President Kenyatta then congratulated First Lady Margaret Kenyatta for her successful ‘Beyond Zero’ campaign that is tapping into private sector support to improve maternal and child health throughout the country.
The President’s recognition of the First Lady’s efforts drew a huge applause from the audience of Heads of State and Governments in the assembly. On Tuesday, the First Lady was hosted by former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who is also a former US First Lady, in recognition for her efforts in conserving elephants in Kenya.
President Kenyatta said Kenya is on track to expand free education to include universal secondary education.
He said the objective of the Government’s welfare programmes to support vulnerable groups was to build a more inclusive society.
“It is for this reason that my Government has implemented a social protection cash transfer programme to orphans and vulnerable children, persons with severe disabilities, and our elderly citizens. This programme targets 450,000 households throughout Kenya,” he said.
President Kenyatta said Kenya was a leading tourist destination that is also endowed with rare sceneries and unique animals species.
He said Kenya attaches great value to conservation and will continue holding the rare animal species in trust for humanity and the audience responded with more cheers.
The President said Kenya remains at the heart of international efforts to mitigate and adapt to challenges relating to climate change.
“We continue to work towards achieving 10 percent forest cover; we are well above global targets for renewable energy use; and fully support all measures agreed upon at the recent United Nations Environmental Assembly in Nairobi,” he said.
President Kenyatta said Kenya was also playing a big role in promoting the integration of the East African region.
The integration process has allowed countries in East Africa to grow trade volumes and closer links are being established in other sectors, he said.
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