Africa-Press – Kenya. President Uhuru Kenyatta on Monday, September 20, lauded efforts by the Jubilee government to grow the economy through enhancing business participation, reforms in the education sector and other changes.
Kenyatta added that Kenya was making significant progress towards the attainment of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). He reiterated Kenya’s commitment to SDGs saying, the country will not lose track of the subject.
The President addressed a convention on SDGs convened by the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, during the ongoing 76th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA76).
“I want today to reaffirm Kenya’s commitment to the SDGs, and to ensuring that we maintain the implementation momentum that we started with,” the President stated.
The growth witnessed in education, gender, and climate change among other SDG sectors, the Head of State insisted, was despite the socio-economic challenges occasioned by the Covid-19 pandemic.
He added that Kenya had prioritized SDG sectors with the highest socio-economic impact as outlined in the country’s Big 4 development blueprint.
“Additionally, my administration has sharpened the economic policy by prioritizing action in sectors with the greatest multiplier effect on the economy, namely affordable housing; manufacturing; universal health coverage; and food security and nutrition,” Uhuru told the delegates.
He further highlighted that Kenya’s push towards attaining food and nutrition security was being held by climate change among other salient factors.
According to Uhuru, the country had embarked on an aggressive afforestation programme and development of its renewable energy resources as part of its broad climate change mitigation strategy.
On housing, the President detailed that Kenya had taken steps to promote sustainable cities and human settlements by implementing affordable housing programmes so as to end the expansion of informal settlements.
He called for greater international solidarity in post-Covid-19 recovery so as to support developing countries to “build back better, build back stronger and regain the momentum on achieving SDGs”.
UN Secretary General Guterres added that challenges facing the world such as climate change, conflicts and Covid-19 had slowed down global efforts towards the attainment of SDGs.
“I call on the world to mobilize behind a global vaccination plan that doubles vaccine production, to reach 70 per cent of the world’s population by the middle of next year.”
“Second, we need to get down to the business of a sustainable and equitable recovery for all, so that we stay on track to end poverty by 2030,” Secretary General Guterres stated, adding that governments should prioritise investing more in vaccination and socio-economic systems that support the revival of education, social protection, health care and employment creation.
