CONFERENCE SERVICES
UNON Division of Conference Services provides state-of-the-art conference and meeting facilities in the green and pleasant surrounds of Gigiri, a 140-acre forest-fringed compound just 13 kilometres from central Nairobi. With eight sophisticated conference rooms backed by world-class personnel, equipment and event facilities, Gigir’s conference provider is geared for every kind of meeting, from intimate brainstorming sessions to major conference events. The Division also facilitates the major global gatherings of UNEP, UN-Habitat and their inter-governmental secretariats, providing a vital support structure for some of the world’s most significant decision-making bodies.
Since its formation in 1996, the Division has hosted meetings for most of the UN agencies based in Nairobi, including all the major divisions of UNEP and UN-Habitat, from their Governing Councils to the Committees of Permanent Representatives, ministerial commissions and global conventions. The latter include some of the world s most significant environmental and urban planning forums, from the Vienna Convention on the Protection of the Ozone Layer to the World Urban Forum.
At Gigiri, the Division’s extensive conference facilities and 110 highly qualified personnel enable it to comfortably host meetings and events for up to 2,000 delegates and visitors. Twenty highly qualified United Nations interpreters and a similar number of translators, editors and report writers enable all proceedings to be simultaneously interpreted and documented in the six official UN languages (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish). The conference rooms themselves are serviced by a full complement of state-of-the-art conference equipment and information technology, including remote transmission and video conferencing, all backed by the dedicated digital network of a global United Nations headquarters.
The Division also offers an extensive and creative array of publishing services to assist conference organisers in providing their participants with everything from photocopied documents to full colour, custom-designed booklets, reports, posters, CDs and DVDs. As well as a full range of design, publishing and offset printing options, the Publishing Services Section can also assist conference planners in designing and mounting large-scale exhibitions in Gigiri’s spacious foyers and halls.
Conference organisers coming to Gigiri also benefit from the Division s extensive experience and connections in the local hospitality trade, through which visitors enjoy preferential rates for accommodation at many of the city’s leading hotels, and the organisers can secure the services of reliable caterers for buffets, cocktail parties and delegates dinners. The Division can also assist in the organization of more elaborate receptions, with traditional African dance, musical or acrobatic entertainments.
The Division of Conference Services was formed from the merger of the UNEP and UN-Habitat’s conference departments in 1996, and became a fully-fledged UN international conference provider under the Department of General Assembly Affairs and Conference Management in New York in 2000. This central umbrella has enabled the Division to benefit from major staff training initiatives and the importation of technical expertise from the three other UN headquarters. In 2004-05, the Division has received a major boost with a $3.5 million refurbishment of its furnishings and equipment.
The Division offers its services to all United Nations agencies and programmes based in Kenya, as well as to any intergovernmental organization affiliated to the UN system. With limited funding from the UNON budget, the Division charges competitive rates for its services through an innovative Chargeback system, which commits fees to improving the facilities at Gigiri and reducing charges in future years. It also operates a very flexible and robust booking system, which ensures that depending on the availability of personnel meetings can often be arranged with less than 24 hours notice.
