UN envoy Stephen Jackson ends Kenyan duty; his reflection on SDGs and funding cuts

Born in Ireland, Jackson took over his role as Kenya’s Resident Coordinator in 2021, having served in other positions in African countries including Gabon, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Burundi. 

After the end of his Kenyan tour, Jackson will take the resident coordinator role in China. 

Speaking to journalists on Wednesday, the outgoing Resident Coordinator reflected on his 5-year journey, saying he has seen Kenya’s positive transformation. 

“Everything that has changed for the good in Kenya, the growth, the development, but also the things that have remained constant-the warmth, the enthusiasm, the hard work, and the optimism of the Kenyan people,” he reflected. 

In his five-year tenure, Jackson has supported the 25 agencies of the UN, including funds and programs. 

As the representative of the UN Secretary General António Guterres, one of his mandates has been driving progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The SDG progress 

When the UN member states adopted the SDGs in 2015, they aimed to achieve the global framework for sustainable development by 2030. 

With barely 4 years remaining to the 2030 timeline, Jackson noted that Kenya, just like other countries, faces challenges in keeping track with the timelines, but is making progress. 

According to the Resident Coordinator, being off-track in SDGs is not unique to Kenya, as other developing and developed countries face the same challenge. 

“On the one hand, Kenya is making good, steady progress towards quite a number of the goals. But the bad news is, yes, we're off-track on others of them, and Kenya's not alone in that-in fact, the SDGs are off-track around the world,” he noted. 

Jackson further cited global challenges such as conflicts and pandemics like COVID-19 as major hindrances to achieving SDGs. 

However, he expressed confidence that strategies such as changes in financing frameworks could accelerate progress towards achieving the 2030 agenda. 

“That needs to happen really urgently. We've got to get back on track for the SDGs. Will we make it? We have to make it. We have no choice; there is no alternative. The people of the world urgently, urgently need the SDGs,” he said, challenging countries to explore private sector funding and domestic resource mobilization.

Resilience amid funding cuts 

Recently, changes such as the closure of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) led to uncertainties in humanitarian and development works. 

USAID, which operated in over 100 countries, ceased most of its independent operations on July 1, 2025, following a rapid dismantling by United States President Donald Trump. 

The discontinuation of the aid program triggered a global humanitarian and developmental crisis, with analysts reporting severe impacts on global health, food security, and regional stability.

This is among other shifts in global development funding, which Jackson believes is a ‘failure of solidarity’. 

“And international solidarity for me is the principle on which we live together, or we die together,” he noted. 

However, the Resident Coordinator noted that aid funding would not have been enough to drive the SDGs in Kenya. 

Instead, he proposed new funding models, including development finance from the private sector or domestic resource mobilization. 

“So that means raising money responsibly through taxation and then spending it responsibly for projects that really make a difference,” he said, also advocating for vertical funds. 

As his Kenyan duty comes to an end, the Resident Coordinator expressed gratitude for what he termed as an ‘amazing privilege’.