REMARKS BY DR. EDWARD SAMBILI, PERMANENT SECRETARY MINISTRY OF STATE FOR PLANNING, NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, AND VISION 2030 DURING THE MDGs STAKEHOLDERS RETREAT ON FEBRUARY 8TH 2010, AT OLE SERENI HOTEL, NAIROBI

H. E. Heil Sirve, Finland Ambassador to Kenya;
Representative of the EU
UNDP Representative
Representatives of Development Partners
Representatives of CSOs/NGOs
Government Officers present
Distinguished guests
Ladies and Gentlemen

It gives me great pleasure to welcome all of you to this National stakeholders’ meeting which has been convened to discuss our achievements towards realization of MDGs as well as sharing of experiences, lessons learnt and best practices in the implementation of the MDGs in the country. The meeting further aims at giving all of us an opportunity to make concrete proposals for action to accelerate the attainment of the MDGs by 2015.
The outcome of this meeting will enable us come up with a common and shared understanding of where we are and what we need to do to accelerate the implementation of MDGs in the country.

Ladies and gentlemen:  As you are already aware, the Ministry of State for Planning, National Development and Vision 2030 has been coordinating mainstreaming of MDGs into national policy, planning and budgeting since 2002. This process has been going on very well with key activities having been undertaken. Some of these include; carrying out MDGs needs assessment in the country, publication of the 2005 Needs Assessment and Costing Report, publication of the 2003, 2005 and 2007 MDGs Status Reports, the sensitization of Members of Parliament who have been very active in spearheading campaigns on the implementation of the MDGs and a sensitization workshop for policy makers and local authorities amongst others.

Ladies and gentlemen: Other notable gains made towards achievement of MDGs in the country include; increased access to primary education where the enrollment increased  from 5.9 million in 2002 to 8.6 million in 2008; increased retention rate from 62.8 per cent in 2002 to 81 percent in 2007; the number of children sleeping under insecticide treated net increased from 4.6% in 2003 to 46% in 2008 as a result of free distribution of mosquito nets by the government targeting children and pregnant women;  there has been door to door spraying of mosquitoes.  Furthermore, the government has exempted patients with TB, malaria and HIV/AIDS from payment under the policy on cost sharing; the university entrance cut off points for girls has been put at one point lower than that of boys and as part of the affirmative action to address the gender gap, the government is implementing a policy where at least 30% of all government appointments to go to women.  These are just a few of the key achievements that the government has made towards realization of MDGs in the country. A detailed presentation is going to be made by the Head of the MDGs-PIU Unit from the Ministry.

Ladies and gentlemen: The Government of Kenya recognizes the efforts and commitment of development partners, faith based organizations, private sector and civil society organisations towards MDGS agenda in the country. Indeed, each one of you has contributed immensely in one way or another towards the achievements of the MDGs. The achievements we have realised so far are as a result of your partnership and collaboration in areas of advocacy, resource mobilization, capacity building and promotion of MDGs at the community level among other areas.

Despite these achievements, the implementation of the MDGs has been faced with a number of challenges. Some of these challenges  include global financial and economic crises, the negative impact of the post election violence, prolonged drought that we have experienced in the last three years, inadequate financial resources to fund MDG sectors, cultural practices that hinder achievement of gender equality in education and employment, regional disparities in the attainment of the MDGs, conflict arising from volatile borders, climate change,  slow technology transfer especially in food production from developed countries to developing countries and inability of developed countries to avail 0.7% of Gross National Income in financial resources for MDGs to developing countries as agreed in the Millennium Declaration.  To surmount these challenges calls for collective and concerted efforts by all stakeholders.

Ladies and gentlemen:  I am made to understand that the challenges that hinder quick implementation of MDGs will be one of the areas of focus in the forthcoming 2010 General Assembly. You will recall that the 64th substantive session of the United Nations General Assembly adopted the resolution 64/184 on the scope, duration, modalities, participation and format of the 2010 High Level Plenary meeting of the sixty-fifth session of the General Assembly.

The Plenary meeting will take place from 20th to 22nd September 2010 and will be attended by Heads of State and Government.  The main focus of the meeting will be accelerating progress made towards the achievement of the MDGs by 2015 while taking into account the progress made so far, best practices, lessons learnt, obstacles and gaps, challenges and opportunities and concrete strategies for action.

In preparation for the 2010 UN General Assembly meeting, the government has made a decision through the Ministry to hold consultative stakeholders’ meetings with this being the first one.

Ladies and gentlemen:  I would like to appreciate the role played by different stakeholders in achieving the MDGs. To begin with, my appreciation goes to the development partners including the Government of Finland, UNDP and MDG Centre for their role towards creating awareness at the community level. In addition, I appreciate the role played by other development partners herewith present in their support to different sectors; the private sector and civil society organizations in accelerating the achievement of the MDGs through various initiatives. I would also like to thank the MDGs inter ministerial task force for tracking and reporting on MDGs in their respective sectors. Last but not least, I would like to appreciate the role played by Kenya National Assembly with reference to the Parliamentary Caucus on MDGs for championing MDGs process amongst policy makers. I want to assure you that the government will continue creating an enabling environment for the implementation of the MDGs in Kenya.

In conclusion, I would like to state that the implementation of the MDGs requires close collaboration among all the stakeholders. I therefore look forward to continued collaboration with all of you. I do sincerely thank all of you for the good contribution and efforts you have made towards the MDG process in Kenya. Ladies and gentlemen, with those few remarks, I declare this forum officially opened.


Thank you.