Kenya ensures inclusivity in the preparatory process of the 2024 voluntary national review(VNR)
Kenya will present its third Voluntary National Review (VNR) in the 2024 High Level Political Forum (HLPF) at the United Nations Headquarters in New York in July.
The VNR will assess the progress the country has made in implementing its 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development amid climate change risks in the post-Covid 19 era. The first and second reviews were presented in 2017 and 2020 respectively.
Kenya is among 44 countries which are set to present their VNRs at the HLPF under the auspices of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)as per approval from President Paula Ojedai in a letter dated 20th October 2023.
The process of preparing the VNR is spearheaded by the State Department for Economic Planning through the International Frameworks Division. To start off the process and ensure an inclusive and a participatory process, the Principal Secretary, James Muhati, established the Inter-Agency Technical Committee (IATC) and nominated its representatives. The committee comprise representatives from the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), Council of Governors (CoG), United Nations Resident Coordinator Office (UNRCO), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA), SDGs Kenya Forum, and Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM). The committee was tasked with steering the process in collaboration with the State Department.
To begin the preparation of the report, The IATC in collaboration with the MDAs convened at Vickmark Hotel in Nakuru from 4th-8th March 2024. The retreat agreed on the structure of the report and embarked on drafting of a zero draft.
The draft was then subjected to a review by stakeholders drawn from the Inter-Agency Technical Sub-Committee on SDGs (IATSC). In a meeting which was held from 25th -29th March 2024 at Enashipai in Naivasha, the committee reviewed the draft, identified the data gaps and refined the report. The report from the retreat then formed the first draft.
To further refine the report and ensure the gaps identified were filled, SDEP through the International Frameworks Division convened a consultative meeting with all the State Departments from 16th-17th April 2024. In the meeting which was held at the SDGs offices in Bruce House, the State Departments provided input and data culminating in the second Draft of the report.
On 17th April 2024 at the Development partner Coordination: Inaugural Government Policy Level meeting held at the Deputy president’s Residence in Karen, PS Muhati apprised the Deputy President, Hon. Rigathi Gachagua on the status of the preparation of the VNR. In the meeting which was also attended by the United Nation Agencies, the PS informed the DP of the progress made in preparing the report and provided the next steps in submission of the report to United Nations Department for Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), presentation at HLPF and the dissemination.
