United Nations Office at Nairobi

The United Nations Office at Nairobi (UNON, ) in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, is one of four major United Nations office sites where numerous different UN agencies have a joint presence. Established in 1996, it is the UN's official headquarters in Africa.

The United Nations Office at Nairobi also hosts the global headquarters for two programmes: the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat).

In November 2004, the United Nations Security Council held a rare session at Nairobi to discuss the armed conflicts in southern and western Sudan that constituted a phase of the Second Sudanese Civil War. The meeting was convened at the urging of then-Ambassador John Danforth of the United States.

Location

The complex of buildings is located next to the Karura Forest in the Gigiri district of Nairobi, along United Nations Avenue. It stands across the street from the US Embassy in Kenya.

The Kenyan Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs describes Gigiri, together with Runda and Muthaiga, as part of Nairobi's "Blue Diplomatic Zone", referring to the concentration of diplomatic missions and international organisations in the area.

The UN complex contains a 'green' building, a completely energy and carbon-neutral building, housing UNEP and UN-Habitat offices. The building is the first of its kind in Africa, recycling water and using natural light to reduce reliance on artificial lighting. In addition, the building is designed to use natural flow of air as a substitute to air conditioning, and it contains solar panels to generate all the energy that the building might consume. It was opened on 31 March 2011 by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki.

Burned Trees, a series of sculptures designed by Monegasque artist Philippe Pastor aimed at drawing attention to forest fires, has been exhibited continuously at the office since 2006.

Expansion and conference facilities In 2025, UNON announced that it was expanding and upgrading its office facilities to accommodate agencies, funds and programmes moving parts of their regional and global operations to Kenya. The office expansion and a planned conference facility were valued at nearly US$340 million.

UNON stated that the planned conference facility would increase the complex's meeting capacity from 2,000 to 9,000 delegates and include a 1,600-seat assembly hall. It would make Nairobi the third United Nations Secretariat location, after New York and Geneva, with an assembly hall of this kind. Kenya's Embassy in Rome has cited Nairobi's role as host of UNON among the factors supporting conference tourism in the country.

Host-country support and access In a 2021 statement to the United Nations General Assembly's Fifth Committee, Kenya said that it would continue to invest in infrastructure in Gigiri to improve access to UNON. Access from Limuru Road is via United Nations Avenue. In 2024, construction was under way to dual a section of Limuru Road.

The Nairobi Northern Bypass Highway was completed in 2014. The 27-kilometre Nairobi Expressway, opened in 2022, connects Jomo Kenyatta International Airport with the Westlands area.

Visits The United Nations Visitors' Service offers guided tours of the UNON complex to pre-booked visitors. The tours introduce the work of the United Nations in Nairobi and include the environmentally sustainable office building that houses UNEP and UN-Habitat.

Constituent agencies Headquartered at Nairobi: United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP or UN Environment) United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat)

Presence at Nairobi: UN Women, which maintains one of the organisation's three global offices in Nairobi. United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). In 2024, UNFPA's headquarters-optimisation process was reported to involve moving about a quarter of its New York headquarters posts to Nairobi by 2025. World Food Programme (WFP), whose Eastern and Southern Africa operations were consolidated in Nairobi in 2025 after the closure of its Johannesburg bureau. Food and Agriculture Organization International Civil Aviation Organization International Labour Organization International Maritime Organization International Monetary Fund Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS United Nations Centre for Regional Development (UNCRD), Africa Office United Nations Development Programme United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees United Nations Industrial Development Organization United Nations Children's Fund United Nations Common Air Services (UNCAS) United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs United Nations Office for Project Services United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia World Bank World Health Organization

UNON also hosts the annual East Africa Model United Nations Conference for secondary school and university students from East Africa.

Directors-General UNON is headed by a Director-General, who is at the rank of Under-Secretary-General in the United Nations System. The Director-General is appointed by the Secretary General. The current Director-General is Zainab Bangura of Sierra Leone.

Klaus Töpfer, Germany, 1998–2006 Anna Tibaijuka, Tanzania, 2006–2009 Achim Steiner, Brazil, 2010–2011 Sahle-Work Zewde, Ethiopia, 2011–2018 Hanna Tetteh, Ghana, 2018–2019 Maimunah Mohd Sharif, Malaysia, 2019–2020 (Acting) Zainab Bangura, Sierra Leone, 2020–present

United Nations Office at Nairobi

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