President William Ruto addressing leaders at UNGA / PCSPresident William Ruto has been feted as the Global Champion of Adequate Housing for All by the United Nation- Habitat.
The move is acknowledging Kenya’s leadership in tackling the challenge of inadequate housing.
On the sidelines of the UNGA in New York, the President has proposed a Coalition of Global Housing Champions.
This brought together 25 countries, the UN, development partners, and local banks to adopt a historic Call for Action on Adequate and Affordable Housing.
The President addressed the UN General Assembly on Wednesday evening saying Africa dominates most of the Security Council’s agenda.
He said Africa provides some of the largest contingents to UN peacekeeping, and bears the heaviest costs of instability.
“Yet we remain the only continent without a permanent seat at the table, where decisions about our destiny are made. Africa deserves two permanent seats with full rights, including the veto, and two additional non-permanent seats on the UN Security Council.”
This
week, world leaders gathered for the 80th session of the United Nations General
Assembly (UNGA), including President Ruto.
Top on his agenda was calling for reforms at UN systems, insisting that it is no longer a matter of if but when and that the time is now.
He warned that unless the organisation undergoes fundamental restructuring, it will remain undemocratic, unrepresentative and unfit for purpose.
Ruto called for urgent reform of the UN Security Council to give Africa, with its population of 1.4 billion people, a permanent voice in global decision-making.
Another issue on his agenda was the issue of the Kenya police-led the Multinational Security Support Mission (MSSM) in Haiti.
In line with this, Ruto held a bilateral meeting with Laurent Saint-Cyr, President of the Transitional Presidential Council of Haiti, on the sidelines of the 80th Session of the UN General Assembly in New York, on the next steps as the expiry of the MSSM mandate comes to an end.
“We urged that the UN Security Council adopt a clear strategy for the successor mission to the MSS Mission in Haiti, in order to consolidate gains made, and guarantee success.
“The proposed mission must address the shortfalls of the current one. It should be anchored on a clear mandate, backed by predictable and reliable resources, equipped with adequate and fit-for-purpose tools, and supported by the full logistical capacity required to deliver results,” Ruto said after the meeting.
