The Vice President Edward Kiwanuka Sekandi has expressed Uganda’s commitment in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by the year 2030. Sekandi represented H.E the President of the Republic of Uganda during the World Leaders Forum at the ongoing UNCTAD 14 Conference in Nairobi, Kenya.

In a forum chaired by Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, Heads of State, UN Agencies and delegates from the 194 UNCTAD member ccuntries exchanged views on how they are going to achieve the Vision 2030 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that were set in 2015.

Sekandi said if Least Developed Countries (LDCS) like Uganda are to achieve the SDGs, they must invest in social services especially education to prepare and skill the young generation.

However, Sekandi expressed his disappointment that forty four (44) years since the United Nations classified certain countries as LDCs; only four (4) countries have graduated from this category. He called on UN member countries to join hands and work together towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

“Let us pledge today in Nairobi that together, we cannot fail to achieve agenda 2030”, said Sekandi.

African Leaders Call for Reforms at UN

Meanwhile African Leaders at the World Leaders Forum called on the United Nations to transform in its operations of the UN saying the current UN operations are not helping Africa develop.

The chair of the World Leaders Forum and also Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta said the UN and its Agencies spend billions of dollars on peace missions in war torn countries instead of partnering with the governments of those countries to address the root causes of conflicts and finding solutions to the problems in those countries.

Kenyatta also criticized the UN for their wastage of resources on fat salaries and huge vehicles of their employees instead of using the resources to partner with African countries to address some of the challenges they are facing in achieving the Agenda 2030. He cited two major challenges faced by LDCs in achieving the SDGs including; lack of democracy and lack of accountability.

Kenyatta said Africa needs partnerships with the rest of the world to be able to eradicate poverty, address marginalization, unemployment and diseases, and protect the environment and all the other key elements of the SGDs.

“The achievement of the Agenda 2030 is not only up to the individual member countries. Africa does not need help but partners in addressing some of the challenges that pose a threat to the achievement of the SGDs”, said Kenyatta.

Namibian President Hage Geingob also cited the lack of transparency and accountability among African leaders as the biggest challenge in achieving the SDGs. President Geingon said most African leaders have lost the trust of their people because they are not accountable and transparent.

He urged African countries to stop exporting raw materials but add value to their resources saying that value addition is what will transform African counties.

The Secretary General of UNCTAD Dr. Mukhisa Kituyi said the UN family was challenged on how to achieve the SGDs and there is need to create a sense of urgency among individual nations on achieving the 2030 goals.