TALKING POINTS OF THE HONOURABLE MINISTER, MINISTRY OF STATE FOR PLANNING, NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND VISION 2030 FOR THE LUNCH MEETING WITH THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, UNICEF NEW YORK

28 OCTOBER 2010, AT SERENA HOTEL

Kenya Vision 2030 is the country’s development blueprint which aims at making Kenya a newly industrializing, middle income country with the overarching aim of ensuring high quality life for all its citizens by the year 2030. The Vision 2030 has three main Pillars, notably the Economic, Social and Political Pillars, and these form the foundation for the 5 year Medium Term Plans. Within the Social Pillar, the vision seeks to ensure social equity and equitable access to public services, goals that have been part of the nation’s development agenda since independence. The successful implementation of the social Pillar calls for dedication and commitment not only from all Kenyans, but also from the private sector and development partners. One such development partner in Kenya has been UNICEF. The Kenya Government therefore wishes to appreciate/acknowledge UNICEF’s support to Kenya.

The Kenya Government is also committed to implementing its new constitution, which is much aligned to the Vision 2030 and the MTP (2008-2012). The new constitution introduces devolved governance structures (counties) that will ensure better accountability, equitable development and social equity at lower levels of governance.

The Government has over the past few years demonstrated its commitment to equitable social development and outcomes by gradually increasing the budgetary allocations to social protection and children/women focused programmes such as the Free Primary Education, Public Health care, safe water and child protection.

The Government of Kenya rolled out the Social Budgeting Guidelines in June this year. The Guidelines aims to promote local and national budgeting to prioritize investments in the best interests of Kenyan children and women. They give children’s rights the visibility and importance that they deserve. Moreover, these guidelines will improve equity by helping to ensure that children, women and poor families are not marginalized in both the actual public sector allocations, as well as the decision-making process of arriving at these budgets.

Most importantly, the social Budgeting Guidelines demonstrate Kenya’s accountability, having ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1990, to develop strategies, policies and programmes, to improve the situation of poor and vulnerable children and their families. Beyond high political commitment and financial resources, gains in social sector funding for children and women, will depend on how successfully the social budgeting innovations and initiatives are implemented.

The Government would therefore wish to request further UNICEF assistance in its commitment to fulfill its obligation especially the implementation of Social budgeting guidelines that require more funds to assist the new counties in capacity building to improve accountability and monitoring equitable social development for all.

It is hoped that the Mid Term Review of the GoK-UNICEF Country Proramme would enable Government to table and discuss further adjustments that UNICEF might need to make to better support the new Kenya as envisaged in the new constitution.

Thank you.