TALKING NOTES FOR CABINET SECRETARY TO THE NATIONAL TREASURY OF

THE REPUBLIC OF KENYA, MR. HENRY ROTICH, DURING GLOBAL

PARTNERSHIP ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT DATA SIDE EVENT
FINANCING FOR DEVELOPMENT JULY 15, 2015, ADDIS ABABA.
Jack Lew, Secretary of the Treasury, United States of America
H.E. Amadou Ba , Minister of Economy, Finance and Planning, Senegal
Fernando Aportela, Undersecretary of Finance and Public Credit, Mexico
Angel Gurria, Secretary General ,OECD
Prof Jeff Sachs, Director, Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN)
Michael Elliott, Chief Executive Officer, ONE Campaign
1.

Pleasure to be present at this important forum and to be given an opportunity to

contribute on behalf of the Government of Kenya to the discourse on Harnessing the

Data Revolution towards sustainable Development.
2.

Note that the outcome document under discussion for the UN Financing For

Development (FFD) Conference highlights that high quality disaggregated data is

essential for smart and transparent decision making and in supporting the post 2015
Sustainable Development Goals (SGD) Agenda.
3.

Ensuring strong policy making capabilities and means of implementation of the

SGDs is of particular importance to Kenya which is co-facilitating the Post-2015 Agenda.

H.E the President of Kenya in his statement to the FFD Plenary did emphasis on the
need closing capacity gaps in national statistical offices to ensure capture of quality
disaggregated data for follow up and review of the achievements of the conference.
4.

Kenya has recognized the need to address gaps in data production, openness

and use and has fully embraced the opportunities of the data revolution. In this regard,
Kenya as a nation will do the following:

5.

First, we take note that a draft report on the African Data Consensus has been

produced which offers a set of principles and actions that we can adopt at national level.
6.

Second, we will lend our energies to other African Governments, the African

Union Commission (AUC) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa
(UNECA) in championing the adoption of this important document as a guide to our
collective action as a Continent at the next African Union Summit.
7.

Third, I confirm that Kenya will be joining the Global Open Data for Agriculture

and Nutrition which works to support efforts to make agricultural and nutritionally relevant
data available, accessible, and usable for application in our country and we will be
working on a National Agricultural Transformation Plan to support our GODAN
membership.
8.

Fourth, to realize these commitments, H.E. the Deputy President of Kenya has

indeed anchored the foundation for a National Partnership on Sustainable Development

Data that has been working tirelessly to hold the first ever National Forum on
Sustainable Development Data on August 26 - 27, 2015. We are committed towards
implementing its recommendations and the emerging road map towards a successful
data revolution in Kenya. In the spirit of Pan Africanism, we also do commit to support
our African brothers and sisters in emulating our national process, suited to their
contexts. It is my hope that you will join us in Nairobi or online through live stream and
social media.
9.

A community in an African perspective does not develop until it is inclusive and

cohesive. I would therefore like to congratulate the Governments of the United States,
Canada, Mexico, Belgium, United Kingdom, Senegal and UNECA as co-champions in
creating an inclusive multilateral Global partnership. We are also elated to see the
inclusion of private sector, academia, civil society, local communities and others in this

conversation in order to tackles the informational aspects of development decisionmaking in a coordinated way.
Thank You