The United States and Kenya concluded the Third Bilateral Strategic Dialogue April 24 and afterward, the two countries released a joint statement and spoke to the news media recognizing their continued cooperation and partnership.
“What I can assure you is that Kenya will remain a good partner, will remain a friend of the United States, and we’ll be able to work in sync as we try to improve the world that we live in,” Kenyan Cabinet Secretary of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs Alfred Mutua said at the meeting with the press.
In the joint states, the U.S. and Kenya laid out five pillars of the partnership: economic prosperity, trade, and investment; defense cooperation; democracy, governance, and civilian security; multilateral and regional issues; and health cooperation, according to the joint statement.
“We also discussed the need for a partnership between Kenya and the United States that ensures we jointly fight terrorism, the illegal drug trade, human trafficking, and other crimes that are transnational in nature,” Mutua said, according to the release.
The partnership aims to create at least one million new jobs per year in Kenya, reduce food insecurity, counter violent extremist organizations, promote regional security, advance maritime surveillance, strengthen police reforms, address governance and fiscal transparency, support a forensics program, defend against common cyber threats, and address instability in the Horn of Africa, among others, the joint statement reports.
The two countries also committed to continuing their collaboration in combatting communicable and non-communicable diseases, strengthening Kenya's laboratory capacity, expanding and training Kenya's health workforce, and improving access to quality cancer care.
“The United States is proud to partner with Kenya on a range of important issues, from advancing democracy and human rights to promoting regional peace and stability to supporting economic growth and development,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, according to the release. “And we will continue to work together to tackle some of the most pressing challenges facing our two countries and the region as a whole, from COVID-19 to climate change.”
