Major Construction Project Launched At Unon

Nairobi, 4 May  – The United Nations today launched one of East Africa’s largest office construction project at the 140 acre Gigiri headquarters. The ground braking ceremony was officiated by the Minister of Foreign Affairs for Kenya, Mr. Moses Wetangula and the Director -General of the United Nations Office of Nairobi (UNON), Mr. Achim Steiner, both of whom affirmed that this was a significant investment in Kenya as a UN headquarter.

The construction project worth KSh. 1.4 billion (approximately USD 18 million) will increase office space on the compound by 16,500 square meters, a 60% increase on the current available office space.  Availability of office space at the compound has been a growing constraint, and was one of the main factors for the new construction.  It is expected that the new building will not only provide additional office space to support current requirements, but should also allow UN agencies based outside the compound to plan on moving into the headquarter grounds.

The UN team involved in the project noted that to the extent possible, the project will draw much on local material and labour thereby contributing to the local economy.

UNON’s Director-General, who is concurrently the Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), lauded the numerous environmentally- friendly features of the project. Mr. Steiner said that although the new office facility “sets high energy efficiency standards, our goal is to put a building in Gigiri that will be a leading global example, that people from all over the world will refer to as a class leading example of 21st century construction”.

Mr. Steiner went on to note other innovations incorporated in the projects such as “ …the harvesting of rainwater, the treatment of waste water for irrigation purposes, and the plan to generate all the power we need for the building from a solar panel installation on the roof.”

He added that “the project has a tight deadline and is expected to be completed by end of 2010. The Architects and the construction firms, both of whom won the contract through a competitive international bidding process, have an immense challenge ahead of them.  

On his part, the Mr. Wetangula recalled meeting the UN Secretary-General Mr. Ban Ki Moon in Brussels during a recent conference on Somalia.  The Minister said that during their discussions about the UN in Kenya, Mr. Ban praised the construction plans and stated that the construction of the building should leave no doubt on the minds of skeptics that UN is committed to the development of this headquarter duty station. 

Mr.Wetangula added that “…true partnership between the Kenyan Government and the United Nations is not a matter of chance or accident but a careful planned, mutually satisfying  arrangement”.  He also assured the gathering that in addition to ensuring attention to issues of security for all UN staff and all people in Kenya, that “…his Government will work with anyone and everybody of goodwill”.