As the world reels from the decision by the United States to withdraw from global organisations, just how will this move affect Nairobi’s ambition to become Africa’s multilateral centre?
This week, US President Donald Trump followed through on his threat to cut funding to entities he views as contrary to US interests, announcing withdrawal from 66 organisations. These included 31 bodies under the UN system, among them those hosted at the UN Office in Nairobi (Unon).
The announcement came as Nairobi was intensifying efforts to attract more multilateral agencies, in addition to UN-Habitat and the UN Environment Programme, both headquartered in the city for the past five decades.
On Thursday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres expressed his “regret” at the US withdrawal, but suggested the organisation would adjust to work within available contributions from member states.
“As we have consistently underscored, assessed contributions to the United Nations regular budget and peacekeeping budget, as approved by the General Assembly, are a legal obligation under the UN Charter for all Member States, including the United States,” said Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for the secretary-general.
“All United Nations entities will continue implementing their mandates as given by Member States.”
In Nairobi, these developments coincided with the UN’s investment of about $340 million in expanding its Gigiri headquarters, aimed at providing space for more agencies. The expansion will accommodate operational offices for agencies such as UNICEF, UNFPA and UN Women, which are relocating to Nairobi.
Globally, the UN’s main headquarters has been in New York since its establishment in 1945, with alternate centres in Geneva, Switzerland, and Vienna, Austria. Nairobi became the only headquarters in the Global South, focused on specialised agencies UNEP and UN-Habitat.
UN officials at the Nairobi campus said last year that by 2030, the city would not only serve as a regional base for UN operations but also emerge as a global centre for multilateral engagement.
Largest station worldwide
Currently, Unon hosts some 50 entities and over 6,000 personnel, 5,000 of whom are based within the Gigiri complex. This makes it one of the largest and most diverse UN duty stations worldwide, according to a UN prospectus.
That future may now be uncertain after the US pulled the plug.
For 2026, the UN General Assembly approved a budget of $3.45 billion for regular operations in peace and security, sustainable development, and human rights. In 2025, the US funded nearly a quarter of the UN’s day-to-day operations and a similar portion of the peacekeeping budget, official financial data shows.
Following Trump’s cuts, jobs began to disappear. Since January this year, some 2,900 positions have been abolished. By December last year, another 1,000 staff had left the organisation. It remains unclear how many of these were at the UN Office in Nairobi.
When the US cut funding last year, the UN warned that critical programmes in crisis-hit areas, including the Horn of Africa, would be slowed or halted.
The decision means the UN may have to adjust quickly, including cutting jobs, particularly in African offices such as Nairobi. Ngovi Gitau, a former Kenyan diplomat and now lecturer in international affairs, warned that the US move could hurt immediate responses to crises in the region.
“It’s a big loss for us and the region. We’re already overwhelmed with conflicts and droughts. Starving UNHCR and WFP of funds is unfortunate,” he told the Nation, referring to an earlier funding cut.
“In the case of Trump, it’s narcissistic. The assistance from these UN agencies is very necessary and invaluable because we don’t have the capacity to address these calamities, which are global in nature.”
The US also withdrew funding or participation from climate forums, including the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, UN Oceans, and the UN Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries.
It will also leave the UN Peacebuilding Commission and Peacebuilding Fund, as well as the Department of Economic and Social Affairs and the UN Conference on Trade and Development.
According to the State Department, these entities “operate contrary to US national interests, security, economic prosperity, or sovereignty.”
Kenya argued that withdrawal from international organisations is the right of every sovereign nation, and downplayed the impact as most of the agencies were not headquartered in Nairobi. Yet, as a strong advocate of multilateralism, Kenya faces a drawback: US involvement often lends legitimacy to agreements.
Washington also warned Unep to reform or risk losing US support. At the 7th UN Environmental Assembly (UNEA) in Nairobi last year, Washington refused to endorse the joint communiqué.
The US delegation reiterated Trump’s stance that Washington would only remain in organisations that add tangible value to Americans.
The delegation said it had “made the considered decision to step back from negotiations on all UNEA resolutions, decisions and the ministerial declaration.”
“We consistently see drafts weighed down by outdated references, restatements of documents not endorsed by all Member States, and language disconnected from realities on the ground. The United States cannot support work that strays from UNEA’s core mandate. Year after year, we have urged that the number of resolutions be limited,” the statement read after the December meeting in Nairobi.
Insiders say the challenge now is not just job losses but keeping the UN relevant.
“It will impact operations substantively: the US will not just withdraw participation but its funds, which are significant. And it won’t remain neutral—it will act to undermine multilateral efforts on climate change, counter-terrorism, migration, and human rights,” one Kenyan official involved in counter-terrorism programmes in the Horn of Africa told Nation.
“It is a symbolic loss too, because the US looms large over every global arrangement as a powerful hegemony and an embodiment of the progressive values of these institutions. When it withdraws, it permits others to do the same and symbolically undermines the value of these institutions,” she explained, requesting anonymity due to the sensitivity of her work.
The immediate loss in Nairobi, if jobs are cut, is that real estate merchants who had hoped to benefit from relocating offices such as those of UNFPA and UN Women may now have to scale back expectations. UN-Habitat, which has operated in Nairobi for five decades, could also reduce its positions, undermining Kenya’s ambition to be a multilateral hub in the region.
For Trump, the signs were already evident. The Heritage Project 2025, authored by the right-leaning Heritage Foundation, advised him to extend a localisation model of US funding abroad, including in global health and humanitarian assistance to African countries. One recommendation was to dismantle USAID, which had channelled funding through NGOs, and replace it with bilateral programmes.
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