Kenya for Enhancing Development Partnership with UN

On Wednesday, Kenya's Vice President Rigathi Gachagua assured the United Nations agencies present in the country of the government's enhanced collaboration in achieving its development goals and targets.

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Gachagua noted that the UN Co-operation Framework for Kenya supports and aligns with the government's main development priorities, for the economy and society.

"I commend the UN Kenya for the strategic set of joint programs being developed by line ministries and UN entities, together with a wide range of stakeholders," he told representatives of 24 UN agencies in Kenya during a meeting in the capital of Nairobi.

The Kenyan official said the UN-supported joint programs cover priorities that go hand in glove with the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA) and the recently launched Fourth Medium Term Plan (MTP IV).

"Continuous engagement with partners is the 'modus operandi (a particular way or method of doing something)' of President William Ruto's administration. A good idea should give room to a better idea, and a better idea gives room to the best idea. None of us has a monopoly on knowledge. Continuous engagement enriches our knowledge," he said.

Gachagua added that the government will work with the agencies in the implementation of the 2022-2026 Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework.

He also lauded the UN and development partners for collaborating with the government in response to the devastating drought occasioned by five consecutive failed rainy seasons and the devastating El Niño flooding in 2023 into 2024.

He said the agencies reinforced the longstanding urgency of bolstering food security, humanitarian response, and resilience.

Stephen Jackson, the UN Resident Coordinator in Kenya, said the UN agencies in Kenya have aligned their development programs with the core pillars of the government's BETA plan.

Jackson said the UN agencies will continue engaging and partnering with the government in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework Kenya (2022-2026).

"BETA for us means leaving no one behind. We are speaking to and committed to the same thing, and this is pragmatic alignment. The cooperation framework runs for four years, and our vision is to mobilize 2.2 billion U.S. dollars for its implementation. We have mobilized quite a bit," he added.