On Monday 13th July 2020, Kenya reported the second Voluntary National Review at the High Level Political Forum under the theme ‘Accelerated action and transformative pathways: Realising the decade of action and delivery for sustainable development’
Due to the impact of Covid-19, the forum was hosted virtually from 7th to 17th July 2020. This presented an opportunity for everyone to be part of the discussion and engagement with multi stakeholders globally.
With Covid-19 pandemic , the various stakeholders discussed the impact the pandemic has had on the thematic areas as well as to explore ways to progress , since this year marks the Decade of Action in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.
This year ,47 countries out of the 197 member states of the United Nations presented their achievements in line with the Sustainable Development Goals. In Africa, 16 countries presented their Voluntary National Reviews, including Kenya.
The High Level Political Forum brings together multi stakeholders to highlight the efforts they are taking to achieve the SDGs and helps translate the vision of the SDGs into reality by looking at what is working and what is not at global, regional, national and local levels.
Kenya managed to present the progress made in line with all SDGs.
Among the achievements that Kenya presented includes
- Commitment to mainstream SDGs in the National Development Agenda ,
- Prioritization of the Big 4 Agenda that that accelerates SDGs 2,3, 8,and 11 ,
- Commitment to eliminate FGM by 2022
- Following a “whole of government” and a “whole society” approach to ensure no one is left behind .
- Partnership with various stakeholders in the implementation and accelerating SDG 17.
Read the key messages here
From the Second Voluntary National Review Report on the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, Kenya has made strides in addressing challenges since they first presented them in 2017. This includes measures to address youth unemployment , enactment of laws such as the Cyber crimes Act enacted in 2018 as well as The Prohibition of Terrorism Act which was amended in 2019 among others.
While addressing the achievements, the report highlights the need for financing for the implementation of the SDGs as well as building capacity of the national statistical office to collect quality, timely and reliable which that can be disaggregated.
According to the 2019 Kenya Population and Housing Census
(KPHC), the Kenyan population increased from 37.7 million in
2009 to 47.6million in 2019. This means that Kenya continues
to face increased demand for basic facilities including roads,
schools, hospitals, housing as well as food, water and energy. This
is likely to impact negatively on the implementation of the SDGs
as the economic growth cannot cope with the rising population
growth.
source: SECOND VOLUNTARY NATIONAL REVIEW REPORT ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
The Constitution of Kenya, the Third Mid Term Plan & priorities of the Government under the Big 4 Agenda adequately cover the 2030 Agenda targets.@BaloziYatani #KenyaVNR2020 #HLPF2020 #TwendeKaziNaSDGs #DecadeOfActionOnSDGs #LeaveNoOneBehind
— SDGs Kenya Forum (@SDGsKenyaForum) July 13, 2020