The Compliance Review and Mediation Unit (CRMU) of the African Development Bank in collaboration with GROOTS, a local NGO, co-organized two community pilot sensitization sessions on the Independent Review Mechanism (IRM) of the Bank in Kenya on April 15 - 16, 2009.

The sessions took place respectively in the Ruiru and Juja areas which are crossed by the Thikka Road being financed by the Bank. The 49 participants in these sessions were a mix of house and small business owners and community leaders. By presenting the recently published CRMU Community Information Booklet translated into Kiswahili, the participants were sensitized on the IRM mediation and compliance review functions and the CRMU complaint handing processes. This is in view of emphasizing the Bank's commitment to enhance the effectiveness of the projects it finances through consultations and extending benefits to people and communities directly affected by the projects.

The outcome of these sessions was positive as participants interactively engaged in discussion of the added value of the IRM in relevance to the challenge they are facing in accessing information about the Bank financed projects and the existence of a recourse mechanism in case they suffer harm from these projects. It is worth noting that these sessions are co-organized in the framework of CRMU outreach strategy and NGOs initiatives aiming to raise people awareness of the IRM and their right to use the mechanism in case their efforts to resolve their project-related problems with the Bank management are unyielding.