About a Quarter of United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) New York Staff Members, to relocate to Nairobi, Kenya, by 2025, a Decision meant to bring the Agency closer to the People it helps, but one that’s proving Unpopular with some Staffers.
UNFPA is the U.N. Agency focused on promoting Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights.
It’s precisely those Rights that some Staffers worry could be compromised, by a move to a Country that has regressed on LGBTQ+ and Women’s Rights. The move would also mean losing Access to the Powerful Corridors of the U.N. Headquarters in New York, where Policy is Formulated, and where I live a block away.
In addition, some Staffers could lose their Jobs. UNFPA says the Restructuring is Not a Downsizing Exercise, but it is already causing People, who do not want to Relocate to look for jobs elsewhere or take a Voluntary Early Separation.
Management is defending the Decision. Ib Petersen, UNFPA’s former Deputy Executive Director for Management, said during a Staff Meeting in September, 2023, that the move is in line with Changes taking place with other U.N. Agencies, which are also shifting “a significant portion” of their Headquarters Staff out of New York, including to Nairobi, “which will become a real epicenter of the global south.”
That’s cold comfort to some Staffers, who was told that UNFPA is a Field-based Organization, and thus needs to be Closer to the People it Supports.
“When we asked for an analysis, like share with us the analysis that made you come to this decision, why Nairobi out of other places, why that was decided? And secondly, what was the risk analysis? Because clearly there’s a risk to moving these divisions out of New York, out of the normative center of the U.N. And none have been provided,” One Staff Member said.
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