20110422 – AFRAN Kenya

Kenya will strengthen its fight against international crime following the signing of a new partnership agreement with France.

The deal also calls for closer cooperation in climate change, economic partnership, development aid, education and scientific collaboration.

Prime Ministers Raila Odinga and Francois Fillon of France signed the declaration for a strengthened France – Kenya partnership in Paris on Wednesday.

International crime, including piracy, terrorism, drugs and human trafficking, corruption and money laundering, are some of the areas the agreement hopes as closer cooperation can fight.

In the pact, the two countries also reaffirmed their commitment to the creation of a world environment organization to be located in Nairobi. It is expected that the environment organization will reflect the central role that the environment occupies and will continue to occupy.

The PM was in Paris for a two-day visit, where he joined officials from the French and African governments to launch the Paris-Nairobi Climate Initiative for clean energy for Africa.

The Paris-Nairobi Initiative aims to contribute to the ability of the vulnerable nations to secure funds to finance climate initiatives, and develop sustainable electricity generation, transmission and distribution.

Kenya and France have drawn up a white paper on access to sustainable energy. (A white paper is an authoritative report that helps to solve a problem).

The paper identifies energy and climate projects that can be prioritized for quick gains.