Welcome to the Embassy of Sweden in Nairobi

The Embassy has personnel posted from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs (MFA), the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), the Swedish Migration Board and the Swedish Armed Forces as well as locally recruited staff. As of mid 2009 there are 57 persons, of whom 20 are sent out staff, working in Nairobi. The section in Kigali has 13 staff, including five posted from Sida. The Embassy is the largest Swedish Embassy in Africa and the second largest Embassy in the Swedish foreign service.

Policy Areas and Activities
Sweden’s Policy for Global Development 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.

• Ambassador 
• Political; Trade and Commercial; Press, Information and Culture and UN Affairs
• Somalia: Political and Development Cooperation
• Kenya: Development Cooperation
• Regional Development Cooperation (REED)
• Rwanda: Developement Cooperation (office in Kigali)
• Administration
  - Migration and Consular Affairs

The Embassy represents and advances Swedish policies, interests and values in political and economic relations, development cooperation, in trade and investment promotion and in cultural and information matters. It provides consular services to Swedish nationals and migration services to non-nationals. In migration matters the Embassy has a support function towards other Swedish Embassies in Africa.

The Embassy acts bilaterally, within the United Nations, through 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.

Development cooperation is a major responsibility for the Embassy. Swedish global aid volumes reached 0,98% of GNI in 2008 which resulted in Sweden being top ranked among countries providing development assistance in the world.

The overall goal of Swedish development cooperation is to help create conditions that will enable the poor to improve their lives. The assistance is based on a human rights perspective and the perspective of the poor. Sweden is strongly committed to the UN Millennium Declaration and the Millennium Development Goals as well as the Paris Declaration and the Accra Agenda for Action to promote donor harmonisation, alignment and cooperation. The Embassy works towards efficient use of development and humanitarian assistance.

Projected volumes for development cooperation in 2009, including planned humanitarian assistance, attached to the Embassy of Sweden in Nairobi