President Uhuru Kenyatta Wednesday urged all governments in the world to focus their policies to empowering women and youth in order to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Uhuru said that the world can achieve prosperity by empowering women, youth and other neglected sections of society.
“When I assumed the leadership of Kenya, my Administration deliberately chose to champion the economic empowerment of women and youth, in recognition of the potential economic and social benefits we stand to achieve in our society by giving these two groups the requisite support,” said the President.
The President noted that the most neglected sections of the population are usually women, youth, people living with disabilities and children.
The President spoke when he officially opened the 2nd High-Level Meeting of the Global Partnership for Effective Development Co-operation at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre.
Outlining Kenya’s experience in global partnership, National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich said the Government has embraced the Sustainable Development Goals which have provided a framework that is transforming the lives of Kenyans.
“Our commitment to eradicate poverty, fast tracking inclusive and sustainable development including urgent action on climate change has been renewed in recent global conferences right from Addis Ababa, New York and recently in Marrakech, Morocco,” Mr Rotich said.
Other speakers included Malawi’s Finance, Planning and Development Minister Goodall Gondwe, Netherlands Foreign Trade and Development Co-operation Minister Lilliane Ploumen, Mexico’s Foreign Affairs Secretary Claudia Ruiz Massieu Salinas and United Nations Under Secretary General Wu Hongbo, who read UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s message, among others.