About UNIC

Introduction to UNIC Nairobi

What we do

The United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) provides timely, accurate, impartial, comprehensive, relevant and coherent information on UN objectives and activities to the widest global public. UNIC in Kenya was established in 1974 and provides services to Kenya, Uganda and the Seychelles.The Centre is an important source of information to the local people concerning the work of the United Nations (UN) in these countries and globally. 

UNIC offers a vital link between the UN and the public, adapting into the local context and providing UN global information. UNIC relies on the network of local media outlets, non-governmental organizations, and private sector entities to disseminate the messages of the UN, connect with target audiences and implement issue-based communications campaigns. Using the creative energy and collective resources of such groups, UNIC is able to organize special events, publish local language materials and connect with new audiences, often in remote areas. In addition, the Centre also holds press conferences, launches reports and visits schools and communities to explain the work of the United Nations to local populations.

The Centre is co-located with the Sergio Vieira de Mello Library at the UN offices in Gigiri, and provides a central access point for information about the local, regional and global work of the United Nations.

UNIC manages press accreditation on behalf of all UN entities for media events and major conferences held at the UN’s Africa headquarters in Gigiri. For dozens of small UN offices and programmes working in Kenya and eastern Africa, UNIC also offers advice and support in designing information strategies and disseminating timely information to the press and public.

UNIC Nairobi’s documentation Centre carries a wide variety of information materials ranging from posters and brochures to books and UN documents.  Among the documents found in the centre are: UN Year Book, the UN Charter, The United Nations Today, reports by the UN Secretary-General, as well as literature on peacekeeping, human rights, children, women and gender issues.  Most of the materials are published by the Department of Public Information in New York. UNIC distributes, or makes available materials to members of the public, students, schools, colleges, and universities. The documentation centre also serves as a resource centre for the United Nations staff.

One of UNIC’s main priorities is to promote awareness of the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The MDGs, adopted by the world’s governments at the Millennium Summit in 2000, are a set of eight time-bound measurable objectives for reducing poverty and hunger, ensuring access to primary education, improving health and well-being and protecting the environment.

Factual information about the MDGs, and what the UN system does to help Governments to meet their objectives, are available via the UN website at http://www.un.org. UNIC Nairobi also distributes wallet-size leaflets in English and Kiswahili listing the eight MDGs and the numerous targets and indicators used by the international community to measure progress towards meeting the objectives by 2015.

UNIC produces a 5-minute radio programme, “TIMIZA AHADI” (Keep the Promise) aired on the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation Radio. The programme features news related to the work of the UN in Kenya with a special focus on the MDGS and their relevance.

UNIC Nairobi supports the Kenya Model United Nations (Model UN) held once a year, comprising of students from public and private universities in the country. In addition the Centre also assists the East African Model UN Team based in Kenya in organizing two Model UNs:   

• Middle School Model United Nations, for school children form Nairobi and Kisumu (both in Kenya) and from Uganda;
• East African Model United Nations, for high-school students from Kenya, Zambia, Uganda, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The aim is to help schools and colleges to simulate UN General Assembly or Security Council meetings in order to gain a better understanding of the Organization. Model United Nations conferences give students first-hand knowledge of the work of the UN. The annual conferences of the Model United Nations are held at the UN Offices at Nairobi.

Younger school children are also given the opportunity to learn about the United Nations. Since 1995, UNIC staff has been regularly visiting schools throughout Kenya and Uganda, talking to students, answering their questions and providing UN publications in English and Kiswahili for the schools. UNIC also encourages groups of school children to visit the UN complex at Gigiri to learn more about the UN first-hand.

A range of information services are provided to civil society and other partners, including the academic community, educational institutions and the public at large. In Kenya, UNIC works with a number of NGO’s that are dealing with key issues related to the UN Agenda. These include: The Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC); The Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE); The Indigenous Information Network (IIN); Women Fighting Aids In Kenya (WOFAK); New Sudanese Indigenous NGO’s Network (NESI-Network); and the International Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid (AMURT-Switzerland).

Since 2002, UNIC Nairobi has been coordinating the selection process for the UN in Kenya Person of the Year, culminating in the recognition of the eventual winner on UN Day on 24 October.  UNIC is also responsible for leading the local celebration of other major UN anniversaries and observances, such as the International Day of Peace, Human Rights Day, International Women’s Day, and others.

UNIC chairs the United Nations Communications Group (UNCG) in Kenya, comprising of communication/information officers/information focal persons from the various UN specialized agencies, programmes, funds and other entities working in the country. The UNCG is an inter-agency coordination group in the field of information and communications. It supports the Office of the Resident Coordinator and the UN Country Team, through the coordination in communications and public information activities, in efforts to work coherently together on UN priority issues in Kenya.