United Nations Office at Nairobi
The United Nations Office at Nairobi (UNON) is one of four major United Nations office sites[a] where numerous different UN agencies have a joint presence. Established in 1996, it is the UN's headquarters in Africa.[1]
In November 2004, the United Nations Security Council held a rare session at Nairobi to discuss the takeover of southern and western Sudan.[2] The meeting was convened at the urging of then-Ambassador John Danforth of the United States.[3]
Contents
Site[edit]
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 UN complex contains a 'green' building, a completely energy and carbon-neutral building, housing UNEP and UN-Habitat offices.[4][5] 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.[6] It was opened on 31 March 2011 by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki.[7]
Burned Trees, a series of sculptures designed by Monegasque artist Philippe Pastor aimed at drawing attention to forest conflagrations, has been exhibited continuously at the office since 2006.[8]
Constituent agencies[edit]
Headquartered at Nairobi:
- United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP or UN Environment)
- United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat)
Presence at Nairobi:
- 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, Africa Office
- UN Women
- United Nations Development Programme
- United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
- United Nations Educational, Social and Cultural Organization
- United Nations High Commission for Refugees
- United Nations Industrial Development Organization
- United Nations Children's Fund
- United Nations Common Air Services
- United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
- United Nations Office for Project Services
- United Nations Political Office for Somalia
- United Nations Population Fund
- World Bank
- World Food Programme
- World Health Organization
UNON also hosts the annual East Africa Model United Nations Conference for secondary school and University students from East Africa.[9]
Directors-General[edit]
UNON is headed by a Director-General, a UN official at the Under-Secretary-General level.[10] The incumbent Director-General, Hanna Tetteh, a former foreign minister of Ghana, was appointed in July 2018.[11] Prior to her appointment, four other individuals had served in the position.[12]
- Sahle-Work Zewde, Ethiopia, 2011–2018
- Achim Steiner, Brazil, 2010–2011
- Anna Tibaijuka, Tanzania, 2006–2009
- Klaus Töpfer, Germany, 1998–2006
See also[edit]
- United Nations Headquarters, New York City
- United Nations Office at Geneva
- United Nations Office at Vienna
Notes[edit]
- ^ New York City, Geneva, Nairobi and Vienna
References[edit]
- ^ "Welcome to the United Nations Office at Nairobi".
- ^ "Security Council Nairobi Meeting Welcomes End of Year Peace Pledge By Parties To Sudan Conflict". Un.org.
- ^ [1] Archived 13 December 2006 at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ "New UN office in Nairobi is a showcase for sustainability". Greening the Blue.
- ^ www.standardmedia.co.ke (1 April 2011). "Standard Digital News : : Business – New benchmark as UN opens green building in Nairobi". Standardmedia.co.ke. Archived from the original on 4 January 2012. Retrieved 19 August 2013.
- ^ Recio, Eugenia (7 March 2011). "UNEP Showcases New Green Buildings in Nairobi – Climate Change Policy & Practice". Climate-l.iisd.org.
- ^ "New energy-efficient UN offices in Kenya serve as model for future – Ban". UN News. 31 March 2011.
- ^ United Nations Environment Programme: Philippe Pastor
- ^ "East African Model United Nations". Retrieved 26 October 2018.
- ^ http://www.unon.org/
- ^ http://www.unon.org/content/office-director-general-0
- ^ http://www.unon.org/content/previous-dgs
External links[edit]
| Wikivoyage has a travel guide for United Nations Office at Nairobi. |
Coordinates: 1°14′4.79″S 36°48′59.30″E / 1.2346639°S 36.8164722°E
| This United Nations-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |