Millennium Development Goals in Kenya
Background
In September 2000, all the 191 Member States of the United Nations adopted the Millennium Declaration (GA Resolution A/54/2000) which outlines peace, security and development concerns and the subsequent UN Secretary-General's Report entitled "Road Map Towards the Implementation of the UN Millennium Declaration" (GA Resolution A/56/326), a co-operative path has been charted to meet the challenges of future development co-operation. In His Excellency President Moi the then President of Kenya, was among the world leaders who attended the Millennium Summit. The Millennium Declaration, among other things, mainstreamed a set of inter-connected and mutually reinforcing goals into the global agenda. During this meeting, agreement was reached among the OECD, World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on key elements of a framework of this global agenda in the context of goals, targets and indicators referred to as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
Through the Millennium Summit, the General Assembly gave the Secretary-General and the UN system the important mandate to support national governments in the implementation of the Declaration. Accordingly, the entire United Nations family of Member States, international organizations, funds, agencies, programmes, the private sector and civil society must join together to meet the commitments that are embodied in the Millennium Declaration.
Recognizing that the Kenya Government made its commitment to the Millennium Declaration through the personal participation in the Summit by the Head of State, the Government is expected to play its full role in putting into practice the goals set in the Declaration. The MDGs will build on and contribute to other on-going national frameworks, initiatives and processes such as the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP); the UN's Common County Assessment (CCA); the UN Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) and the World Bank's CAP. These various frameworks, therefore, will be used as tools for interim monitoring of progress towards the MDGs.
MDG reports will be an important tool for awareness raising, advocacy, alliance building, and the renewal of political commitment at the country level, as well as to build national capacity for monitoring and reporting on goals and targets. At the global level, the Secretary-General will be expected to report annually to the General Assembly on progress towards the MDGs and by so doing, ensure that these issues remain at the forefront of national and global agendas. The MDGs comprise ambitious global targets set for 2015 and are as follows:
During the Monterrey Conference on Financing for Development, the Kenya Government re-affirmed its commitment to mobilizing national efforts towards the achievement of the MDGs by 2015. The head of the Kenya delegation, the then Minister for Finance and Planning Hon. Chris Obure identified the need for resources as critical to make rapid progress towards that objective.
MDGs Background