Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Tibor Nagy hosted virtual U.S.-Kenya Strategic Consultations today with Kenyan Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs Raychelle Omamo. They discussed progress made to date on the U.S.-Kenyan strategic partnership, including on the range of bilateral efforts to advance democracy and respect for human rights and better confront global and regional challenges.
Assistant Secretary Nagy congratulated Ambassador Omamo on Kenya's election to a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council for the 2021-2022 term and emphasized Kenya's important role in supporting regional peacekeeping efforts, promoting regional and global security, and ensuring effective governance in the multilateral system. They discussed U.S. health and humanitarian assistance to combat the COVID-19 pandemic in Kenya and throughout the region. They also noted that enhanced U.S.-Kenya maritime security cooperation will promote a free and open Indian Ocean region, while continuing counterterrorism cooperation will help eliminate al-Shabaab as a threat in eastern Africa. Assistant Secretary Nagy welcomed the start of a second round of negotiations towards a comprehensive, high standard Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the United States and Kenya that will bring prosperity to the two countries, as well as eastern Africa.
