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Research dossier · General Reference

United Nations Office at Nairobi

United Nations Office in Nairobi, Kenya

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 10, 2026
Entity authorityQ1021627 ↗
Source-derived summary

The United Nations Office at Nairobi (UNON, Swahili: Ofisi ya Umoja wa Mataifa Nairobi) in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, is one of four major United Nations office sites where numerous different UN agencies have a joint presence. Established in 1996, it is the UN's official headquarters in Africa.

The United Nations Office at Nairobi also hosts the global headquarters for two programmes: the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat).

In November 2004, the United Nations Security Council held a rare session at Nairobi to discuss the armed conflicts in southern and western Sudan that constituted a phase of the Second Sudanese Civil War. The meeting was convened at the urging of then-Ambassador John Danforth of the United States.

Location

The complex of buildings is located next to the Karura Forest in the Gigiri district of Nairobi, along United Nations Avenue. It stands across the street from the US Embassy in Kenya.

The Kenyan Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs describes Gigiri, together with Runda and Muthaiga, as part of Nairobi's "Blue Diplomatic Zone", referring to the concentration of diplomatic missions and international organisations in the area.

The UN complex contains a 'green' building, a completely energy and carbon-neutral building, housing UNEP and UN-Habitat offices. The building is the first of its kind in Africa, recycling water and using natural light to reduce reliance on artificial lighting.

Editorial summary

“United Nations Office at Nairobi” enters the record as united Nations Office in Nairobi, Kenya. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what United, Nations and Office can confirm, complicate or overturn.

Editorial reviewA concise reference frame for defining the subject, testing terminology and identifying the institution closest to the evidence. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1996, 2004—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its strongest next move is a source search built around United, Nations and Office.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

“United Nations Office at Nairobi” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, United, Nations and Office provides the most credible route into that argument.

Evidence profile

Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 10, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1021627. Authority coordinates are -1.235, 36.816. 1 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1996 and 2004.

Critical limits

Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “United Nations Office at Nairobi”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow United Nations Office at Nairobi primary sources, United Nations Office at Nairobi archive and United research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “United Nations Office at Nairobi”?
  2. What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
  3. Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “United Nations Office at Nairobi” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.