade and investment promotion, digital innovation, green development, capacity building, cultural and people-to-people exchange, and peace and security.
China’s contribution to the development of Kenya is not a single action. For instance, Mania Zaman, a senior officer from UNICEF spoke highly of China’s collaboration with the office.
Zaman said that with Chinese donations and support, UNICEF has been strengthening the construction of grassroots health facilities in Kenya.
Additionally, Zaman introduced that UNICEF has effectively reduced the fatality rate of pregnant women and children during the COVID-19 pandemic. Such partnership shows China’s wide and deep participation to support Kenya in development.
Chensi is majored in diplomacy. Her main research interests include Sino-African relations, African foreign affairs, public diplomacy and sustainable development.
