On 20 and 21 January 2026, a delegation from the AICS Office in Nairobi, led by the Head of Office, Dr Fabio Minniti, visited Malindi to monitor a number of projects carried out as part of two Italian Cooperation initiatives: the programme ‘Creation of a health network in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda’ (AID 012519) and the “Integrated Programme for the Socio-Health Development of Malindi – Phase II (MISHDP II)” (AID 011685).
Accompanied by representatives of the Kenyan Coastal Development Authority, local partners and the NGO World Friends, the delegation was able to see first-hand the results achieved through years of collaborative work, while also strengthening a shared vision for the objectives that remain to be accomplished.
Although these are two separate initiatives financed in different ways – the first through concessional credit, the second through a grant entrusted to CSOs – both operate continuously in Kilifi County and the sub-counties of Malindi and Magarini, with complementary actions that amplify the overall impact of Italian Cooperation.
MISHDP II is an initiative financed by a concessional loan of €6.4 million, focusing on priority sectors such as health, education and civil infrastructure, with the aim of improving school learning environments, expanding access to quality healthcare and strengthening local institutions. During the mission, the delegation visited the new Intensive Care Unit at Malindi Sub-County Hospital, recently built as part of the programme and equipped with a High Dependency Unit for clinically unstable or high-risk patients who require more monitoring than a normal ward.
The next stop took the delegation to five schools built or rehabilitated thanks to MISHDP II, where new classrooms and equipped science laboratories are already having a positive impact on learning. School staff explained how these facilities have significantly contributed to improving the scientific skills of students, ensuring more effective and dignified learning conditions, even in the most remote areas of Kilifi County. Two of the schools are also located along the route of the new Mjanaheri–Ngomeni road, also part of the MISHDP II project, for which preparatory work has just begun. This road will connect the town of Ngomeni to the Malindi–Lamu Highway, facilitating access to basic services and supporting the socio-economic development of the area. In Ngomeni, the programme has also built a new building for the Assistant Chief of the Ngomeni community and surrounding villages.
One of the laboratories built thanks to the MISDHP
The interventions of the second phase of MISHDP are part of the achievements – schools and rural dispensaries – of the first phase (2008 to 2012), which are used by the community and maintained in good condition.
This visit also provided an opportunity to see how the MISHDP II interventions integrate with the regional health programme – a programme focused on strengthening maternal and child health services in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda – thus supporting a coherent system of local development. A concrete example of this contiguity is the new maternity ward at Malindi Hospital, which will be inaugurated in the coming weeks. Built next to the intensive care unit, it was created to address the lack of adequate space for caesarean sections, offering safe and continuous care to mothers and newborns in an area with a large catchment area.
The construction of the ward and its equipment were made possible by funding from the Agency and entrusted to the NGO World Friends, which also intervened in the counties of Nairobi, Nyandarua and Meru. 12 health facilities were supported through the training of health workers, purchasing and distributing equipment for the centres involved, creating mobile ultrasound services at community level and setting up a neonatal simulation centre for training healthcare personnel in the management of neonatal emergencies at the Ruaraka Uhai Neema Hospital in Nairobi, managed by World Friends. In total, during the programme’s implementation period between 2023 and 2025, 850 healthcare workers and 451 Community Health Promoters were trained, and mobile ultrasound services were launched in five health centres.
A mission rich in content and results, which demonstrates Italian Cooperation’s commitment to contributing to the creation of an integrated local development system for the communities of Malindi, offering quality educational and health services in a safe, inclusive and sustainable environment.
The new maternity ward of the Malindi Sub County Hospital