Centre for Law & Research International

The Centre for Law and Research International (CLARION) was founded in 1993 and registered in January 1994 by dint of the Non Governmental Organisations (NGO) Co-ordination Act. The organisation has since established a niche as a leader in civil society research, publication and dissemination. CLARION’s advocacy and civic education efforts are shaped by its research outputs.

Vision, Mission and Objectives of CLARION:

CLARION’s vision is a society in which people live with dignity and harmony; and where justice, fairness and liberty prevail, to foster people’s participation in the affairs of Kenya based on the principles of democratic governance. CLARION’s mission is to enhance constitutionalism through systematic generation of knowledge and public education. CLARION’s overall objective is the use of action research to enhance constitutionalism and democratic governance. Specifically, CLARION aims to:

• Generate knowledge & information around the tenets of constitutionalism, such as respect for human rights and the rule of law;
• Empower the public to use law as a resource for social transformation through civic education, training and lobbying;
• Develop information, education and communication materials;
• Network with organisations/individuals to enhance constitutionalism in Kenya; and
• Be a legal resource centre.

SUMMARY OF THE PROJECT:

CLARION’s programme in Mombasa is entitled “Community Empowerment for Management of Decentralised Funds Project (CEMDEF)”. The programme is envisaged to train eight (8) or more Community Mobilisers for the four (4) Mombasa district constituencies – two per constituency. The training will also host members of decentralised fund committees; in our case, members of Local Authorities Service Delivery and Action Plan (LASDAP) committee, or Mombasa City Council, and members of the various Constituency Development Fund (CDF) committees. Once trained, the equipped Community Mobilisers are expected to organise Community Awareness Forums thrice every month per constituency. It is our expectation that the forums will: i) educate the community about the availability of devolved funds; ii) enable empowered communities to develop an interest in devolved funds; iii) help communities learn to question public expenditure, hence putting the authorities to account; and iv) provide both fund managers and fund beneficiaries with an opportunity to network and discuss development issues. Alongside these forums, CLARION intends to reprint two of its publications on devolved funds (i.e. Management of Resources in Kenya: The Case of LATF, and A Handbook on Devolved Funds) with a view to having them read for the sake of public information. The reprinted publications will be distributed not only in Mombasa where CLARION is slated to work, but also in all the other eight districts where DGSP will be taking place. Finally, CLARION anticipates conducting a gender audit during the project’s course. We are set to investigate the level of women participation in devolved governance, enquire into the responsiveness of devolved fund’s projects to gender needs; and assess the numerical distribution of women in devolved fund’s committees. This research is proposed for publication.