Welcome to the Swedish Embassy in Nairobi

The Embassy has locally recruited staff and personnel posted from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs (MFA) and the Swedish International Development Co-operation Agency (Sida). As of November 2007 there are 56 persons (19 posted) working in Nairobi. The section in Kigali has eleven staff, including four posted from Sida and one political officer from MFA. The Embassy in Nairobi is the largest Swedish Embassy in Africa and is the third largest in the Swedish foreign service.

Embassy Working Areas:

Ambassador 
     - Political, Commercial, Culture, Information & UN affairs
     - Migration and Consular
     - Development Co-operation
           - Kenya
           - Somalia
           - Rwanda
           - Regional
                   - Lake Victoria Initiative
                   - Regional Democracy and Human Rights
                   - Resource Centre for Rural Development
     - Administration

The Swedish Policy for Global Development (PGU) decided by Parliament in 2003 calls for all policy areas to work in a coherent way towards the central goal of contributing to an equitable and sustainable global development. The Embassy in Nairobi is quite unique in its variety of policy areas and activities. This creates a work environment with lots of opportunities to ensure coherence as well as utilize and benefit from synergies. The Embassy represents and advances Swedish policies, interests and values in all areas of activity in political and economic relations, development co-operation, in trade and investment promotion and in cultural and information matters. It provides consular services to Swedish nationals and migration services to non-nationals.

The Embassy also works towards efficient use of development and humanitarian assistance. We work bilaterally, as a member of the United Nations, the European Union and in various like-minded constellations of countries. Our goal is to provide services of high standard in all areas of activity.

The trade promoter in the Embassy has a regional co-ordinating function. In migration matters the Embassy has a support function towards other Swedish Embassies in the region.

Development co-operation is a major responsibility for the Embassy. The total global Swedish support  reached 1 % of GDP in 2007. Sweden is strongly committed to the UN Millennium Declaration and the Millennium Development Goals as well as the Paris declaration promoting donor harmonisation, alignment and co-operation. The overall goal of Swedish development co-operation is to help create conditions that will enable the poor to improve their lives. Our assistance is based on a human rights perspective and the perspective of the poor.

Financial support handled by the Embassy in Nairobi for year 2007: