REMARKS BY Ms.

ANNE WAIGURU, CABINET SECRETARY,

MINISTRY OF DEVOLUTION AND PLANNING DURING THE
SECOND UNDAF NATIONAL STEERING COMMITTEE (NSC)
MEETING, ON 6TH AUGUST 2015, STATE HOUSE NAIROBI
Your Excellency the President of the Republic of Kenya,
Commander in Chief of the Kenya Defense Forces Hon Uhuru
Kenyatta,
Cabinet Secretaries present,
UN Resident Coordinator - Ms. Nardos Bekele-Thomas,
Governors present,
Principal Secretaries present,
Ambassadors and Heads of Missions present,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen.
Your Excellency
Thank you for hosting this second meeting of the United Nations
Development
Committee

Assistance

(NSC) of the

Framework

(UNDAF)

National

Government of Kenya, UN

Steering
agencies,

Development Partners and Non State Actors.

During this meeting, we will ascertain the implementation status of
UNDAF in Kenya and take stock of the Joint Work Plan, which was
endorsed during the first National Steering Committee meeting held in
Kwale, in February this year.

As you are aware, UNDAF was developed according to the principles of

UN Delivering as One aimed at ensuring government ownership and
enhancing coordination of UN Agencies support towards governments
priorities and development plans.
I am pleased to note that the UNDAF is so far successful on both fronts,
as is evidenced by His Excellency The Presidents leadership and
oversight of the UNDAF process; and, the various stakeholders present
here today.
This past week, I had the honor to present Kenya at a meeting of the UN
Development Group for Middle Income Countries during which we
discussed UNs Delivering as One approach and the UNDAF process in
Kenya. In my remarks, I noted that UNDAF creates a useful framework
for organizing development assistance in countries like Kenya, and
encouraged other development partners to learn from it.
Further, the Delivering as One approach complements Kenyas Whole of
Government approach, which calls for various government ministries
and agencies working together to enhance efficiency and improved
service delivery for the benefit for the citizen. This has been experienced
in the Huduma Kenya Programme amongst others.
Your Excellency,
UNDAF is founded on the Economic, Social and Political pillars of Kenyas
Vision 2030 which seeks is to create a globally competitive and
prosperous nation with high quality of life by 2030. UNDAFs Strategic

Result Areas are therefore well aligned to the goals of the Second
Medium Term Plan for the period 2013-2018. This Framework also
supports Kenya to realize the MDGs by the end of MTP II thereby,
creating the foundation for attaining its post 2015 Sustainable
development goals.
To realize these goals, the Government and UN Agencies in Kenya
agreed on the following four Strategic Result Areas:
1) Transformational Governance;
2) Human Capital Development;
3) Inclusive and Sustainable Growth; and
4) Environmental Sustainability, Land Management and Human
Security.
Implementation of activities is coordinated in Strategic Result Groups,
which are jointly co-chaired by Government and UN Agencies. In turn,
the Strategic Results Groups work closely with counterpart Ministries,
Commissions, County Governments, Civil Society, private sector and
other key stakeholders.
The National Steering Committee is responsible for the strategic
positioning of the UNDAFs work and oversight on programme
implementation. As the Co-chair of this committee, alongside Mr. Henry
Rotich, Cabinet Secretary, National Treasury and Ms. Nardos BekeleThomas UN Resident Coordinator, I am pleased to report that UNDAFs
implementation arrangements are in place and working relatively well.

Your Excellency
Following approval in March 2014, and endorsement of the Joint Work
Plan earlier this year, UNDAF has reached major milestones. We look
forward to hearing about these in the upcoming presentations, whereby
I will join my Cabinet Secretary colleagues presenting on the four
strategic result areas.
Going forward, it is expected that programme will continue to prioritize
its activities particularly in strengthening the legal and policy framework;
support to facilitate service delivery to citizens; and assistance for the
relevant institutions in providing timely, disaggregated data. The latter is
critical for evidence based programming and planning at national and
county level and help to support job creation particularly for the youth,
women and people living with disabilities.
Your Excellency
Todays meeting follows recent bilateral discussions with United States
Government. During which the two Governments reaffirmed their
shared objective to improve governance by increasing transparency and
accountability, and to work together to combat corruption. This will
include, amongst others, stakeholder engagement, civic education and
awareness programmes, ethics training for all public officials and
completion of second African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) review.
These agreements will form the basis for an updated Governance Action
Plan.

I therefore look forward to the incorporation and implementation of

these areas in the UNDAF Joint Work Plan, as they are important drivers
towards achievement of the Governments transformative agenda and
the MTP II.
Your Excellency
In conclusion, I wish to thank you for your leadership of this Framework
that has brought us this far.
I also wish to acknowledge the efforts of all who have been working
tirelessly since the launch of the Framework.
I now urge us all to commit time and effort for the successful
implementation of the Framework. As leaders of this programme, it is
our responsibility to act together in cognizance of this opportunity in
collaboration with the UN system towards realization of Kenyas
developmental commitments to its people and international community.
Thank you.