GA / KENYA

President of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta said, global geopolitics and competition between global powers “have complicated and severely undermined the global response to the COVID19 pandemic,” adding that “they have caused severe anxiety and undermined coordinated responses to an economic and social character that would have left us in a stronger position as a global collective.”

Speaking to the UN General Assembly via video message due to COVID-19 restrictions today (23 Sep), President Kenyatta noted that the COVID19 pandemic and other contemporary challenges including the climate and biodiversity crisis, growing geostrategic tensions, social as well as economic inequalities, the crisis of legitimacy and governance as well as the vulnerabilities of digital world, have redefined the imperative for multilateral action.

He said, “Kenya believes strongly that if we remain anchored in multilateralism and with unity of purpose, if we are much more agile in embracing change and positive transformations, if we remain rooted in a rule-based international system and act innovatively and selflessly, we can transcend our challenges and secure lasting peace and prosperity for all.”

On the crisis of the biodiversity loss, President Kenyatta once again called for “urgent collective action to halt the decimation of our biodiversity." He said, "we must find a global balance between human beings and other creatures on our earth. We must put harmony between people and nature. Our world is yearning for us to stop its ruin.”

President of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta’s comments were pre-recorded and aired in the General Assembly Hall as previously agreed by the General Assembly in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the inability to gather world leaders in New York as customary, this year’s General Debate will witness the largest-ever participation of heads of states and government in UN history.