HomeThe United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is celebrating its 50th anniversary since its formation in 1972. This global body is headquartered in Nairobi Kenya at Gigiri off Limuru rd.
By the time the ultimate decision to bring the headquarters to Kenya was made, there were a lot of high negotiations that went into making it happen. When UNEP was being formed, Nairobi was battling it out with Mexico City and New Delhi. These are cities from countries that are far wealthier and more stable economies than Kenya.
But Donald Kaniaru, a retired lawyer who was part of the lobby group says on the UNEP website that Nairobi persisted and protested.
Kenya won the resolution because it argued that other headquarters were in North America and Western Europe therefore there should be equity. Secondly, Kenya’s bid was supported by its competitors Mexico and India plus 126 other votes without any abstentions or any against. What we popularly refer to as a landslide victory.
“With this united front, Nairobi’s bid was officially adopted on 15 December 1972 during the UN General Assembly’s 27th session, which involved all Member States. The bid earned 128 votes in favour, none against and no abstentions,” writes UNEP.
The Kenyan team that was in charge of this whole process acted swiftly to ensure that UNEP settled in Nairobi. By 1973 UNEP was already housed at the Kenyatta International Conference Center (KICC) which is at the centre of the Nairobi CBD.
The headquarters was moved to Gigiri in 1975 which was previously an old coffee farm.
Kaniaru says that it was the fastest decision taken anywhere on any headquarters because “Kenya was committed” and “A headquarters agreement was quickly agreed”.
50 years later UNEP has stood strong, the Gigiri area grew fast with other international missions choosing the same neighbourhood such as the United States Embassy, Canadian High Commission, Rwandan High Commission, Australian High Commission, Moroccan Embassy among others.
The Gigiri area also hosts the United Nations Nairobi office (UNON). Over time the area has grown to host one of the most affluent neighbourhoods called Runda and is serviced by three malls Roslyn Riviera, Village Market and Two Rivers Mall (the biggest mall in East and Central Africa). Without a shadow of a doubt, UNEP has helped the value of the land on Limuru road grow exponentially.
UNEP is marking its 50th anniversary with activities that will take place all year.
“To mark UNEP’s 50th anniversary, a year-long series of activities and outreach events are taking place under the UNEP@50 banner. These recognize the significant progress made on global environmental matters and address the planetary challenges to come.
This sets the stage for a special session of the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA) taking place in Nairobi, Kenya and online, on 3 and 4 March 2022. This high-level event called UNEP@50 will be devoted to the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the creation of UNEP in 1972. The theme for the UNEP@50 event is “Strengthening UNEP for the implementation of the environmental dimension of 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,” writes UNEP.
