As UN agencies mull Kenya move, some fear exclusion from Nairobi’s growth

Nairobi, Kenya – In the shadow of gleaming glass towers in the upmarket neighbourhood of Gigiri – where manicured lawns meet the edge of Karura Forest and United Nations staff in air-conditioned vehicles glide past security checkpoints – lies a different reality just minutes away.

In the cramped alleyways of Githogoro slum, just 2km (about a mile) from where Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, may soon host more UN offices and staff, Agnes Karimi cuts meat on a wooden table under the scorching sun, watching her stock spoil in the heat because she has no electricity to power a refrigerator.

While the UN complex boasts state-of-the-art conference facilities and reliable power, Karimi’s meat spoils daily in her small butchery.

The contrast could not be starker as Kenya readies for what local officials herald as a historic transformation.

By 2026, major UN agencies including UNICEF, UNFPA, and UN Women may relocate their headquarters from high-cost Western cities to Nairobi, part of the UN80 reform agenda to decentralise operations to more cost-effective regions.

For Nairobi – a bustling metropolis of 5 million people – the move promises to cement its status as one of four global UN hubs alongside New York, Geneva, and Vienna.

“Kenya will be leveraging on the UN’s existing presence in the country and the opportunities presented by its operations in the greater horn, east and central Africa sub-regions,” Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi was quoted as saying in February, even though the UN said this month that the relocation decision has not been finalised.

For Ambassador Ababu Namwamba, Kenya’s permanent representative to the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), Nairobi boasts “impressive capabilities” as a logistical and financial hub. “As a key multilateral diplomatic hub and the environmental capital of the world, Nairobi has consistently provided top-tier services at third-tier cost,” he told media.

For Nairobians, the proposed move has prompted a complex mix of hope, scepticism, and fear about who will actually benefit from this global spotlight.