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51.

The United Nations: A Global Centre for
Concerted Action to Promote Peace, Stability
and Well Being

ADDRESS
BY MR. VLADIMIR PETROVSKY
UNDER-SECRETARY-GENERAL OF THE UNITED NATIONS
DIRECTOR-GENERAL OF THE UNITED NATIONS OFFICE AT GENEVA
ON THE OPENING OF THE 35TH GRADUATE STUDY SEMINAR

Palais des Nations, Geneva, 7 July 1997

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I t is a pleasure for me to open the 1997 edition of the Graduate
Study Programme and to welcome you to the Palais des Nations,
the former headquarters of the League of Nations, and current
seat of the United Nations Office at Geneva. You have come from all
continents with a solid and diverse academic background, motivated by a
common interest in the activities of the United Nations, and I hope you will
leave with a sense of commitment to the ideals the United Nations stands for.

The focus of this year's seminar is "United Nations Reforms: Preparing for
the Twenty-first Century". Accordingly, I would like to share some thoughts
with you on the new role of the United Nations on the threshold of a new
millenium, to draw your attention to the specificity of the United Nations
Office at Geneva (UNOG), and to give you an overview of current trends in
the reform process. I don't know if you realize that you will have the good
fortune of attending this Study Programme at the time the Secretary-General

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