President Ruto Holds Bilateral Meeting with UNESCO Director-General on the Sidelines of UNGA 81
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2 3 September 2026
His Excellency Dr. William Samoei Ruto, CGH, President of the Republic of Kenya, held a bilateral meeting with the Director-General of UNESCO, Professor Khaled El-Enany, on the sidelines of the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Hon. Julius Ogamba, Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Education, attended the meeting.
The meeting reaffirmed the strong and growing partnership between Kenya and UNESCO and provided an opportunity to discuss strategic priorities across UNESCO’s areas of competence, including education, science, culture, ocean sustainability, and communication and information.
President Ruto serves as a Patron of the Ocean Decade Alliance, an initiative of UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC). The discussions built on the momentum of the 11th Our Ocean Conference (OOC11), hosted by Kenya in Mombasa in June 2026, which reinforced Kenya’s leadership in advancing ocean sustainability and the sustainable blue economy.
A key focus of the meeting was the forthcoming UNESCO World Conference on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), to be held in Nairobi from 13–15 January 2027. Kenya is co-chairing preparations for the Conference, which will be hosted in the Global South for the first time and will provide an important platform for shaping the future direction of Education for Sustainable Development beyond 2030.
The bilateral meeting underscored Kenya’s strategic engagement with UNESCO and its commitment to leveraging international cooperation in education, sciences, cultural heritage, digital transformation and ocean sustainability to advance national development priorities while contributing to regional and global agendas
USEFUL LINKS
The Presidency Kenya Embassy in Paris Ministry of Foreign & Diaspora Affairs The Ministry of Education. The Ministry of Culture Ministry of Water and Sanitation Ministry of Mining, Blue Economy and Maritime Affairs The Kenya Marine and Fisheries Institute
Kenya National Commission for UNESCO Kenya Wildlife Service Ministry of Youth Affairs, Creative Economy & Sports The Ministry of Sports The Kenya Anti-Doping Agency The Kenya Sports Academy The National Museums of Kenya UNESCO HEADQUATERS