UNEP Lauded on Focused Partnerships

9th July 2008 - The Executive Director of UNEP, Mr Achim Steiner hosted 65 persons from the diplomatic corp., the UN agencies and senior Government of Kenya officials from various ministries for a Government of Kenya-UNEP-Kenya Country Programme Dialogue.

From Left: Mr.Achim Steiner, Hon. John Michuki and Prof. James Ole Kiyiapi

This came amidst prior high level consultations between Achim Steiner, the Prime Minister the Rt. Hon Raila Odinga, the Minister for Environment and Mineral Resources, Hon. John Michuki, the Minister for Nairobi Metropolitan Development, Hon. Mutula Kilonzo and the Mayor of the City of Nairobi His Worship Cllr. Geophrey Majiwa. From these consultations, it emerged that the Government of Kenya was eager and willing to sort out the environmental problems in the City. Other issues discussed included intervention on the Mau Forest Complex, invasive/ alien species, solid waste and environmental management frameworks in Kenya.

On this auspicious day, Hon Michuki, Minister for Environment and Mineral Resources and his Permanent Secretary, Prof Ole Kiyiapi presented a ‘Programme of Action’ outlining activities to be implemented in the short, medium and long term with the aim to restore the Nairobi River Basin.

He emphasized that the project had a 10 point intervention plan:

1) Creating awareness and assessing social impacts;
2) Carrying out surveys and delineation of riparian reserve;
3)Stopping discharges;
4)Completing work on the 2.5Km demo stretch;
5)Relocating displaced economic activities and informal settlements;
6)Developing integrated solid waste management;
7) Restoring Nairobi Dam;
8) Installing sewerage and associated infrastructure;
9) Landscaping and beautification of riparian zone;
10)Developing master plan for main tributaries and the final crosscutting intervention being programme coordination. He also pointed out that the key aspects of the project were funds, implementation actors and moving from piecemeal to full blast action.

He reiterated that the project was going to move to action as the National Youth Service as well as the Army will be very instrumental in actual work. He recognized that various assessments on the Nairobi River had been done; recognized that Kenya faces environmental challenges which could reduce its ability to reach the Millennium development Goals (MDGs) and Vision 2030 and finally recognized that environmental degradation has been persistent due to non action and lack of financial resources. In light of this, he said that the government was very committed to the plan of action and that there was need to work in partnership with serious Civil Society Organizations. In his plea, he said, “I do not want people who come for cameras. The time for cameras and TV is over. Its time for Action.”

Financially, Hon Michuki indicated that according to estimates, the whole project would require $246 million spread over a span of 3 years. The Government had committed 30% of the total funds and hence the meeting where he was requesting development partners and UN agencies to leverage the rest of the funds.

From the meeting, the Ambassador of the Republic of Germany, the Ambassador of Italy, and the Ambassador of Japan pledged possible financial aid once the project document was ready. The Permanent representative of the United States of America insisted on the need to see more private sector involvement and engagement. Issues regarding sustainability of the project were raised by the Ambassador of Norway who also recommended that clear measures be put in place to ensure the project fulfills its goals.The Ambassador of Brazil noticed the close connection between environment challenges faced in Kenya and those faced in Brazil. She was committed to sharing experiences between the two countries to enhance sustainable action especially on solid waste management.

At the end of it all, various agencies lauded the initiative especially the close collaboration noticed between UN agencies, the Government of Kenya and the Diplomatic corps.