Nairobi, Kenya

On 13-19 September, I flew to Nairobi to participate in a "book sprint" at UNEP headquarters in the United Nations Office in Nairobi. UNEP is preparing its 6th Global Environment Outlook (GEO6) report, starting this time with 6 regional reports from which the global report will be assembled. I was invited to be a coordinating lead author for part of the European report, specifically exploring Europe's role in the UN 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals. After some preparatory drafting before coming to Nairobi, all the coordinating lead authors for the six reports were given one week to write the full first draft of each report together. It was a very intensive week, since the report is intended first to be an e-book with limited text, infographics, videos and animations. Producing short, clear text was a challenge. Fortunately the parts of my draft that did not fit into my section were taken up by other authors for their sections.

I stayed with the European UNEP team and the lead authors in a guest house not far from UNEP. I crossed paths with some old colleagues from my days in Nairobi (1987-1991), had lunch with the Director of Communications and Public Information (a Baha'i), and dinner with some Baha'i friends including Jan Duchac, whom I have know since our times together in Washington, D.C. (1970) and others advising the new Baha'i International Community office for Africa in Addis Abeba.

The United Nations Office in Nairobi

UNON main entrance . UNON entrance . flags
The UNON campus is set in extensive gardens, with a curving road from the entrance lined with UN flags

UNON . UNON . UNON
The many buildings are separated by lawns and trees, and now house different UN offices, although when I worked there it was mostly UNEP

UNON . UNON courtyard . UNON
The main conference rooms are around a central courtyard

new UNEP building . inside UNEP building
UNEP has a new building with an indoor garden path between its two wings


The GEO6 book sprint

Jackie McGlade launching the sprint . audience . audience
Opening plenary with Jacqueline McGlade, Director of the UNEP Division of Early Warning and Assessment (of which I used to be Deputy Director)

Europe lead authors . audience . GEO authors
The leaders of the European report and UNEP support from Tomas Marquez (my former student); authors from all the regions

The European GEO6 team
European GEO6 team . European GEO lead team . part of European team at work
The European GEO team (minus two); the lead coordinating authors and UNEP staff; part of the team at work
European GEO6 team


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Last updated 23 September 2015

Photographs copyright © Arthur Lyon Dahl 2015