The ceremony included the inauguration of new office buildings and the laying of the foundation stone of a new conference facility at the United Nations Office in Nairobi (UNON), which will significantly expand the organization’s footprint in Africa.
Approved by the UN General Assembly, the $340 million project is the largest investment by the UN Secretariat in Africa in its 80-year history, strengthening Nairobi’s role as a global center for diplomacy and multilateral cooperation.
“These are more than buildings,The Secretary General said during a press encounter.They are a vote of confidence in Africa’s place at the center of international cooperation.“
A United Nations closer to the people it serves
The project will increase the conference capacity at UNON from 2,000 to 9,000 participants, including the construction of a new assembly hall and expanded meeting facilities.
Mr. Guterres said the expansion reflects the United Nations’ broader efforts to bring its work closer to the regions most affected by global challenges.
“The United Nations must be close to the people it serves – connected to their realities and equipped to support the solutions they are creating.” He said.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
A pillar in the Global South
The Secretary-General described this in his formal remarks Nairobi as “neither a satellite nor an outpost,” but “a pillar – the only UN headquarters in Africa and in the global South.”
From its beginnings as the home of the United Nations Environment Program in the 1970s (UNEP) and the United Nations Human Settlements Program (united nations habitat), the Gigiri Complex has become one of the United Nations’ largest operational centres, supporting activities across Africa and beyond. now campus Hosts more than 70 United Nations offices and events And thousands of employees.
Mr. Guterres praised Kenya’s long-term support of the organization, noting that the Gigiri campus stands on land donated by the Kenyan government.
“This complex would not have been possible without the enormous generosity and hospitality of the Government and people of Kenya,” he said.
sustainability and accessibility
The newly inaugurated office buildings are UNON’s first net-zero facilities, powered by on-site solar power year-round. Additional solar installations associated with the conference’s expansion are expected to bring the campus closer to energy neutrality by 2030.
The project also includes the planting of approximately 6,000 indigenous trees and integrated universal accessibility features throughout the campus.
Call for global reform
Beyond the infrastructure project, the Secretary-General used the occasion to call for renewed reform of international governance and financial systems, arguing that Africa faces structural inequalities rooted in history.
“We live in a situation that is extremely unfair,He said, pointing to the high borrowing costs faced by many African countries despite strong economic potential.
Mr Guterres also reiterated his long-standing call for permanent African representation at the UN security council and greater influence for African countries within international financial institutions.
“There will be no justice before there is a permanent African member of the Security Council,” He said.
Africa is the driver of solutions
He argued that many global institutions were created in 1945 without African participation and continue to reflect old power structures.
“Africa is a driver of solutions, a source of innovation and a voice of moral clarity.The continent’s potential is being constrained by “a deeply unequal international system that reflects the power relations of the last century”, he said.
