Sierra Leone’s High Commissioner to Kenya, His Excellency Peter Joseph Francis, who doubles as Permanent Representative to the United Nations Office in Nairobi (UNON), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) on Tuesday 29th January 2019, presented his Letter of Credence to Madam Maimunah Mohd Sharif, Under- Secretary General and Executive Director to UN-Habitat and Acting Director General UNON.
The presentation of HE Peter Joseph Francis’ Letter of Credence took place at the UNON office in Nairobi and is in line with what he had described as an earlier advice he had to do a formal letter to the Special Representative of the UN in Nairobi, because, according to him, “the UNON plays a very important role in Africa.” This will further strengthen Sierra Leone’s bilateral relationship with the various UN agencies in Nairobi.
HE Peter Joseph Francis is the first Sierra Leonean appointed High Commissioner to Kenya, who had also on the 5th December 2018, presented his letter of credence to the Kenyan President, HE Uhuru Kenyatta, and two (2) days after on 7th December 2018, he did a courtesy call on the UNON office in Nairobi.
The UNON, the UN headquarters in Africa, was established by the General Assembly in 1996. The office is headed by a Director-General, at the Under-Secretary-General level and serves as the representative office of the Secretary-General in Nairobi and performs representation and liaison functions with permanent missions, the host-country and other Governments, and intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations in Nairobi, as well as other organizations of the United Nations system in Kenya. UNON also facilitates cooperation between the United Nations and regional organizations; provides administrative and other support services to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat); provides joint and common services to other organizations of the United Nations system in Kenya, as applicable; and manages and implements the programmes of administration, conference services and public information and provides security and safety services for United Nations staff and facilities in the United Nations Office at Nairobi.
