MOMBASA, Kenya
The national integrated household survey on poverty and other national indicators will cost the taxpayer at least Sh850 million. The exercise, which will be carried out by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), aims at providing the country with reliable figures on poverty.
Recently, the World Bank estimated the poverty levels in Kenya at between 34 and 48 per cent in 2011 using an econometric approach. Speaking in Mombasa during the National Stakeholders Forum on the Post 2015 Development Agenda, Economic Planning Secretary at the Ministry of Development and Planning, Mr Stephen Wainaina noted that currently the government was still relying on 2005 figures.
Mr Wainaina said the study would help the government make informed choices on planning, policy formulation and budgeting in line with the Vision 2030 and the Millennium Development Goals MDGs.
“The government remains committed to ensure that MDGs, in fact, are met. The Ministry of Devolution and Planning has been the lead agency in the mainstreaming of Millennium Development Goals into national policy, planning and budgeting since 2004 and we have achieved some key objects,” he added The Ministry organised the national conference considering that the MDGs will come to an end in 2015, after which the world will adopt a new development agenda.
The main objective of the conference is to maintain the momentum for accelerating progress to 2015. Addressing the same meeting, Mombasa County Commissioner urged delegates to consider security as a key priority in their recommendation for Kenya’s position on post-2015 agenda. “As a country we must invest in security because it is very core in facilitating the achievements of all other development goals,” said the County Commissioner.
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