UN in Kenya

16/09/2026

The Government of Kenya, the UN and development partners met today for the 15th Development Partnership Forum, with youth jobs and enterprise at the centre of the discussion.

For young people, the question was simple: what happens after training?

Government and partners looked at how skills can connect more directly to employers, work experience, a first job or a business with room to grow. The UN also stressed the importance of reaching young women, persons with disabilities and young people in underserved counties.

Deputy President Prof. Kithure Kindiki announced a follow-up meeting next week with the Principal Secretaries responsible for youth and micro, small and medium enterprises to carry the discussion into practical next steps.

The Forum also examined why development programmes can slow down even after funding has been committed. Budget gaps, delayed releases and payment problems were among the issues raised. Government and partners agreed that measures already settled to address these delays should move forward, while discussions continue on unresolved issues.

Preparedness was another immediate concern. Deputy President Kindiki updated the Forum on Government of Kenya's preparations for El Niño and said he would reconvene humanitarian partners in about 10 days. The UN offered support for joint contingency planning and anticipatory action with national and county institutions.

Across these discussions, the message was consistent: development partnerships must be judged by what they help deliver. More young people earning a living, programmes moving when resources are available and communities better prepared before risks become crises.

15/09/2026

Peaceful elections are built long before polling day.

As Kenya prepares for the 2027 General Election, that was a central message from the National Stakeholders’ Conference on Peaceful 2027 General Elections, which brought together national institutions, faith leaders, civil society, women and youth organisations, development partners and other actors working to safeguard peace.

The task is not simply to respond when tensions emerge. It is to strengthen trust in institutions, protect space for peaceful political competition, counter hate speech and harmful information and ensure that women, young people and communities across the country can participate fully.

As UN Resident Coordinator in Kenya Dr Garry Conille told the conference:

“A peaceful election is not won in August. It is won in the months when nobody is watching.”

NCIC Chair Bishop Dr Kepha Omae made the responsibility just as clear:

“Criticize policies, not communities. Challenge ideas, not identities. Let every campaign season be a contest of vision, not a contest of division.”

The United Nations is supporting Kenya’s own institutions through coordinated work on electoral administration, prevention and early warning, information integrity, inclusion, electoral security and accountability.

The measure of success in 2027 cannot be only whether polling day passes peacefully. It must also be whether Kenyans can participate, organise, debate and vote without fear.

09/09/2026

This week, the United Nations in Kenya is advancing work on the Country Analysis as part of the transition towards the next UN Cooperation Framework with the Government of Kenya.

The Country Analysis is the collective evidence base through which the UN examines Kenya’s development trajectory, including areas of progress, emerging risks, structural challenges and opportunities for acceleration. It brings together analysis across jobs, human development, climate resilience, governance, financing, data and Kenya’s regional role.

During the discussions, the UN Programme Management Team is testing key propositions and assumptions, examining where evidence is strongest, where important gaps remain and which issues require deeper analysis before strategic priorities are agreed with Government.

The discussion within the UN is one stage of a broader process. The analysis will also be tested through engagement with Government, development partners, civil society, the private sector and rights-holder organisations. These perspectives will help ensure the next Cooperation Framework is grounded in a clear and shared understanding of Kenya’s development context and the choices that matter most.

02/09/2026

Why does Kenya stand out as a place for development work right now?

In the latest episode of Awake at Night, UN Resident Coordinator in Kenya Garry Conille speaks about a country at an important point in its development journey. He reflects on the scale of the challenge, particularly for young people entering the labour market, but also on the assets Kenya can draw on: a strong private sector, digital innovation, devolved government, regional influence and a long-standing partnership with the United Nations.

The conversation ranges widely, but one thread runs through it: development is not only about identifying problems. It is about understanding what already works, where institutions can do more and how partnerships can turn potential into measurable progress.

Listen to the full episode of .

Garry Conille knows that resilience, hope and determination can be ...

01/09/2026

The Kenya Common Back Office 2025 Annual Efficiency Report has been published.

It examines the second full year of the shared-service model in Kenya: all 88 UN offices had signed UNON's service-level agreement, 82 services were available, the operating environment supported more than 6,000 personnel and UNON recorded 152,068 quantified service transactions in 2025.

The report also documents early efficiency results, client feedback and the remaining work on service uptake, value measurement and systems integration.

Over the next two weeks, this campaign will unpack the evidence one theme at a time.

Read the full report: here
https://kenya.un.org/sites/default/files/2026-08/Kenya%20Common%20Back%20Office%202025%20Annual%20Efficiency%20Report.pdf

21/08/2026

“A right written is a promise. A right delivered is a country keeping its word.”

That was the challenge set by UN Resident Coordinator Garry Conille at the Kenya Health Summit 2026.

Kenya has already taken major steps to reform its health system. The next test is whether those reforms are felt consistently by patients in their everyday experience of care.

For a mother, that means reaching safe and respectful care in time. For a community health promoter, it means being able to complete a referral. For a clinician, it means finding the medicine that was prescribed. For a family, it means seeking treatment without fear that illness will push them into financial hardship.

This is where universal health coverage becomes real: when people can rely on the system, wherever they live and whenever they need care.

Read more: https://kenya.un.org/en/321400-kenyas-next-universal-health-coverage-test-patient-experience

19/08/2026

More than 1,000 humanitarian workers have been killed in just three years.

Behind that number are people who went to work to deliver food, provide healthcare, protect families and support communities caught in crisis. Most of those attacked are local aid workers serving their own communities.

On , we honour their courage. But recognition is not enough.

Humanitarian and medical workers must be protected. Civilians must be protected. Aid must be allowed to reach people in need. And violations of international humanitarian law must have consequences.

As warfare changes, including through the growing use of armed drones and other technologies, these obligations do not.

Humanity has achieved extraordinary things. Protecting human life must remain among them.

14/08/2026

The best solutions to Kenyan problems are often Kenyan. This is one of them.

A green-technology innovation, designed and run here, is solving a real local problem rather than importing an answer built for somewhere else. Backed well, this kind of work does two things at once: it addresses an environmental or economic challenge, and it builds skills and income in Kenya.

The test, as ever, is durability. Innovation that survives only as long as the programme funding it is not yet innovation. The aim is for ideas like this to stand on their own, in Kenyan markets and Kenyan systems. That is what turns a pilot into progress.

12/08/2026

Different contexts, common aspirations.

Young people may be growing up, studying and working in very different circumstances, but many share common aspirations: opportunity, decent work and a meaningful voice in the decisions that affect their lives.

This International Youth Day, we celebrate the contribution young people are already making to Kenya’s development.

UN Kenya, through UNOPS, is helping create spaces for young people to bring their ideas, perspectives and leadership into the workplace and into conversations on sustainable development.

In this video, young colleagues at UNOPS in Kenya take us through an ordinary working day: collaborating, brainstorming, solving problems and contributing their perspectives. Through initiatives such as the UNOPS Youth Engagement Platform, young people also have opportunities to contribute to wider discussions and decision-making.

Young people are not only preparing to shape the future. They are helping shape Kenya today.

12/08/2026

Peace deals signed at the top tend to fade. The ones communities build for themselves tend to hold.

That is the logic behind locally led peacebuilding: supporting communities to resolve their own disputes, over land, water, grazing or old grievances, rather than imposing a settlement from outside. It is slower. It is also more durable, because the people who made the agreement are the people who keep it.

In a pre-electoral period, this quiet work matters more, not less. Early investment in trust, inclusion and dialogue is what keeps tension from hardening into something worse. It rarely makes the news, which is rather the point.

Read more: https://kenya.un.org/en/312748-un-kenya-2025-annual-results-report