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Kenya’s Common Back Office (KCBO) moves from shared ambition to measurable results

07 August 2026

Caption: UNON colleagues from different service units engage with Kenya Common Back Office (KCBO) client entities during the annual “Ask Anything” session. The session reflects KCBO’s client-facing approach, bringing service providers and users into direct conversation on performance, responsiveness and practical improvements towards an efficient UN.

Photo: © UNON

The Kenya Common Back Office 2025 Annual Efficiency Report highlights cost savings, improved services and shared support across 88 United Nations offices.

Kenya’s position as one of the world’s largest United Nations duty stations creates a practical challenge: how can more than 80 UN offices share services, reduce duplication and direct more resources towards their mandates?

The Kenya Common Back Office implemented by UNON as the primary service provider together with UNICEF and WFP for selected non-mandatory services is providing part of the answer.

The newly released Kenya Common Back Office 2025 Annual Efficiency Report examines the second full year of a model pioneered in Kenya that is now helping to shape wider discussions on United Nations reform. By the end of 2025, all 88 UN offices operating in and from Kenya had signed a Service Level Agreement with the United Nations Office at Nairobi (UNON), achieving full coverage of the client base.

Across procurement, information and communications technology, human resources, administration, premises, finance and logistics, the Common Back Office offered 82 services and supported more than 6,000 personnel. UNON delivered over 152,000 quantified service transactions during the year. An audit by the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) in 2025 also found the model to be effectively governed and operationally sound.

Early results show what shared systems can achieve. Travel arrangements generated approximately USD 997,000 in reported savings, joint procurement produced USD 145,000 in cost avoidance and consolidated medical services delivered USD 78,000 in savings. Improvements to host country services reduced average processing time by 15.5 days.

The gains were recorded during a year of funding constraints, liquidity pressures and restructuring across the UN system. Despite increased staffing costs and exchange-rate pressures, most service rates remained unchanged, while some were reduced. Client satisfaction captured through different survey mechanisms was above 80 per cent, with particularly strong results for ICT, facilities management and governance.

The report is equally clear about the work still required. Signing agreements does not automatically translate into full service uptake. Parallel agency arrangements, inconsistent application of mutual recognition, limited system interoperability and gaps in measuring financial efficiencies continue to reduce the potential benefits.

“Every shilling not lost to avoidable duplication is a shilling that can support development, humanitarian action and Kenya’s own national priorities,” said Dr Garry Conille, United Nations Resident Coordinator in Kenya. “That is the entire point.”

The next phase will focus on deeper service uptake, clearer evidence of value, stronger digital systems and continued investment in service quality and staff experience.

Read the Kenya Common Back Office 2025 Annual Efficiency Report to explore the results, client experiences, early efficiency gains and priorities shaping the next stage of shared UN operations in Kenya.