Senegal opens UN regional headquarters

President Macky Sall on Thursday (Nov. 23) inaugurated the United Nations regional headquarters that will house all UN operations in Senegal.

The ceremony was attended by the presidential couple of Romania on an official visit to Senegal.

The United Nations House is located in Diamniadio, some 30 kilometres from Dakar.

"This house is our contri'bution to the organisation's strategy of creating greater collaboration between its various entities responsible for operational development activities, so as to improve their collaboration and efficiency."

The 2,400 employees of the 34 UN entities currently based in Senegal will work on the new site.

It will also be dedicated to West and Central Africa. The UN Deputy Secretary-General praised the initiative.

"I thank the government of Senegal and this excellency president Macky Sall for this important initiative and his vision," Amina J. Mohamed said.

 This United Nations house is a great expression of our shared vision of cooperation between Senegal and the United Nations to advance a future peace, dignity and prosperity for the Senegalese people, the region, and for us all."

The headquarters sits on a 13-hectare site and was built by a Senegalese private company.

Work began on the project in 2019 for a total of $291 million.