How CES supports DESA conference resolutions
CES supports the work of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA).
Since 2013, CES has maintained consultative status with the UN Economic & Social Council (ECOSOC). CES Canada is also a member of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), showing recognition of our work on an international stage.
CES has provided input to DESA at three conferences on Water and Hygiene Management, Eradicating Poverty and Human Rights for Women and Children. Since 2016, CES Canada has been a member of the UN WASH in Schools Program. Our model of safe water management and delivery to students at Kimang'eti Girls Secondary School has been shared in many parts of Africa and south-east Asia.
Our work fits neatly into the spirit of DESA’s 4-6 November 2025 global conference in Doha, UAE. The conference’s stated priorities focus on getting results (see my article on results, elsewhere in this issue).
A UN report from the Second World Summit for Social Development reads in part:
Speaking at the closing press conference, President of the UN General Assembly Annalena Baerbock said the Summit marked a “deliberate shift” from identifying gaps to acting on proven solutions.
“Copenhagen taught us 30 years ago that social development and inclusion are essential for strong societies,” she said. “We promised to leave no one behind. Social development is not a ‘nice to have’ nor an act of charity. It is in the self-interest of every country.”
She warned that hunger and poverty today are not caused by scarcity, but by conflict, inequality and political failures, stressing: “One of the biggest problems is not money as such. It is rather how it is invested.”
More than 40 Heads of State and Government, over 230 ministers and senior officials, and nearly 14,000 attendees took part in the Summit.
Back in 2003 when CES began, its founders (many of whom are still keenly involved) looked at the HIV/Aids epidemic then ravaging East Africa, including Kenya. They saw that many children were orphans or partial orphans – many being raised by grandparents and other relatives, or even by their own elder siblings. Many were unable to attend secondary school – to pay for the school fees, uniforms, hygiene supplies, or lunches they needed.
The founders decided that the best way to help was through providing scholarships for students who were (1) from families in poverty, and therefore would not be able to attend without financial help, (2) who were bright and therefore able to benefit from education, and (3) ambitious and disciplined, and therefore likely to succeed as a result of the help.
CES has a “proven solution” such as those the UN’s Annalena Baerbock says the world needs. It’s a process that’s proven itself over more than two decades. Our team in Kenya identifies schools that produce good results, and asks the principal to identify students who meet our criteria as set out above. The CES Kenya representatives interview each student to determine suitability. Those who are chosen are able to do significantly better in school (to learn more, read Joshua Namisi’s story here). It works. Many of our students have gone on to excellent careers and further academic study.
CES is clearly part of what the world needs to uplift people who just need some help getting past some financial barriers, in order to build a brighter future for themselves.