UN Office at Nairobi Expands To Host New Agencies, Offices

NAIROBI, Xinhua: The United Nations Office at Nairobi (UNON) is expanding to host new UN agencies and offices that are relocating some of their regional and global operations to Kenya, said UNON on Thursday.

Two construction projects at UNON worth nearly 340 million U.S. dollars are being implemented, the largest investment the UN Secretariat has made in Africa, UNON said in a briefing note.

The projects include the replacement of 10 prefabricated buildings constructed when the United Nations Environment Program was established in 1972 and the refurbishment of office blocks constructed between 1980 and 2010.

Ten office blocks built in the 1970s have been replaced with six new modern, climate-smart towers that will improve access for people with disabilities and accommodate a rising number of UN staff members, according to the UNON note.

UN member states have approved a 265.6-million-dollar Conference Facility Project (CFP) to help upgrade UNON conference facilities, with its early works to be prepared by the end of 2025, construction works slated for late 2026 and completion expected in 2030.

The CFP aims to significantly enhance Nairobi’s ability to host large-scale and high-level global meetings, and increase meeting capacity from the current 2,000 to 9,000 participants, said UNON.

As of July 2025, there were over 80 offices of the UN Secretariat, agencies, funds, programs as well as specialized agencies operating in Kenya, with more than 6,000 UN personnel working in Kenya and over 5,000 of them based in the UNON complex.

The ongoing expansion reflects Nairobi’s growing role in the UN architecture, as the worldwide organization continues to embrace cost-efficiency, sustainability and a greater presence in the Global South, UNON said.