UNON DCS Frequently Asked Questions

Most intergovernmental and expert meetings are open only to invited participants. Members of the public do not generally attend official United Nations meetings. If you are unsure as to whether you can attend, please contact the meeting organizers for information about participation.

If you have been invited to a meeting or event at the United Nations Office at Nairobi (UNON), you will need to register through the conference organizer’s online platform.

Most intergovernmental and expert meetings have restricted attendance, with invitations extended to specific participants. Meeting participants typically include representatives of Member States and observer States, United Nations entities, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), media organizations, academic institutions or experts in the relevant field, and invited guests and speakers.

Meeting organizers are responsible for determining who may attend, approving participant registration and confirming participation.

If you are unsure whether you may attend, please contact the secretariat organizing the event. Contact details can usually be found on the relevant United Nations event page.

Members of the public may visit the UNON campus only as part of a guided tour. Guided tours can be booked through the UNON Visitors’ Service. For security reasons, it is not possible for external visitors to simply walk around the premises.

Most conferences and official meetings are accessible only to a limited group of invited participants. Discussions are typically conducted by Member State representatives, with invited NGOs, United Nations personnel, experts or other stakeholders providing input, participating in side events or observing the proceedings. Many sessions can also be followed online.

Visitors enter through the main entrance on United Nations Avenue, just off Limuru Road in Gigiri, across the road from the Embassy of the United States of America. Please bring your passport or Government-issued ID to enable access to the campus and arrive at least 30 to 45 minutes before your meeting to clear security checks.

For more information about access and transport options, please visit the Attending an event page on our website.

The UNON campus has a number of accessible routes, ramps and wheelchair-friendly entrances across the complex, and UNON is committed to accommodating all visitors.

If you have accessibility requirements, please let the meeting organizers know as early as possible when registering to ensure that the meeting team is able to make any necessary seating and other arrangements in advance.

Indico.UN is the United Nations’ registration, participant and access management platform, used at United Nations duty stations around the world, including Nairobi. Meeting organizers create an event page in Indico.UN to publish essential information, including meeting dates, schedules and venue, background documents, participant registration, practical access information and restrictions, participant badge issuance and invitations to speaking engagements.

Anyone wishing to participate in an event taking place at UNON must register online in advance. Registration is often managed through Indico.UN, which is also used for many United Nations events in other locations.

UNON DCS provides conference facilities and services to the United Nations entities located in Nairobi, notably the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), both of which are headquartered in the city. Particular emphasis is placed on the calendar meetings of the UN-Habitat Assembly, the United Nations Environment Assembly and their subsidiary bodies.

Operating largely on a reimbursable financing model, UNON DCS also provides conference services to United Nations agencies, funds and programmes, under the Common Back Office (CBO) Framework, in addition to the meetings held away from Nairobi under the multilateral environmental agreements.

Look out for announcements on the UNON Division of Conference Services (UNON DCS) website and the websites of individual United Nations entities, such as UNEP and UN-Habitat.

UNON conference facilities and meeting services can be booked by United Nations Member States and observer States, United Nations Secretariat, agencies, funds and programmes, and non-governmental organizations with Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council.

Meeting organizers are responsible for determining who may attend, approving participant registration and confirming participation. Most meeting participants belong to one of the following groups: Member States and observer States, United Nations entities, NGOs, media organizations, academic institutions or experts in the relevant field, and invited guests and speakers.

UNON DCS offers end-to-end support for meetings and events held at UNON and around the world. Explore the list of available services on the Our services page on the UNON DCS website. These include:

• Planning and coordination
• Meeting servicing
• Editing, translation and word processing
• Interpretation
• Report writing
• Graphic design and publishing
• Branding and printing
• General and technical set-up
• Conference technology
• Livestreaming and recording
• Event staffing

For more details, please explore the Our services page on the UNON DCS website. To make a booking enquiry, please contact the UNON DCS team.

We warmly encourage clients and prospective clients to contact our Meetings Management Unit (MMU) as early as possible and to submit their meeting requests well in advance of the planned event date.

A conference officer will work closely with you to understand your meeting objectives and requirements and advise on the services you may need.

For more information on how to book these services, please visit the Our services page on the UNON DCS website.

Please email any requests for publishing and printing services to: unon-printshop@un.org

For more information on the types of print services we offer and how to book them, please visit the Our services page on the UNON DCS website.

Please email any requests for documentation services to the Documents Management Unit (DMU) at unon-dcs-docs@un.org, providing a brief description of your needs, and we will get back to you as soon as possible.

Please submit pre-session documents through gDoc, in line with United Nations requirements for the processing of pre-session documentation.

For more information on how to book these services, please visit the Our services page on the UNON DCS website.

Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish are the six official languages of the United Nations. English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat and are used in day-to-day professional exchanges.

The fundamental guidance is to plan ahead. Most of our clients book our services many months in advance to enable us to plan the staffing resources required to process these documents. This applies in particular to pre-session or in-session documentation services.

For ad hoc documents that require editing or translation, processing time vary depending on available capacity at the time of submission and may be longer if we are servicing other conferences at that time. For a more specific estimate, please email our Documents Management Unit with a brief description of your needs, and we will respond as soon as possible.

For more information on how to book these services, please visit the Our services page on the UNON DCS website.

The United Nations does not accept résumés sent directly via email, postal mail or social media. Candidates must submit their applications digitally through official channels.

To apply for internships, consultancies or staff roles please go to careers.un.org and click on Vacancies. You can also visit the individual websites of United Nations system entities and the International Civil Service Commission’s JOBNET.

Financial aid is not available to individuals or private organizations through the United Nations.

You can donate to support the work of the United Nations or its system entities by following the links on this page.

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These fraudulent scams seek to obtain money and/or, in many cases, personal information from recipients. Learn more: Fraud Alert.

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