"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."
Major UN agencies including UNICEF, UNFPA and UN Women may relocate headquarters from high-cost Western cities to Nairobi by 2026 under the UN80 reform to decentralise operations to more cost-effective regions. The move would position Nairobi as one of four global UN hubs alongside New York, Geneva and Vienna and leverage the UN's regional operations in the greater Horn, east and central Africa. Kenyan officials cite Nairobi's logistical, financial and environmental strengths. The UN says the relocation decision is not finalised. Stark contrasts exist between well-served Gigiri and nearby informal settlements such as Githogoro, where residents lack basic services. Economic opportunity and urban transformation are possible but uncertainties and local inequalities remain.
Read at www.aljazeera.com
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