The Scope

The oil and gas discoveries are expected to multiply the volume of activity in Kenya’s petroleum sector and have a substantial transformational impact on the Kenyan economy. Increasingly, activities will take place in environmentally or socially sensitive and technologically complex areas, which demands significant capacity building effort in the Government of Kenya (GoK) along all aspects of the Extractive Industries Value Chain. International Development Association (IDA) is assisting the country through the Kenya Petroleum Technical Assistance Project (KEPTAP) with an objective to strengthen the capacity of the GoK to manage its petroleum sector and wealth for sustainable development impacts.

Guided by the draft Petroleum Bill 2015 that specifies the need to inform the community for managing its expectations through appropriate communication channels prior to carrying out any upstream petroleum operations within the county the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum (MoEP) wants to implement a ‘Public Information and Awareness Building Campaign’. The objectives of the consulting assignment are three dimensional. First, the assignment is to support the Government of Kenya to develop and execute an effective public information awareness campaign which is essential in raising the level of knowledge about the oil and gas industry in Kenya. Second, the campaign will help establish and maintain good relationships between various stakeholder groups and may significantly reduce likelihood of delays or stoppages arising from lack of information. Third, the campaign will also provide an avenue for open discussions between stakeholders in an effort to enhance continued interaction and promote a conducive operating environment.   

Our Role

A team of experienced Communication and Oil & Gas Sector Experts is deployed by us for carrying the Public Information and Awareness Building Campaign throughout the Kenya. The activities perform by us includes: 

Information needs assessment, sensitization campaigns & information dissemination:

• Stakeholder mapping;
• Assessing other programs already implemented or underway;
• Media content analysis;
• Information needs assessment;
• Preparing, designing and implementing the public information and awareness building campaign; and
• Formulating a sectoral communication strategy. 

Feedback Mechanism: Designing a feedback mechanism(s) to create genuine opportunities for dialogue and create conditions that promote stronger citizen involvement in discussions. 

Promoting Transparency and Accountability: Supporting the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) implementation focal point and MoEP (if different) to improve transparency of petroleum contracts and revenues, and work together to promote accountability and good governance by transparently communicating decisions to extract, licensing, exploration and production rights.

 Capacity Building:

• Enhancing the capacity of public agencies, academic entities, CSOs and organizations for them to achieve a better understanding of the sector in order to enhance their communication, outreach and dissemination of information capacities; and
• Supporting the MoEP to set-up information centres in counties.