President Ruto heads to U.S for the UN General Assembly

In a statement to newsrooms, State House spokesperson Hussein Mohamed said Ruto’s agenda in New York will be on multilateralism – advocating for reforms of the global financial system, and calling for fair access to development finance for developing countries.

“He will also push for reforms of the United Nations to make it more inclusive and to address global peace and security challenges, including enhancing peace efforts in Sudan, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, and Haiti,” said State House spokesperson.

At the General Assembly, Ruto is also expected to champion Africa’s representation in the UN Security Council, where the continent only holds non-permanent membership.

Under the Intergovernmental Negotiations on reform of UN Security Council, member states are championing for an increase in permanent and non-permanent seats, to be a true representation of the multilateral body.

Today, the permanent members of the Security Council, also known as the P5, include China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. 10 other non-permanent members are elected by the UN General Assembly for a two-year term.

During the high-level week, Kenya is also expected to hold talks on the Haiti Multinational Security Support Mission, two years after the deployment of its troops to lead the mission.

Led by Kenya, the Haiti mission also includes troops from Jamaica, the Bahamas and Barbados.

Here, the troops have faced challenges, among them inadequacy of personnel and military equipment and logistical pitfalls. So far, nearly three Kenyan soldiers have been killed in attacks by armed gangs that have captured Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince.