A major UN agency is expanding its Kenya office by moving a quarter of all its staff from New York to Nairobi.
The United Nations Population Fund said it is closing down two divisions in New York to create a new global division that will support all of the agency's six regional and 130 country offices.
The relocation begins this year and will end next year.
UNFPA executive director Dr Natalia Kanem said they have already secured enough office space in Gigiri.
All the affected staff have been given until the end of next year to move.
The agency promotes access to sexual and reproductive health services.
Kanem said most of their work and funding is spent in Africa and it only makes sense for staff to be closer to the people they serve.
“To make UNFPA future-fit, it’s supremely advantageous to be closer to the communities we serve, and to deliver in a more integrated way,” she said in a letter to the UNFPA board on February 1, seen by the Star.
The changes were sanctioned when Kenya's Permanent Representative to the UN Dr Martin Kimani was the UNFPA president last year. Kimani’s reign ended in January this year.
“Looking ahead, I'm hopeful that the work we started in 2023 will be advanced, continuing our mission to uplift those who have been left behind,” he said in his farewell message last year.
UNFPA’s key African offices are in South Africa, Senegal and Egypt.
However, the choice of Kenya made more sense because Nairobi is already the headquarters of many UN and global development agencies.
Oxfam moved its global headquarters to Nairobi in 2018 while Amnesty International has been expanding its operations in Nairobi. The city is arguably Africa's centre for global development experts.
Kanem said they are closing the Policy and Strategy Division and the Technical Division, currently based in New York.
They will be reconstituted under the new Nairobi-based Programme and Technical Division and the independent Evaluation Office.
All the staff of the two divisions must move to Nairobi.
She said this was part of the Strategic Plan 2022-25.
“Our operational landscape is changing rapidly, including after Covid. UNFPA has a choice: be swept along by the change happening all around us, or become the drivers of our future,” she said.
Kanem said the changes were sanctioned by the UNFPA board last year.
“The transfer of approximately one quarter of our current headquarters staff to Nairobi will position UNFPA expertise closer to where we need to be to support governments and partners all around the world, and especially the people that we serve, more effectively and efficiently,” she said.
Kanem said the new Nairobi office will be more optimally positioned, in terms of time-zone and geographic proximity, to interact with and support all of UNFPA’s six regional and 130 country offices.
She said that Africa is home to nine out of 10 countries with the highest maternal mortality, and agency expends more than half of total resources on that continent.
“UNFPA selected Nairobi following in-depth worldwide consultative reviews, and we have already secured suitable premises in the United Nations Office compound, in further demonstration of our commitment to the principle of “One UN” in action,” she said.
According to US-based global development media platform, Devex, the staff working in New York are unhappy with the orders to come to Kenya.
Devex reported that some staff claimed there was a lack of consultation on the decision to relocate, and it’s unclear what the benefits of the move are.
They said that UNFPA will lose influencing power at the UN New York hub.
“Some have concerns about relocating to Kenya given the country’s pushback on LGBTQ+ and women’s rights,” it said.
Kanem clarified that the organisation will still be headquartered in New York. She said the plan assures a “robust presence of UNFPA in New York to engage effectively with our member states.”
She said she knows the change will be difficult for staff to embrace, but remained confident that it is the right thing to do.
She said although life in Nairobi is cheaper and most programme activities are closer to Kenya than in New York, cost reduction was not the primary driver of these organisational changes.
“Yet, the relocation is also financially prudent, in line with expectations from our board. I expect it will ultimately translate into savings from compensation, office space rental and travel, and contribute to reducing our carbon footprint. The calculation is to recoup the one-time cost expenditure well within three years,” she said.
