Kibaki heads to New York for UN meet

President Kibaki left the country Friday to attend the 66th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, USA.

During the session, President Kibaki will brief fellow Heads of State on the outcome of last week’s summit on the Horn of Africa crisis.
The President will be seeking international support for implementation of the “Nairobi Strategy” adopted for enhanced partnership to eradicate drought emergencies in the Horn of Africa. The summit came up with short term and long term solutions to address the perennial challenges of drought and famine in the region.

He will also be calling for international support to find a permanent solution to the crises in Somalia that has led to an unprecedented influx of refugees into Kenya that is hosting over 500,000 Somalia refugees. The U.N has convened a special high-level summit on Somalia next week.

The theme of this year’s assembly is “The role of mediation in the settlement of disputes by peaceful means.” This is a pertinent issue to Kenya due to the role the country has played in brokering peace in the region.

In line with this year’s theme, The 66th assembly of UNGA is expected to hold sessions on peaceful settlement of disputes, a need that has become more relevant and urgent than ever at the international scene.

In this regard, the debate is expected to focus on revitalizing and making the General Assembly more empowered on issues of mediation, so as to fulfill her role as the world’s pre-eminent peacemaker in international conflicts as well as responding early to emerging crises.

The General Assembly is further expected to debate and explore mechanisms of tackling looming crises from conflicts to climate change, and reaffirm its commitment to the service of peace.

Other areas of interest the General Assembly include improving disaster prevention and response, against the background of  unprecedented surge of natural and man-made disasters with populations across the world experiencing increased vulnerability due to food insecurity, health and education crises and the need for enhanced cooperation among various actors at the international platform.

The General Assembly is also expected to examine the primacy and progress towards the attainment of the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for the sake of sustainable development and global prosperity.

This is in consideration of the current global economic turmoil that many nations face and the urgent need to improve global governance and seeking innovative financing modalities to address various challenges affecting the globe.

At the same time the 66th Session of UNGA will also seek to address the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases worldwide, with a particular focus on developmental challenges, social and economic impacts for developing countries.

Moreover, the UN summit will also discuss ways of tackling four prominent non communicable diseases including cardiovascular diseases, cancers, chronic respiratory diseases and diabetes - and the common risk factors of tobacco use, alcohol abuse, unhealthy diet, physical inactivity and environmental carcinogens.

Other key issues to be examined during session include desertification, land degradation and drought in the context of sustainable development apart from commemorating the 10th Anniversary of the Durban Declaration.

The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) is one of the five principal organs of the United Nations and the only one in which all member nations have equal representation.

Its powers are to oversee the budget of the United Nations, appoint the non-permanent members to the Security Council, receive reports from other agencies of the United Nations and make recommendations in the form of General Assembly Resolutions.

The plane carrying President Kibaki and his entourage departed Jomo Kenyatta International Airport shortly before midnight.

At the airport to see off the Head of State were Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka and Chief of Defence Forces Gen. Julius Karangi among other senior government officials.