Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki returned home early Monday after a successful official visit to the United States where he attended the 63rd Session of the UN General Assembly in New York.
During his visit, President Kibaki appealed to oil producing countries to consider the plight of non oil-producing countries particularly in the developing world.
The President noted that the sharp increase in oil prices was fast eroding gains made by economies of developing countries hence threatening international peace.
A statement from Kibaki's office said the Kenyan leader also attended a high-level meeting on UN anti-poverty plans, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and challenged developed countries to honour their pledged donor support in order to hasten realization of the MDGs.
Giving a report card of the Kenyan situation, Kibaki enumerated several sectors in which the government had made strides while also taking into account challenges that hindered accelerated realization of the MDGs.
"At this halfway point, Kenya has made substantial progress on three goals namely MDG number 2 on education, MDG number four on child mortality, and MDG number 5 on maternal health," he said.
He called for donor support in the attainment of the goals and emphasized that MDGs had been integrated in the national policy blueprint of the Vision 2030 while the government continued to mobilize more local resources to fund MDGs related expenditure.
While in New York, President Kibaki also held discussions with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon and World Bank President Robert Zoelick.
During the meeting, the U.S. Secretary of State reaffirmed her government's commitment to supporting the resettlement of the internally displaced persons residing in various parts of the country.
She said that through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Washington would also support Kenya in programs aimed at mitigating the effects of the drought being experienced in arid and semi-arid parts of the country.
During his meeting with Ban ki-Moon, the world's top diplomat said he was greatly encouraged by the progress of Kenya's Grand Coalition Government has made and pledged his full support.
"The UN Secretary General said Kenya was a good example of the positive strides that successful mediation could bring to a country," said the statement.
According to the statement, Kibaki asked the World Bank to expedite the release of funds for construction of the Kericho- Kisumu-Busia highway.
"In response the World Bank head said that the Bretton Woods institution would fast track the releasing of the funds for the construction of the important highway," it said.