PEN was registered in Kenya by the Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) Coordination Bureau on 20th December, 2001 and began operations, from its headquarters in Nairobi, on 4th November, 2002.
PEN was founded for the specific purpose of strengthening citizens and citizens’ organiz… read moreations in East Africa. The founders recognized that a number of grassroots development initiatives and locally driven citizens’ organizations closed shop after the initial motivation and energy behind their formation had subsided. On the other hand, many citizens’ organizations that survived became dependent on and are owned by a small group of individuals who, acting without public accountability, tend to use public assets for private agenda. The high incidences of failing citizens’ institutions reflects huge wastage of scarce developmental resources, personal disappointment and disillusionment of founders and volunteers working in such initiatives, a continuing focus on short-term development projects, limited accountability and a lack of sustainable development. The predominance of ‘white elephant’ projects and the high vulnerability of citizens’ organizations is one major cause of the lack of confidence so many people have in the not-for-profit sector.
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