Government protests UN rating of Nairobi

The Kenyan authorities and members of the public have strongly condemned a recent reclassification of the United Nations Nairobi duty station from "B" to "C" by an independent body, the International Civil Service Commission (ICSC), which takes effect this January.

The new rating means that Nairobi, headquarters of the UN Environmental Programme (UNEP) and the UN Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat), is now considered more of a hardship posting than Bogotá or Jerusalem.

"It is a gross over-estimation of the actual situation," Marsden Madola, Minister in the office of the President in charge of internal security, told IRIN. "It is completely unjustified."

As a result of the regrading, the 860 internationally-recruited staff at the UN Nairobi duty station will receive a 15 percent hardship allowance of their basic salary, up from the eight percent they were getting when the city was a "B" station. The 2,000 local staff are not entitled to the allowance. International staff will also be eligible for home leave once a year as opposed to every two years. "The new classification is transitional and will be reviewed towards the end of this year," the ICSC report said.

"Is this referring to the same city we are living in?," a local journalist asked. "Or is it just some mischief for someone to get extra money?".

"In terms of security, our records indicate that attacks targeting UN personnel are well in the minimum," Madoka added. "In the Nairobi area, the criminal cases involving diplomats and UN staff dropped from 46 to 35 between 1998 and last year."

Although he admitted that two diplomats were murdered in 1998, "no such crime has ever occurred in the last two years". "Police officers have been responding a bit more quickly than before," Madoka said, pledging the government's commitment to improve security and the country's infrastructure.

Nairobi, once referred to as the "green city in the sun", has recently witnessed a steady decline in security and crime has become more "sophisticated". With a population of almost three million, high unemployment, high cost of living and the availability of illegal small arms, hardly a day goes by without reports of robberies, carjacking, break-ins and muggings.

The UN's weekly security updates often highlight similar incidents regarding staff members and their dependants. Such cases are on the rise, UN sources say. According to UN statistics, there were some 20 carjacking involving UN staff members in 1999 and 14 in 2000. Since the beginning of this year, there have been three carjacking incidents. In 1999 there were 37 house break-ins, although this reduced slightly in 2000.

The dilapidated infrastructure, lack of water, and a 15-month power rationing (which the government lifted on Thursday) has served to exacerbate the already difficult living conditions in the city.

A police spokesman who spoke to IRIN on Wednesday attributed the lack of water, electricity and the collapse of the infrastructure to natural calamities - drought and the El Nino floods of 1998. "These are beyond the government's or anyone's control," he said.

Although security is important for all, UN sources in Nairobi expressed regret over the media's focus on "security issues" as the cause for the downgrading of Nairobi. Many other factors were also taken into consideration, the sources stressed. A press statement from the UN Information Centre (UNIC) in Nairobi said services such as water, electricity and garbage disposal; the basic infrastructure; and telecommunications were also evaluated. Health facilities and medical treatment, isolation, cultural and recreational facilities, employment opportunities for spouses and the relative hardship of the duty station compared to others were also studied.

"In simple terms, is Nairobi an attractive duty station for internationally recruited staff?" a UN official explained. "Are schools available at reasonable costs, even up to university level for their children and can their spouses get employment?" Independent sources told IRIN another factor often considered by the ICSC in assessing cities is corruption.

"I think the report has elicited a lot of reaction from both the authorities and members of the public in Nairobi because of the way it was presented," a regional analyst, Makumi Mwarigu, of the University of Nairobi told RIN. "Its timing - when the country is in a jittery mood, politically and economically - was wrong. And it has thus resulted in the kind of debate that has been going on."

"Of course things are bad, but people worry over the country's interests, such as tourism," he added.

UNEP's head of information unit, Tore Brevik, emphasised that the assessment was "temporary". He also dispelled fears that the UN might decide to relocate from the Nairobi, the biggest UN duty station in the developing world. "There is no such thing as moving the UN from Nairobi," he said. "In any case, plans are underway for upgrading the conference facilities at UNEP and construction of new buildings, including boarding facilities."

A UN press statement released on Thursday said the proposed expansion of the UN complex in Nairobi will create new jobs and establish Nairobi as a permanent conference centre for the UN. The expansion will cost between US $10-20 million, and will include a major environment-friendly extension and the upgrading of interpretation and conferences facilities, the construction of new office blocks and accommodation facilities for short-term staff.

In early February, Nairobi will host the 21st Governing Council of UNEP which will bring about 100 environment ministers to the city, while in April the Administrative Committee on Coordination (ACC) of the UN, which will be attended by heads of all UN agencies and presided over by the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, will take place.

"These meetings and the proposed expansion of the UN complex in Gigiri will not only reinforce Nairobi as the global centre for environment and human settlements but will also help to place Nairobi firmly on par with the UN headquarters in Geneva and Vienna," the director of the UN Office in Nairobi (UNON) Klaus Toepfer said.
"We are committed - all of us here in the UN in Nairobi - to Kenya's sustainable development and we want to help."

A recent analysis of the UN in Kenya revealed that it brought in more foreign exchange than horticulture, tourism or coffee.