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UNON Infrastructure Investment and Expansion

The Secretary-General requested, and the General Assembly approved, two construction projects at UNON to the amount of nearly USD 340 million, the largest investment the UN Secretariat has undertaken in Africa since its inception, besides peacekeeping. These are:

1. The office expansion and upgrade project: This current project comprises replacement of the original 10 prefabricated buildings constructed when UNEP was created in the 1970s and refurbishment of office blocks constructed between 1980 and 2010. The 10 office blocks from the 1970s have been replaced with 6 new office buildings. These modern, permanent, and climate-resilient buildings will improve access for people with disabilities, and better utilise office space, supporting the accommodation of rising staff numbers.

2. The Conference Facility Project (CFP): UN Member States approved a USD 265.6 million major upgrade of the conference facilities at UNON. The project’s early works are planned for late 2025, with construction expected to start end of 2026 and to be completed in 2030. The CFP aims to significantly enhance Nairobi’s ability to host large, high-level global meetings, increasing meeting capacity from the current 2,000 to 9,000 participants. The CFP includes:

  • Increasing the number of meeting rooms from 14 to 30 (including replacement and refurbishing of some existing buildings).
  • Construction of an Assembly Hall with capacity for 1600 participants. The UN Secretariat currently has two Assembly Halls of this scale, one in Geneva inaugurated in 1937 by the League of Nations and one in New York completed in 1952.

 

Strategic and Global Significance

  • UNON holds a critical position in the international community as the only United Nations Secretariat headquarters in Africa and the Global South. The other three global UN headquarters are in New York, Geneva, and Vienna. UNON’s presence in Nairobi strengthens global geographic balance in multilateral governance and reaffirms the UN’s commitment to inclusive international cooperation.
  • The UN Gigiri Complex, spanning 140 acres, was made possible through Kenya’s generosity. In 1972, the Government of Kenya donated 100 acres to establish the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). In 1975, an additional 40 acres were donated to support the establishment of UN-Habitat. UNEP and UN-Habitat are the only UN entity headquarters in the Global South. UNICEF, UNFPA and UN Women have moved some of their global operations to Nairobi, while their headquarters remain in New York.
  • With over 40 entities and over 70 offices, the UN Gigiri Complex in Nairobi is amongst the largest and most institutionally complex UN presences in the world. The global, regional, and country-focused UN entities co-located within the UNON compound, and the presence of a UN Resident Coordinator, contribute to mandates spanning humanitarian response, development, administration, peace support, and peace operations. This unique one-campus ecosystem fosters collaboration, policy coherence, and coordinated programmatic impact.
  • As of July 2025, there are over 80 offices of the UN Secretariat, Agencies, Funds and Programmes as well as specialised agencies operating across or from Kenya, including UN regional offices, as well as some UN operations for Somalia, Sudan, peacekeeping, and Special Political Missions. There are over 6000 UN personnel in Kenya. Over 5,000 of these UN personnel are based within the UNON complex.
  • UNON stands as a model for institutional sustainability, being the first and only UN headquarters to attain ISO 14001:2015 environmental certification—demonstrating concrete commitment to green operations and climate-conscious infrastructure, in line with the UN Secretary-General’s commitment to environmental sustainability.

Unique Operational Advantages

  • UNON was created in 1996 to provide service to UNEP and UN-Habitat, and since then has expanded its client and service portfolio. Service delivery is UNON’s core mandate.
  • UNON is currently providing administrative services (human resources, financial management, and procurement support) globally to UNEP, UN Habitat, the UN Resident Coordinator System and other UN offices in 166 countries. UNON is prepared to provide further administrative support to other UN agencies as needed.
  • UNON’s strategic geographic positioning in Kenya (in East Africa) places it in a time zone that enables near-seamless coordination with offices in Asia, Europe, the Americas and across Africa. Further, due to the weather, cooling and heating costs for buildings is zero.
  • In addition, Nairobi is the first pilot of the Common Back Office (CBO), a key component of the UN Efficiency Agenda which is a core pillar in the UN Secretary-General’s Management Reform. As part of the CBO, across UN Kenya now, several operational services have been combined, for the first time, in a one-stop-shop. Those services include administration, information technology, human resources, logistics, and procurement.