State Secretary Ingrid Brocková during her working visit to Kenya: Kenya is our partner in solving the crisis in Ukraine in the UN, as well as a long-term programme country of SlovakAid

“Kenya is a traditional development partner of Slovakia, SlovakAid has been operating in Kenya since 2003, and since 2014 Kenya has been a programme country. Currently we are moving our cooperation into a strategic partnership in various sectors such as agriculture, health, education, the environmental agenda and the protection of human rights with an emphasis on women's empowerment,” said the State Secretary.  

During the first two days, I. Brocková met with representatives of Kenya - Minister of Finance and Strategic Planning, Ukur Yatani, and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kenya, Raychelle Omamo. At the talks, the State Secretary appreciated Kenya's position, as a non-permanent Member of the United Nations Security Council, on the situation in Ukraine. I. Brocková also recognised Kenya's exemplary approach to achieving sustainable development goals and linking them to Kenya's development strategy. “Slovakia wishes to continue its involvement through the instruments of SlovakAid, as well as through multilateral instruments such as Team Europe and the activities of UN specialised agencies present in Kenya,” confirmed the State Secretary. She reassured both partners of Slovakia's interest in finalising the legal framework for trade cooperation and establishment of a joint economic commission. 

Slovakia's commitment to multilateral format was discussed by I. Brocková with representatives of the European Union delegation, as well as at the United Nations - with Director-General of the United Nations Office at Nairobi, Zainab Bangura, Executive Director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), Maimunah Sharif, Director of the UN Resident Coordinator Office, Stephen Jackson, and representatives of UN specialised agencies, In particular, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the UN Women. The UN headquarters, the only one in the global South, is home to the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat). “Slovakia is ready to work with UN agencies primarily at local level, building on the experience we already have in Kenya”, emphasised the State Secretary at the talks. 

The State Secretary took the floor in a debate organised by Slovakia on the protection of the human rights of women and girls in the security sector. She visited development projects implemented under the auspices of SlovakAid  – the RefuSHE organisation focusing on support and protection of women refugees and the Mater Hospital. The Mater Hospital has been a beneficiary of Slovak development aid since 2018 in the area of children’s cardiac surgery. “It is a unique project that links the medical environment with practice represented by Slovak and Czech experience in the field of paediatric cardiology. I am extremely proud that it is Slovakia that helps to increase the level of health care provision for the weakest - the children. It is our interest and intention to create a centre of excellence,” confirmed Ingrid Brocková.

Source: MFEA SR