President William Ruto has urged international financial institutions to end discrimination for the effective achievement of sustainable development goals.
Speaking on Monday during the opening of the Second Session of the United Nations Habitat Assembly at the UN Complex in Nairobi, Ruto said the current development financing is defective and dotted with prejudice.
“Our discussions must therefore pay due attention to the fact that the prevalent unjustness of the international financial architecture, and the discriminatory practices inherent in development financing, are iniquitous insofar as they, directly and indirectly, exacerbate the vulnerability of the majority of humanity,” Ruto said.
“It is time therefore to correct this systemic injustice to enable us effectively mobilise multilateralism to achieve global net-zero emissions, avert a climate catastrophe and achieve sustainable development goals,” Ruto said.
He added that sufficient and affordable financing will enable countries to promote economic transformation, climate action and sustainable development.
“A key barrier to our aspirations for sustainable urbanization happens to be the very impediment to effective sustainable climate action in the Global South and Africa: sufficient and affordable financing,” Ruto said.
“As a result, we are unable to effectively pursue all the opportunities in sustainable urbanization and leverage them to promote the broader agenda of economic transformation, climate action and sustainable development.”
The Head of State said Kenya was committed to offering decent housing to its citizens as the move is critical to the achievement of sustainable urbanisation.
“Our progress in affirming the fundamental right to decent housing is critical to the achievement of sustainable urbanization in terms of SDG number 11," he said.
"Recognizing this imperative and realizing that more than half of Kenya’s population will live in urban areas by 2050, we have integrated Universal Housing as a critical pillar of the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation agenda.”
Further, he said it was urgent to strengthen the UN-Habitat to support member states in advancing sustainable urbanisation and human settlement.
