UN Staffers Depart Manhattan's Urban Canyons for Kenya's Leafy Capital

 

UN Staffers Depart Manhattan's Urban Canyons for Kenya's Leafy Capital

Authors: Colum Lynch, Ayenat Mersie

Publication: Devex

Date: November 5, 2025

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Summary: United Nations agencies including UNICEF, the UN Population Fund, and UN Women are transferring several hundred staff members from New York to Nairobi, Kenya, to reduce costs and position workers closer to program beneficiaries. 

UNICEF is relocating hundreds of positions with Nairobi soon to account for a larger portion of its global workforce than New York; UN Women plans to relocate 160 workers by next year with about 20 already moved; and UNFPA has already transferred 120 staffers, reducing its New York footprint by 25 percent. 

The moves are part of broader UN cost-cutting efforts following US funding cuts, with Secretary-General António Guterres noting the UN can reduce commercial footprint and costs by moving from high-cost locations, having already achieved savings by terminating one building lease in New York. 

While African governments welcome enhanced UN presence in Africa, some express concerns that combined with extensive layoffs the reforms may ultimately reduce UN support for African priorities including development and peacekeeping.

Quotes: "By moving posts from high-cost locations, we can reduce our commercial footprint in those cities and reduce our post and non-post costs," UN Secretary-General António Guterres told government representatives. "We are taking bold and necessary steps to become leaner, more agile, and closer to the children we serve," said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell. "If you think of the cost of life in New York, the amount of money that is spent on rent by UN staff in New York, I mean I'm paying practically three times less for rent here," said Alice Shackelford, who is leading the relocation effort for UN Women.