NEEDS & COSTS
This Report has been prepared by the Ministry of Planning and National Development, Courtesy of the UNDP, Kenya, and the Government of Finland
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Copyright © Government of Kenya 2005
All enquiries to be addressed to:
The Permanent Secretary Ministry of Planning and National Development Harambee Avenue Treasury Building Nairobi P.O. Box 30005, Nairobi Kenya
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Foreword
K
enya,like the rest of Africa, Kenya recognises that the MDGs offer a great opportunity to address human welfare in the whole world and especially in the developing world. The adoption of the Millennium Declaration and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by the United Nations Assembly in September 2000 was a laudable initiative by the international community to fight poverty, accelerate human development, and facilitate the gradual, but more effective integration of the developing world, especially Africa, into the global economy. The re-affirmation of the MDGs in subsequent international conferences was an additional indication of the commitment of the international community to attack poverty and inequality, and to end the marginalisation and exclusion of the poor and disadvantaged.
In Africa, the challenges of eradicating poverty, of achieving rapid and sustainable socio-economic development, and integrating the continent into the mainstream of the world economy have been increasingly taken seriously by the top echelon of the African leadership as evidenced by some of the recent important development initiatives and measures taken, such as the establishment of the African Union and the adoption of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) as the strategic programme of the Union whose effective implementation would bolster Africa’s efforts towards meeting the MDGs and hence claiming the 21st Century for its people. In recognition of the special needs of Africa for poverty reduction and accelerated human