LERN Launches Community-Led Monitoring Initiative in Five Counties
The Lake Endemic Region Malaria CSO Network (LERN) has officially launched its Community-Led Monitoring (CLM) initiative across five counties in the Lake Endemic Region, marking a significant step toward strengthening grassroots accountability in malaria and health service delivery.
The initiative, which targets Kisumu, Siaya, Homa Bay, Migori, and Busia counties, equips community members with tools to monitor the availability and quality of malaria commodities, track service delivery gaps, and generate real-time feedback that informs both local health management and national policy.
What is Community-Led Monitoring?
CLM places communities at the centre of health accountability. Trained community monitors — drawn from existing community health structures — use standardised scorecard tools to assess whether health facilities have adequate stocks of malaria rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs), artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs), and insecticide-treated nets (ITNs).
Data collected is fed into community accountability dialogues, where findings are shared directly with facility managers, county health teams, and implementing partners.
Why CLM Matters in the Lake Region
The Lake Victoria basin counties account for a disproportionate share of Kenya’s malaria burden. Yet stock-outs, delayed resupply, and service quality gaps remain persistent challenges — often invisible to national-level planners but acutely felt by communities.
“This initiative is about giving communities a voice and a mechanism to be heard,” said the LERN CLM Coordinator. “When communities can track what is happening at their health facilities and raise issues through a formal channel, it drives accountability and improves service quality.”
Next Steps
Over the next six months, LERN will train over 120 community monitors across the five counties, establish county-level accountability forums, and publish the first Community Health Scorecard Report for the Lake Endemic Region.
LERN invites CSO partners, county health departments, and development partners to engage with the CLM initiative and support its scale-up.
Contact: lakeendemicmalariacsonetwork@gmail.com | +254 723 215 230
