PRESIDENT WILLIAM RUTO SPEAKS FOR AFRICA

Africa has emphasized its demand for two permanent and two non-permanent seats with full rights and privileges on the UN Security Council.
This is to amplify the voices of those living in poverty in the continent and ensure they are fairly represented in multilateral institutions, President William Ruto has said.

The President, who was delivering a statement on behalf of the African Group of States at the ongoing Second World Summit for Social Development in Doha, Qatar, on Tuesday, declared: "True social development cannot thrive without historical justice and equal representation."

With the African Union declaring 2025 the Year of Justice for Africans and People of African Descent through Reparations, he added: "This is a defining step toward justice and healing for Africa and its diaspora, calling for accountability for the crimes of slavery, colonization, apartheid, and exploitation that caused lasting human and environmental harm."

Present were UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and a host of other heads of State and governments.

Noting that the first ever such summit took place in Copenhagen, Denmark, 30 years ago, President Ruto identified that many things have changed since then, but poverty, unemployment, and social exclusion remain the defining challenges of the time.

To turn the tide, he explained that African priorities are in transforming informal sectors, enhancing productive capacity, and extending access to global markets. He said these require stronger international cooperation in line with the Addis Ababa Action Agenda and the Right to Development.

The President urged far-reaching reform of the international financial architecture to make it equitable, transparent, and attentive to the needs of developing nations and their people.

"We urge decisive action on debt distress and progress towards the United Nations Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation. We also underscore our call for a UN Convention on Sovereign Debt," he said.

At the same time, President Ruto delivered Kenya's statement and outlined the steps the country is taking to address poverty, unemployment, inequality, and social exclusion through the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda.

On education, he informed the meeting that the government has completed the transition to the Competence-Based Education and Training system, hired more teachers, and introduced a student-centred funding model for higher education that guarantees quality education for every learner. "In three years, we have hired 76,000 new teachers, a number that will reach 100,000 by January 2026. It will improve the teacher-to-learner ratio from 1:45 to 1:29; putting us on course to meet UNESCO’s 1:25 benchmark by 2027," he said.

He also noted that his administration has rapidly expanded technical and vocational education and training institutions across the country.

To economically empower the citizenry, he said the government initiated the Financial Inclusion Fund- popularly known as the Hustler Fund, which has to date disbursed KSh80 billion ($615 million) to 26.7 million Kenyans.

In addition, the government in collaboration with international partners will this week launch the National Youth Opportunities Towards Advancement project which is designed to support youth businesses with financial grants.

He added that the President noted the Safety Net Programme, popularly known as Inua Jamii, now covers over 1.7 million vulnerable families across the country.

On affordable housing, he said, there are 230,000 units under construction countrywide, employing more than 320,000 Kenyans besides opening up opportunities for local artisans and small businesses.

In addition, through the country's labour mobility programme, President Ruto said that over 400,000 Kenyans have secured jobs abroad, sending home remittances that support families and strengthen the economy. He said that through reforms in health, the number of Kenyans with medical insurance has increased from 8 million in 2023 to 27.2 million today, ensuring that no one is denied healthcare due to an inability to pay. He nonetheless called for a collective and collaborative action to face the challenges that perpetuate global inequalities. He criticized the growing isolationism across the world, noting that nations are often divided nowadays by competing interests, inward-looking nationalism, and short-term calculations.