Our TV debut

Monday: My organisation received an invite to an event at the UN compound, in Gigiri, north Nairobi.  It’s tomorrow, says my boss. The President is speaking. Would you like to go?  I leapt at the chance, of course, and also invited Dan, lest I feel the wrath of a man who loves a little international politics…

Tuesday: We sat together on the matatu heading north through hilly, leafy suburbs (the OTHER Nairobi), wondering if Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki would actually show.  I think he will! says Dan, spotting policemen standing to attention every 100 yards along the road in readiness.

 

The UN compound is the global headquarters of UN Habitat and UN Environment Programme.  It’s green, landscaped, full of white people.  Through a light security check (a British passport goes a long way), and we were striding between flags of the world, UN lanyards swinging from our necks.  We decided to not actually step onto the red carpet laid for the president and instead kind of skirted round it.

 

We met up with a few VSOs who are in placement with various UN agencies, and generally marveled at the posh coffee and well-paid, well-dressed people you find in the UN’s only global HQ located in the developing world.  It was surely for that reason that big-wigs from UNDP had chosen Nairobi to launch the first ever Africa Human Development Report today, this one on food security.

 

The launch of the report was in an enormous room, unmistakably UN-y.  Maybe 500 people from many, many different nations were seated at long tables with headphones for translation and microphones for question-time.  We sat down sheepishly, feeling like SUCH BLAGGERS, and enjoyed an opening performance of Kenyan dancing.  As Kibaki entered the room from the back, the room fell deathly silent, everyone craning their necks to watch him walk from the back of room, surrounded by very burly security.

There was a fancy video, and interesting speeches, highlighting the causes of food insecurity, which leads to famine.  The UNDP is currently led by its first female Administrator, Helen Clarke, who was President of New Zealand for 9 years.  I thought she was excellent.

I took away many things from the speeches, but mainly -

1. Famine no longer occurs in Latin America and Asia.  Sub-Saharan Africa has just as many abundant natural resources.
2. It is bad governance, weak institutions and poor policy-making that are the main reason why food is insecure; not climate and not drought.
3. A policy of educating women is one of the main approaches in building resilience to whatever the weather throws at you.
4. Young people are choosing not to farm, but employing new technologies will show them it is not the back-breaking industry of previous generations.
5. Hungry people cannot learn, cannot work, cannot grow the economy or build the nation; food security is vital for Africa.

Then Kibaki stood up to speak, and a uniformed military officer moved to stand behind him.  My Kenyan friends reminded me that a car accident and subsequent stroke have robbed him of the energetic way he used to give speeches.  But it was still strange to see a national leader with less public-speaking skills than the average pastor in a church on Sunday.  He defended his government’s record on food security and thanked the UN for their efforts in compiling the research.  Then there were smiles, handshakes, photos and he was gone. 

We left soon after to use the facilities and get a tour of the buildings, sculptures and salad-bars of the UN compound from the lovely Harvey Garcia, fellow VSO who works with UNIDO on coastal pollution in East Africa.

Then having heard all about food insecurity and the perilous position of Africa’s starving poor, all the guests sat down to a lavish banquet.  No joke.  After a few wry comments on this startling juxtaposition, we tucked greedily into an amazing buffet.  There was even a PUDDING TABLE.  It was, as UN-ers Andrea and Amy commented, a good day to visit the UN.

Sunday: I saw you on TV! says friend Lucy. The only people  featured on the NTV report were President Kabaki, and you guys!  I saw you several times in the report.  We couldn't believe it, but a quick google proved her right.  The realisation that us INTERLOPERS were the focus for the audience-cam AND also caught in the back of shot coming back from the loo on national television made us giggle for a good long while.

Screen shot below, or click the video further down to learn more about the event, and play 'Spot the Jonchards'…