Poverty Eradication Network (PEN) was registered in Kenya by the Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) Coordination Bureau on December 1, 2002 and began operations, from its headquarters in Nairobi, on November 4, 2002.

PEN was founded for the specific purpose of strengthening not-for-profit groups and organisations across the complete spectrum of civil society throughout East Africa.

PEN’s founders recognized that a high percentage of grassroots development initiatives and locally driven civil society organisations died a natural death after the initial motivation and energy behind their formation had subsided.

     
 

PEN is involved in ongoing organisational assessment of Oxfam partners in the greater Turkana & West Pokot districts

  
 

 
 

 
     
 

PEN’s vision is to contribute to "A just society where all people have access to a life of dignity, devoid of absolute poverty." PEN believes that it is only the people themselves who can work their way out of poverty and secure a just society.

As one small actor in the wide realm of poverty eradication, PEN sees its contribution as, on the one hand, a developer of effective approaches to capacity building and organizational development for CSOs, and, on the other hand, a disseminator or good practice in CSO performance. In this way PEN sees itself,
together with other centres of excellence pursuing similar ideals, making a major contribution to the world’s single greatest challenge.
PEN focuses on specific areas of institutional capacity building. Poverty Eradication Network designs and conducts tailor made courses responding to specifically identified needs of individual CSOs.