NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR POPULATION AND DEVELOPMENT
Remarks by the Director General of the National Council for Population and Development during a Media Briefing for the 3rd Anniversary of the Nairobi Summit on ICPD25
The Ambassador of the Royal Danish Embassy in Kenya, HE Ole Thonke
Our Partners present
Members of the Fourth Estate
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen
Good morning!
I am very glad and humbled to welcome you this morning as we prepare to launch the third progress report on ICPD25 Kenya Country Commitments.
We have organized this forum to give you a snapshot of the ICPD25 Kenya Country Commitments progress so that tomorrow when we launch the report you will be able to flag out and share widely the critical issues that affect the population that have been highlighted in the report.
Ladies and Gentlemen, you may recall, during the Nairobi Summit on ICPD25 held in Nairobi in 2019, co-convened by the Government of Kenya, UNFPA and the Royal Government of Denmark, Kenya committed to accelerate the promise of achieving the Cairo Programme of Action (PoA). The 1994 Cairo ICPD called on member states to prioritize the health and human rights of their citizens. During the Nairobi Summit on ICPD25, Kenya prioritized implementation of the Programme of Action through the 17 commitments to be achieved by 2030.
The National Council for Population and Development (NCPD) was directed and tasked to track, monitor, coordinate and report on the implementation of the commitments,
Ladies and Gentlemen
To ensure the progress of the implementation of the commitments is on course, NCPD established a Technical Working Group (TWG) whose membership comprise key implementing Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), the Council of Governors and partners. The first task of the TWG was to develop an action plan and budget to guide implementation and reporting. As we prepare to receive the achievements made so far, I wish to draw your attention to this year’s theme:
Accelerating the Promise: Equitable Actions to the Last Mile
The theme rallies all implementers both government and its partners to ensure everyone gets services including those hard to reach populations irrespective of
where they are in this country.
The National Council for Population and Development (NCPD) values the critical role that the media play in creating awareness, advocating and popularizing population issues of public interest. We recognize the media as public education centres. Working closely with you bring messages of peace in Kapedo; deliver a resilience message for Mandera; onboard an investor in Wasini Island; as well as end Child marriages and adolescent pregnancy in Samburu. What am saying is: the media have quintessential platforms to drive socio-economic transformation for our country and globally. And we want to be part of our country’s transformation through provision of evidence-based information that can be used for policy and development programming.
Ladies and Gentlemen
In order to increase momentum with regard to access to information, NCPD, with the support of partners, has developed a dedicated website dubbed the ICPD25KenyaHub that will be launched tomorrow. The platform will continuously provide up to date information. I urge all players and stakeholders to take advantage of the hub by uploading and sharing content related to ICPD25 Kenya Country Commitments. In our view, this will make the website vibrant as well as ensure the masses are reached. The task is on how to reach the ordinary Mwananchi with the information that will be at the hub. Let me assure you that through targeted approaches, all audiences will be reached in their own unique way. And I know the media will make this hub their home.
I take this opportunity to sincerely thank the government of Kenya and all partners involved for the enormous support NCPD continues to enjoy. NCPD is now 40 years old. We have walked a journey of population policy and programming. We have seen successes; challenges and we have learnt lessons on how to improve. As we plan for the future, we take pride in strengthening the links to ensure service delivery and information to the most vulnerable populations. We continually strive to ensure human-centric approaches are engrained in the strategic delivery of services for the wellbeing of our population.
Thank you and God Bless you!
