International
Membership in International Organizations
Kenya is a member of numerous international organizations whose focus is primarily Africa, including the Africa Development Bank (AfDB); African Union (AU); Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA); Cotonou Convention; East African Community (EAC); Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Co-operation (IOR–ARC); and Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD). Some of Kenya’s other major memberships, which have a broader international focus, include the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO); Group of 15; Group of 77; International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD); International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO); International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol); International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD); International Labour Organization (ILO); International Maritime Organization (IMO); International Monetary Fund (IMF); International Organization for Migration (IOM); International Telecommunication Union (ITU); Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW); United Nations (UN); United Nations Committee on Trade and Development (UNCTAD); United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO); United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR); United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO); Universal Postal Union (UPU); World Health Organization (WHO); World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO); World Meteorological Organization (WMO); and World Trade Organization (WTO).
Major International Treaties
Kenya has acceded to major international treaties, accords, and conventions in many areas, for example, human rights, the environment, and nonproliferation. The environmental agreements include some 16 global and regional accords on the atmosphere, hazardous substances, marine resources, and living resources of the sea, freshwater, and land. Kenya has signed major conventions regarding nuclear safety and biological, chemical, and nuclear weapons, as well as the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction. Kenya is a signatory to most of the major international human rights treaties, for example: Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in 1972; Civil and Political Rights in 1972; Discrimination Against Women in 1984; Torture in 1997; and Rights of the Child in 1990.
Source: Library of Congress – Federal Research Division Country Profile: Kenya, June 2007
