Optiven Real Estate joined members of the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) at the launch of the Kenya SDG Decade Of Action And Recovery. George Wachiuri, the Chief Executive at Optiven Group, Vincent Kinara of the Optiven Foundation and Cathrine Khasoa, Lead for Corporate Affairs at Optiven Group attended the event as contributors and representatives of the sectors respectively.
The virtual event was held on 30th June 2021 in partnership with the State Department for Planning and The National Treasury, the United Nations, and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Dubbed “Accelerating the Private Sector Decade of Action, Delivery and Recovery Through Sustainable Development Goals in Kenya” stakeholders discussed how corporate Kenya can contribute towards achievement of the sustainable development goals by the yer 2030 and steps to continue the trend post 2030.
Speaking at the event the Principal Secretary, Department of Planning and The National Treasury noted that the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is transformational and unifying, as it provides a blueprint and an action plan for a better world. Saitoti Torome – Principal Secretary- State Department of Planning said, “The government is committed to work with all stakeholders to scale innovation and action towards the implementation of the goals by the target date of 2030.
We will focus on identifying and reporting on good practices, targeting investments that improve on the resilience of the people, to ensure no one is left behind”. Katherine Muoki- Economic Planning Secretary-State Department for Planning while addressing the participants that no single sector will be able to deliver on all SDGs alone adding that a collective effort is required in the effort of leaving no one behind.
She called on the Kenya Private Sector Alliance to continue in it’s stride to encourage the private sector participation in SDG achievement especially in the preparation of the National Voluntary SDG Report. Florah Mutahi Kenya Private Sector Alliance Chair, reinforced the sector’s strategic position in accelerating a decade of action and delivery for sustainable development goals and green recovery.
She further noted that improving quality of monitoring and reporting on the progress made by private sector players in the implementation of the SDGs in Kenya was a precedence during the decade of action. Speaking on the sidelines of the launch, George Wachiuri, in his capacity as Chairman of the Optiven Group Foundation noted that a lot still remains to be done and more so by corporate Kenya. Wachiuri said, “corporates including members of KEPSA have a responsibility to lead the way for the achievement of the SDGs in 2030 and beyond.”
Commenting on the scorecard by Optiven, Wachiuri advised that it had taken resilience and dedication from the Board at Optiven Group and different partners to make it possible. “We are happy with the scorecard on GoGreen Initiative by Optiven which was officially launched in 2020 to focus on matters bettering our planet. As we go green on our projects we have adapted a number of SDGs key of which include No 3 on health, number 4 on education, number 7 on energy and number 13 on the environment”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lg4sk6ezGg
The foundation has further launched a platform to encourage public participation by seeking out environment initiators and champions and awarding them during the upcoming GoGreen Awards to be held on 11th December 2021. Nominations are currently underway at https://www.optivengogreen.com until the 21st of August 2021. The awards will reward 81 winners in 27 categories all attached to a number of sustainable development goals.
