KENYAS AMB. MACHARIA KAMAU ELECTED NEW PRESIDENT OF THE EXECUTIVE BOARD OF UNITED NATIONS CHILDREN FUND (UNICEF) Nairobi, 13th January 2014 – The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade is happy to announce the election by Member States of Mr. Macharia Kamau, Ambassador Plenipotentiary and Permanent Representative of the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Kenya to the United Nations, New York, USA as the New President of the Executive Board of UNICEF for one year, 2014. Amb. Kamau will represent Kenya and Africa in the Board. He assumes his responsibilities immediately and will succeed Ambassador Jarmo Viinanen, the Permanent Representative of the Permanent Mission of Finland to the United Nations in New York on behalf of the Western European Group, whose one year term as President of the Board has come to an end. Amb. Kamau has been serving, for the last two years (2012-2013), as the Vice-President of the UNICEF Executive Board on behalf of Kenya and the African Group. Amb. Kamau is no stranger to UNICEF having worked here in various positions up to the level of country representative, for over 25 years. During his tenure, he achieved tremendous success in many respects and he was able to oversee the implementation of key projects which saw alleviation of the suffering of many children in the continent of Africa, where most of his tour of duty was served. The composition of the 2014 UNICEF Executive Board includes the 4 Vice-Presidents, namely, Bulgaria (Eastern Europe), Denmark (WEOG), Haiti (GRULAC), Pakistan (Asia) and 36 Bureau members, including 8 African countries represented by Central African Republic (CAR), Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Egypt, Gambia, Ghana and Zambia. In the last three years, Amb. Kamau and his team have flown Kenya’s flag high, exponentially enhancing the country’s profile to levels his peers can only envy. At the beginning of 2013, he was elected by the African Member States and confirmed by the United Nations General Assembly membership, as the co-chair of the Open Working Group charged with the mandate of designing the next development goals (Sustainable Development Goals – SDGs) after the expected expiry of the Millennium Development Goals – MDGs in 2015. He will serve in this capacity for two years (2013-2014). The other co-chair is Ambassador Csaba Korosi, the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Hungary to the United Nations, New York. Indeed, 2014 begun on a very high note; besides taking over the presidency of the UNICEF Executive Board, Amb. Kamau and his co-chair Amb. Korosi steered a very successful 7th Session of the OWG on SDGs, which concludes its meeting tomorrow, January 10 2014 after five days of intensive discussions and negotiations. Amb Kamau was also elected by State Parties as the President of the Bureau of the Conference of State Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and is expected to serve in this capacity on behalf of Kenya and Africa until 2014. The Kenya Mission to the United Nations in New York continues to provide strategic leadership in many areas including in the Bureau of United Nations Forests Forum, previously chairing the South–South initiative and in many more other fora at the UN. The key roles that Kenya continues to play have strategically raised her profile both within UN circles and regional groupings thereby further strategically positioning Kenya as a key contender for the 2017-2018 United Nations Security Council bid. In this regard, Kenya plans to launch its UNSC campaign early this year as time is of essence. This will be the third time Kenya returns to the UNSC if her bid is successful. The past two periods that Kenya served in the UNSC were in 1973-1974 and 1997-1998. Kenya also celebrated 50 years at the United Nations on Monday 16th December 2013 uncannily having joined United Nations on a Monday 16th December 1963, 4 days after independence.
Posted on: Mon, 13 Jan 2014 08:57:05 +0000
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