The UNESCO Regional Office for Eastern Africa in Nairobi was created in 1965 for the purpose of serving as a regional hub for science, technology and innovation (STI) in Sub-Sahara Africa. Following the UNESCO Africa Field Reform of 2011, UNESCO Regional Office has evolved from a Regional Office for Science and Technology to the even broader scope of a Multi-Sectoral Regional Office responsible for 13 Member States in Eastern Africa and the adjacent Indian Ocean Islands. Countries that we cover are: Comoros, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Rwanda, Seychelles, Tanzania, Somalia, South Sudan and Uganda.

UNESCO pursues its objectives through five major programs in education, natural and social human sciences, culture, and communication and information. Projects implemented by the Regional Office for Eastern Africa include literacy, technical, and teacher-training programmes; international science programmes; the promotion of independent media and freedom of the press; regional and cultural history projects; the promotion of cultural diversity; translations of world literature; international cooperation agreements to secure the world cultural and natural heritage (World Heritage Sites) and to preserve human rights, and attempts to bridge the worldwide digital divide.

In addition, the Regional Office for Eastern Africa host and coordinate UNESCO Institute of Statistics (UIS), Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC), Intergovernmental Council of the International Hydrological Programme (IHP) and The Programme on Man and the Biosphere (MAB) to enhance its capacity to deliver intellectual and humanist response to globalization and emergencies, and with the extraction and transfer of knowledge needed to influence sustainable development of a member state’s legal, policy and implementation frameworks.