Page 132 - 100 Reflections that Crafted Geneva International_V-Petrovsky_private special edition

100 Reflections that Crafted Geneva International

well as of knowledge and expertise. А great statesman of this century, Sir
Winston Churchill, who contributed much to the creation of the United
Nations, said: "The United Nations was set up not to get us to heaven, but to
save us from hell". This is exactly what the UN is doing today. The UN
conducts numerous and diversified activities all over the world. It launches
peace­keeping operations, protects human and minority rights, provides
technical assistance to developing countries, delivers humanitarian aid,
conducts environmental programmes, services numerous international
conferences, etc. These activities have concrete effects оn our daily lives,
helping in preventing of violence in the conflicts; fighting AIDS, drug abuse
and child slavery; promoting equal rights for all people irrespective of race,
nationality or gender, or protecting the family or the poorest.

3. Within this internationa1 structure, Geneva has its own handwriting.
Whilst New York is the major decision-making centre, Geneva is the major
operational headquarters. Up to 65 per cent of all the activities of the
Organization are conducted from Geneva, many of the operations extending to
all regions of the world.

4. Geneva hosts six UN specialized agencies - the World Health Organiza-
tion, International Telecommunications Union, the International Labour
Organization, World Meteorological Organization, World Intellectual Proper-
ty Organization and the GAТТ. А number of other programmes are also based
in this city. Among them there are, for example, UNCTAD, the Economic
Commission for Europe, the Centre for Human Rights - the UN's main body
for the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms;
and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees which was twice
awarded the Nobel Реасе Prize. The UNHCR provides assistance and protec-
tion to refugees all over the world, from Bosnia and Somalia to Georgia, Indo-
China and Latin America. This represents а tremendous concentration of
knowledge and expertise. Here in Geneva, we have specialists in all the major
fields of human endeavours - economic and social development, business and
labour relations, health, telecommunications, to name but а few.

5. Every year the Palais des Nations hosts more than 4,000 meetings on
different subjects and the number of visiting delegates attending these
meetings is roughly 120,000 а year. Some important international negotiations
such as the Conference on the Former Yugoslavia and the talks on Georgia-
Abkhazia conflict are also conducted in Geneva.

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