Remarks By Hon. Musalia Mudavadi, EGH. Prime Cabinet Secretary of the Republic of Kenya During the Official Closing of the 3^rd Kenya Social Conference

6^th April 2023

Kenya School Of Government, Nairobi

• The Cabinet Secretary for Labour and Social Protection Hon. Florence Bore
• Principal Secretaries Present
• Amb. To Sweden, Ms Annika Otterstedt
• Country representatives from UNICEF, UNHCR and WFP
• Distinguished delegates
• Ladies and Gentlemen
• Good Morning

1. It gives me great honour to join you today during the official closing of the 3^rd Kenya Social Protection Conference 2023 which is based on the premise of inclusion and expansion of integrated social protection for all Kenyans.

2. The conference has come at a time when the country is grappling with shocks and calamities most notably the Covid-19 pandemic, prolonged drought, effects of global crisis, and floods which have resulted in more people experiencing vulnerabilities leading to increased poverty and inequality in the country and increased demands on social protection interventions.

3. I am aware that the conference has provided the opportunity over the last four days to delve into the aforementioned issues, provided the opportunity for shared experiences and proposed commitments to the sector through the Call for Action.

4. It is no doubt that the existing level of vulnerability require the development of strategies to accelerate the expansion of social protection interventions to increase coverage horizontally and vertically. These strategies should put into consideration the prevailing circumstances, the dynamics in the era of evolving technology; integrating social protection systems in tackling multidimensional life cycle risks; adapting shock-responsive social protection in emergencies; and achieving recommendations made in the current legal frameworks on the expansion of contributory and non-contributory social protection programmes.

5. The Government has placed social protection as one of its priorities in realizing the Bottom-Up Economic Transformative Agenda. This has been underscored in the recent approval by the Cabinet to regularize cash transfer payments and the commitments by government to expand social security coverage including to the informal sector and the diaspora; the policy directions and the strategies that have been put in place to achieve universal healthcare coverage and; the number of financial inclusion and human capital interventions aimed at enhancing the capacities of individuals at the bottom of the pyramid to build and sustain their livelihoods including the Huslers Fund.

6. To harmonize the sector, there is need to enhance synergy and coordination for complementary programing across all levels including national, county governments and non-state actors. This requires the government to pursue a range of financing options to ensure sustainability.

7. As earlier alluded to by His Excellency the president during the official opening, Kenya is committed to ensuring that her vulnerable population is taken care of. Integrating social protection to other services offered by both National and County Governments will give us better outcomes for our vulnerable populations.

8. The process will require the intervention of all actors in the social protection sector including the government, the development partners, the civil society, and the private sector.

9. The Government commits to implementing the strategies laid in this year’s Call for Action’. I hope some of these outcomes will find space in the Medium Term Plan (MTP IV) that is under development. My Office will be keen to follow through the performance of the social protection sub-sector as part of our role in performance management. I trust that you have received nuggets of knowledge and experiences to catapult progress in the next two years.

10. More importantly, we look forward to actualizing the Government commitment to expanding social protection coverage including increasing financing of the Inua Jamii cash transfer from the current 2 to 2.5 over the next two years. We therefore urge all the organizations represented in this conference to continue supporting Government in the road to building sustainable wellbeing for our people.

11. To the many partners in the social protection arena, we remain grateful as a Government for your continuous support in complementing our efforts.

12. The Third President of the United States of America, Mr. Thomas Jefferson once said ‘’Do you want to know who you are? Don't ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you’’ and with each of our organizations getting to action, and as we continue to integrate our efforts, we shall surely realize our very goal of ‘leaving No One Behind’.

13. To this end, I wish to declare the 3^rd Kenya social Protection Conference, 2023 officially, Closed. 

God Bless You All and God Bless Kenya

Asante Sana