• Report shows Kenyans are more satisfied with health services than they were in 2014.
• Report also shows Kenya has the third-highest score in improved education status in Africa.
Kenya's health sector is one of the most improved in Africa, according to an index by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation that compared the services in 2014 and in 2017.
The progress is mainly driven by increased services such as antiretroviral treatment and more public health campaigns.
The analysis is published in the foundation's African Governance Report 2019 released last week.
It shows Kenyans are more satisfied with health services than they were in 2014.
"Antiretroviral treatment provision is the most improved indicator," the report reads.
Currently, about one million Kenyans living with HIV are on antiretroviral therapy, compared to about 500,000 before 2014.
The report uses data from Ibrahim's previous indexes of African Governance (IIAG) to review the implementation of both the Sustainable Development Goals and the African Union’s Agenda 2063.
The IIAG is the largest source of data on African governance.
The report also shows Kenya has the third-highest score in improved education status in Africa.
In 2017, the five highest-scoring countries in education by percentage were Mauritius (83.8), Seychelles (78.8), Kenya (72.7), Algeria (71.6) and Tunisia (67.7).
Kenya’s score for national security since 2014 rose due to a decline in cross-border tensions.
However, worryingly, Kenya has started to see a decline in its score for 'gender', which has fallen from 64.3 per cent in 2014 to 62.9 per cent in 2017.
This is primarily driven by a deterioration in women’s political representation and women’s political empowerment and stalled progress on the majority of other gender indicators.
Women in Kenya hold only 23 per cent of seats in the National Assembly and the Senate, yet they form 50 per cent of the national population.
In general, the report shows Africa has a data problem.
On average fewer than 40 per cent of the indicators for the SDGs have sufficient data to track progress accurately on the continent.
The report highlights that over half of the data source types of SDG indicators on Africa are estimation, modelling or global monitoring.
In particular, only one-third of data sources on SDG indicators on Africa are from direct country sources.
This means the ability to monitor progress towards development targets in Africa is compromised.
“Data is an essential foundation for effective policymaking and resource mobilisation," said Mo Ibrahim, chair of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, in a statement.
"Without data, we drive blind — policies are misdirected and progress on the road to development is stunted. We must all act urgently to close the ‘data gap’, if indeed we aim to leave no one behind,” he said.
The report shows only eight African countries have a birth registration system that covers 90 per cent or more of the population over the last 10 years (2009-2018), and only three have a death registration system that covers 90 per cent or more of the population.
(Edited by V. Graham)