UN conference in Nairobi opens amid tight security and road closures

Policemen stand guard on a road leading to the Kenyatta International Convention Centre where the 14th United Nations Conference on Trade and Development is being held for a week. PHOTO: STANDARD

 

KENYA: Nairobians will be forced to bear with major traffic disruption as a UN conference bringing together over 7,000 world delegates begins.

 

Some roads in the city will be closed to motorists for the duration of the week-long 14th session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad) that started yesterday.

Nairobi Head of Traffic Leonard Katana said Parliament Road, City Hall Way, Taifa Road and Harambee Avenue would be closed for the period. Standard Street, Mama Ngina and Wabera Street will also be affected.

“The roads will be used only by delegates who have stickers. Other motorists will be directed by officers on the ground and we are calling for co-operation. We urge motorists to plan well for the week because there will be disruptions here and there. It is necessary,” said Mr Katana.

Potholes on major roads have been patched up and hawkers were chased from the streets ahead of the event as part of ensuring general security.

Police officers have been positioned to man major roads leading to the city. Major hotels in the central business district and outskirts of the city have reported full bookings. Over 4,600 local delegates are also attending the meeting.

President Uhuru Kenyatta opened the meeting yesterday and urged the participants to use the occasion to make decisions that will address skewed trade relations between nations.

This is the second Unctad conference to be held in Kenya after the country hosted the same meeting 40 years ago.

HEIGHTENED SECURITY

“Unctad 14 is a wonderful opportunity for all of us to exchange views on how these milestones have been reached,” he said at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre.
President Kenyatta said some of the themes to be covered in the deliberations were largely the same as those for which delegates in the 1976 conference burnt the midnight oil.

At least four police officers - uniformed and plainclothes - have been posted in hotels where the delegates are staying. And at least 10 hotels The Standard visited in the city yesterday reported full bookings.

The meeting brings together world trade ministers as well as prominent players in business, civil society and academia to tackle global trade and economic development issues.

“The outcomes of the conference will have a political declaration, which Kenya, as the host, is expected to present for adoption by the member states. The declaration provides political guidance to the future work of Unctad,” Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohammed said.

Several African heads of state were scheduled to attend the session, but authorities said the ongoing African Union (AU) summit in Kigali, Rwanda, had affected their attendance.

However, at least 70 ministers of trade from across the globe are already in the country for the meeting that Ms Mohammed said will feature ministerial debates, high-level round tables, thematic events, a World Investment Forum, a Global Commodities Forum, a Youth Forum and a Civil Society Forum, among others.

“The overall attendance is quite high, and has already surpassed our expectations, a sum total of 7,000 delegates in all. As at today (yesterday), we have upwards of 7,000 foreign delegates and 4,600 Kenyan delegates,” she added.

Mohammed said city residents would experience a few traffic interruptions around KICC, City Hall and Parliament Road, and areas close to them.

She said the next four days were crucial in ensuring that Nairobi delivered an outcome acceptable to all member states.

The meeting will also be a unique opportunity to consider the most appropriate means of delivering on the post-2015 development agenda. It will also decide Unctad’s programme of work.

The event marks another milestone for Nairobi, which has hosted a series of similar meetings in the past month alone. This has boosted many areas, including the economy.

Kenya is also expected to give the declaration a name, which is yet to be agreed on.

With the tagline “From Decision to Action”, this year’s conference has extra importance since the global community established the Sustainable Development Goals and mandated Unctad as one of the international entities to mobilise financing for development.