Uganda's Cabinet has approved the allocation of six additional acres of government land to the United Nations Regional Service Centre in Entebbe to support the organisation's expanding operations across the region. The land will be reallocated from the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries after the centre exhausted its current 20-acre holding. The expansion forms part of the UN's wider effort to consolidate administrative and support functions to improve efficiency and reduce operational costs, with Entebbe taking on additional responsibilities previously handled elsewhere.
The Regional Service Centre, established in 2010 under the UN's Global Field Support Strategy, provides administrative, financial, human resources, logistics and information and communications technology services to support UN operations. Its mandate was expanded in 2024 to cover selected administrative and operational services beyond peacekeeping operations and the African region. In July 2026, the centre assumed responsibility for a range of administrative and transactional functions previously managed by the Kuwait Joint Support Office, following an eight-month transition process intended to consolidate service delivery and improve operational efficiency.
Uganda first offered to host more UN support services in Entebbe as part of the organisation's restructuring efforts when President Museveni conveyed the offer to the UN Secretary-General in June 2025. The Secretary-General responded positively on July 15, 2026, according to the Cabinet brief. The expansion is expected to make the centre the largest travel ticketing office in the UN system, handling an average of about 250 tickets daily.
The government anticipates economic benefits from the expansion through staff expenditure, procurement and other business opportunities linked to the centre's operations. According to figures presented to Cabinet, staff spending injects approximately $40 million into the local economy annually, while local contracts account for another $33 million, bringing combined reported annual spending to $73 million. This expenditure supports businesses supplying goods and services to the centre and its employees. For Uganda, the expansion offers an opportunity to attract more international institutional operations, support local suppliers and create demand for services ranging from transport and accommodation to information technology and professional services.
The additional land provides the physical space needed to accommodate the expanded workload as the UN transfers more support functions to Entebbe. By centralising administrative work, the organisation seeks to improve efficiency while allowing field missions to concentrate on their operational mandates. Cabinet's approval therefore enables the centre's physical expansion as Uganda seeks to strengthen its partnership with the United Nations and attract a larger share of the organisation's administrative operations.