Kenya - International cooperation

On 16 December 1963, Kenya became a member of the UN; the nation participates in ECA and all the non-regional specialized agencies, and is a signatory to the Law of the Sea and a member of the WTO. Kenya is also a member of the African Development Bank, Commonwealth of Nations, G-77, and AU. President Daniel Arap Moi was OAU chairman during 1981/82 and 1982/83. In February 1975, Kenya signed the Lomé Convention, thereby acquiring preferential access to the EC for certain products. On 26 June 1980, Kenya signed an agreement with the United States allowing the latter access to air and naval facilities at Mombasa.

Since the US embassy bombings in August 1998, the World Trade Center attacks on September 11, 2001, and the November 2002 hotel bombing in Mombasa, the two nations have solidified their common front against international terrorism. The Bush administration designated Kenya a strategic regional pillar in the American national security strategy, and renewed airbase, port access, and overflight agreements with the Kenyan government. In December 2002, US Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, travelled to the region. Kenya receives 75% ($15 million of $20 million) of the funding authorized by the US Congress for counterterrorism in Africa.

Nairobi has become increasingly important as a headquarters for international agencies (including the secretariat of the UN Environment Program) and as a convention center for world organizations.