Kenya: President William Ruto has called for bold reforms at the United Nations Security Council to tackle the evolving global challenges. The President said the current multilateralism system proved to be inadequate in addressing the crises such as climate change, inequality and debt that continued to falter in providing any and let alone timely solutions.
President pointed out without immediate action, as humanity will face an unprecedented global crisis. Ruto said that they had no choice but to reject the outdated systems and re-imagine a framework of international cooperation that worked for all 8 billion people.
He delivered a speech on Sunday during the ‘Summit of the Future’ plenary at the United Nations General Assembly Hall in New York, United States. He emphasised that there was a need to redesign the international financial system that strengthens the partnerships for common security, while bridging the digital divide and investing in human capacity.
President noted that it was unfortunate that only 17% of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) targets on largely due to unmet financial commitments.
He said that the Developing countries, especially in Africa and the Global South are facing severe funding shortages and due to this the gap is getting widened.
President of Kenya explained that it was time of the historical injustice of Africa, lacking in permanent representation on the UN Security Council, that to be addressed as a matter of justice in the ongoing UN reforms.
Ruto informed the General Assembly of the advancements made by the Kenya and led the Multinational Support Mission in Haiti, stating the limited resources as the contingent has achieved the tangible progress.
He added to his statement, what looked like mission impossible is now a present and real possibility for peace in Haiti. He said that Kenya is keen on increasing its forest cover to 30% in 2030 by planting 15 billion trees, which is an effort, largely led by the youth.
President Ruto expressed further that two weeks ago, he launched ClimateWorX – a programme that will employ 200,000 young Kenyans in sustainable public works, mainly focused on ecological restoration and infrastructure.
During the Summit of the Future, an interactive dialogue session was held, where there was a need to address the structural and monetary issues that cripple multilateral financial institutions and disproportionately affected in developing the countries.
Ruto added that these will include limited fiscal capacity, rising debt, unfair credit ratings and uneven interest rated that threaten the realisation of SDGs.
According to him, the fourth International Conference on Financing for Development in Spain, scheduled for next year, might be the last chance to make significant reforms to meet the SDGs.