The 2023 annual national SDGS multistakeholders conference held at Sarova White Sands, Mombasa

There is need for more accelerated actions if the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are to be attained by 2030. This was the call for action during the 2024 Annual National Multi-Stakeholders Conference held from 13^th-15^th December 2023 at Sarova Whitesands, Mombasa themed,” SDGs at Mid-point: Accelerating implementation through BETA and collaborative partnerships”.

The conference which drew participation from the National Government, Counties, Parliament, The United Nations agencies, Development partners, Civil society led by the SDG-kenya Forum, private sector, Media, Academia, regional and international organizations deliberated on the status, progress, and challenges of the SDGs implementation in Kenya at mid-point taking note of the limited timeline to 2030. With Kenya Global ranking at 62%, most goals remain off-track and others stagnated. Poverty, inequality and youth unemployment were said to be rampant worsened by the effects of climate change, the conflicts and unstable macro-economic environment. In addition, More than 23 Counties SDG champions were trained on Voluntary National Review and Voluntary Local Review.

In his opening remarks, the EPS Mr. Timothy Gakuo who represented the PS Economic Planning, re-affirmed Government’s commitment in working inclusively with all stakeholders in the realization of the SDGs. He pointed out that Government will continue to implement the SDGs through mainstreaming in the National development plans including in the Bottom-up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA) and Medium-Term Plans (MTPIV) with an aim of eradicating poverty and improving the livelihoods of the people of Kenya. He encouraged the participants to push for the SDGs especially at the grass-root and community level. He noted that despite the milestones made by Kenya in implementing the agenda, challenges of Financing, data and emerging issues like climate change remain persistent. He called for strengthening of partnerships and innovative solutions for the SDGs.

On the other hand, Dr. Gideon Ochanda, MP Bondo and chair of Parliamentary Caucus on SDGs said that the awareness on SDGs was still low in the country and especially at the community level. He called for integration of SDGs knowledge into policies and plans. He added that parliamentarians will continue to support legislations that promote SDGs and especially advocating for targeted budgeting.

The participants further held conversations on the place of data in SDGs implementation, the principle of leaving no one behind and amplifying the voices of those at risk of marginalization, the role of youth as a game changer in SDGs acceleration, the place of Gender and Women in SDGs implementation, the Universal Health-care and financing for SDGs.

The climax of the conference was the Awards Gala night that celebrated outstanding interventions, achievers and innovations in implementation of SDGs in the country.

The EPS was accompanied by the Directors for Economic planning John Olela and Leonard Kwinga. The state Department for Economic Planning was represented by the SDGs Coordination Directorate among others.