ACHIEVING THE MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS IN KENYA

1
ACHIEVING THE MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS IN
KENYA

• AN OVERVIEW OF THE MDG PROCESS IN KENYA
• Mr. George Anyango
• Ministry of Planning National Development
• November 2005

2
Why the MDGs

• World leaders including Kenya adopted the MDGs
  in 2000 to address the challenges of poverty,
  disease, illiteracy and environmental degradation

3
MDGs are now recognized world over as a Vehicle
to address poverty, due to their potential in
providing

• Compatibility with country development
  frameworks
• Universal benchmarks/indicators for measuring
  progress against acceptable standards of well
  being and
• Coordinating focus for governments, donors,
  private sector and civil society development
  frameworks for increased coherence in policy,
  funding and implementation of development
  initiatives

4
Progress towards achieving the MDGs

• Significant progress has been made towards
  achieving the MDGs between 1990 and 2003, but
  Sub-Saharan Africa is fairing poorly.
• See the comparison below

5
Country Comparisons
6
Country Comparisons (cont.)

• It is clear that most countries in Sub-Saharan
  Africa are off track on MDG achievement
• Kenya still lags behind some countries in the
  same region, especially on poverty and HIV
  prevalence

7
What is needed for MDG to be achieved

• Faster economic growth. Kenyas economic growth
  rate is 4.3, still low to enable MDGs
  achievement (7)
• Governance A lot has been done but more required
  on accountability, creating a business
  environment friendly to investors and allocating
  more public resources to MDGs
• Build capacity to carry out basic functions of
  government (e.g education, health, water, roads
  and energy).

8
In Short

• We need to align our development strategies with
  the MDGs, starting with the Economic Recovery
  Strategy and the MTEF budget
• Maintain high and sustained growth
• Strengthen pro-poor and gender sensitive
  approaches

9
Already, there is a close linkage between the ERS
and MDGs
10
Work Done on MDGs in Kenya

• Progress Report for Kenya launched in July 2003,
  indicating a fairly weak policy environment for
  achieving the goals
• May 2004 the Needs Assessment Study launched and
  followed by stakeholders consultations to
  identify interventions for the needs assessment
  studies
• Sector specific needs assessment reports
  finalised by end of 2004 and early 2005.

11
The Needs Assessment Study

• The objective of the study was to put the
  country on an MDG- based long term planning and
  connect to budget process by
• Identifying interventions and investments needed
  to meet MDGs by 2015
• Identifying the resources required to support a
  scale-up of interventions through to 2015
• Outline a financing strategy to achieve MDGs
• Developing a well-researched long term plan as a
  basis for realigning ERS towards meeting MDGs
  and
• Provide a framework for ME and policy dialogue

12
Outputs from the Assessments

• A Comprehensive Kenya MDG Needs Assessment Report
  was published in August 2005
• Using information from the Needs Assessment
  Report and inputs from stakeholders, an MDG
  Status Report, 2005 was also published in August
  2005
• The Status Report notes the significant change in
  policy environment and increased financial
  resources towards the achievement of the MDGs
• The two reports were disseminated during the
  recent MDG5 Summit in New York

13
Participation at the MDG5 Summit

• Kenya actively participated in MDG5 Summit
  through
• The participation of H.E. the President, who also
  gave a statement
• A Kenyan Exhibition at the UN to disseminate
  materials and information on the MDG work in
  Kenya
• A meeting of the seven MDG pilot countries Kenya
  was the only country in Africa to have produced
  the Needs Assessment Report.

14
Participation at the MDG5 Summit (Cont.)

• A Kenyan specific side event that was hosted by
  H.E. the President and attended by
  representatives from development partners. The
  purpose was to share the challenges that country
  faces towards meeting the MDGs
• In short, Kenya made a strong presence at the
  Summit.

15
Outcome of the MDG5 Summit

• The world leaders reaffirmed their commitment to
  the Millennium Declaration
• They reiterated their determination to ensure
  timely and full realization of the goals and
• The need for member states to adopt and implement
  by 2006, comprehensive national development
  strategies to meet the MDGs

16
Challenges

• Taking the process to the sub-national level
• Capacity development at all levels and in all
  sectors
• Alignment of national and sector plans,
  strategies, and implementation frameworks to the
  MDGs
• Securing adequate resources for meeting the MDGs
  improving aid uptake, filling resource gaps,
  mobilizing all stakeholders etc.

17
THANK YOU