The UNESCO Office 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 sectors in education, natural sciences, social human sciences, culture, and communication and information. Priority areas for Education are: Monitoring and Coordinating Education Development; Teachers; Skills for Work and Life; Literacy for All; Global Citizenship Education; Higher Education. Natural Sciences:Water Security; Geology, Ecosystems and Biodiversity; Building Capacity in Science and Engineering Science for Society. Social and Human Sciences: Social transformations; Building Peace Programmes; Democracy and Global Citizenship. Culture: Culture for Sustainable Development; Heritage at Risk; World Heritage; Intangible Cultural Heritage; Diversity of Cultural Expressions; Museums; Underwater Cultural Heritage. Communication and Information: Access to information; ICT in Education; Information Preservation; Media Pluralism and Diversity; Press Freedom.
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.