A two-day conference under the theme ‘Reflections on Change’ is taking place on 28-29 October, at the Hilton, Nairobi, to discuss how change should occur in Kenya. This is one of the key events to promote change in Kenya during the Swedish EU Presidency.

Bringing together 200 participants from among ordinary citizens – ten from each province, top officials of the Kenya Government, foreign missions, development and civil society organisations, the conference seeks to harness local experiences of how change happens in order to encourage the country to better appreciate opportunities and how to exploit them, as well as obstacles and how to surmount them.

Prime Minister Raila Odinga, Justice Minister Mutula Kilonzo, Land Minister James Orengo and Swedish Ambassador Ann Dismorr are among the keynote speakers at the conference. In the course of the conference, many other notable individuals who have been agents of change in Kenya will discuss their experiences with a view to offering lessons on how to manage desirable and undesirable change.

The conference is a mirror event to the European Development Days, which were held 22-24 October in Stockholm, which Prime Minister Odinga attended. The theme for this year’s European Development Days is ‘Citizenship and Development’, but issues of climate change were also expected to featured prominently.

Running alongside the conference are three exhibitions – one of historical photography capturing moments of change, another of excerpts from the ‘Kenya Burning’ show on the 2007 post-election events and a third of cartoons by renowned editorial cartoonist Gado.

Many ordinary Kenyans have been yearning for change for several decades. This conference seeks ways to mobilise the energies of ordinary people, the Government institutions, private sector and civil society to turn their yearning into action. It will show, through example, that change is possible.

As Kenya embarks on the journey to deliver on the objectives of Vision 2030, with a priority on the reform issues in the mediation agreements, it is important to empower the ordinary citizen to take charge of the change agenda by creating a shared framework for change.

After the conference, citizens, the Government, civil society actors, the private sector and development partners will be encouraged to use the framework to carry out their activities to bring coherence to the change agenda.

> Read the speech by the Swedish Ambassador to Kenya H.E. Mrs. Ann Dismorr at the opening session on 28th of October 2009.