President Kibaki leaves the country Friday for the United States to attend the 65th Session of the United Nations General Assembly.
The Session of will seek to examine progress made since 2009, with a view to sharing lessons learned and exploring new areas of cooperation among UN member states.
The UN assembly opens on Thursday in New York and the President is among those scheduled to address the summit.
President Kibaki is expected to attend several meetings including the High Level Summit on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
The meeting, which opens on Monday will examine progress made through a review of successes, best practices, lessons learned, obstacles and opportunities and come up with concrete strategies and an action plan.
During the meetings, President Kibaki will share the Kenya experience in the attainment of a new Constitution, especially on the Bill of Rights that guarantees all citizens access to basic and fundamental rights.
Kenya was among the 189 UN member states which in 2000 signed and adopted the Millennium Declaration that aims at freeing humankind from extreme poverty and improve their lot.
Kenya has made considerable progress towards attainment of the MDGs since the signing of the Declaration in 2000.
For example, on eradication of extreme poverty and hunger, the country has implemented specific programmes to enhance reduction of poverty in the country.
These include implementation of social welfare programmes such as Kazi Kwa Vijana and the Cash transfer programmes have helped to reduce the numbers of people living below the poverty line and experiencing hunger. Others include the implementation of the Economic Stimulus Programme (ESP) and subsidies for fertiliser and seeds which have increased agricultural productivity.
Kenya is also likely to achieve the goal on universal primary education by 2015, given the steady increase in primary schools Net Enrolment Rate from 73.7% in 2000 to 92.9% in 2009. Aided by the government’s waiver on tuition fees in public secondary schools, the primary to secondary school transition rate increased from 46.5% in 2003 to 83.2% in 2009.
HIV prevalence has also declined tremendously. For instance, the HIV prevalence (age group 15-49 years) was estimated to be 6.3% in 2009, down from 7.4% in 2007.
The country has increased access to HIV and Aids management services and free anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs) are now available to about 260,000 Kenyans.
The plane carrying the President and his delegation departs Jomo Kenyatta International Airport shortly after 11.30 p.m.
Source: Daily Nation
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