Page 279 - 100 Reflections that Crafted Geneva International_V-Petrovsky_private special edition

Bringing the Concept to Life

Permanent Missions and the Secretariat which UNOG is committed to
promote.

UNOG itself has a special place within the UN system. On the one hand it
is the heir to, and keeper of, the noble traditions of the League of Nations and
the building it occupies, the Palais des Nations, was built in 1937 as the
Headquarters of the League. On the other hand, it is part and parcel of the UN
system. Though it is based in Europe, UNOG is not Eurocentric, but global in
its activities.

Although some of you already have a long and distinguished career in the
diplomatic service of your respective countries, this might be the first time you
are confronted with the arcane of multilateral diplomacy which poses specific
challenges and requires a distinctive modus operandi. Whatever your
background and area of expertise, you will be given the opportunity, during this
seminar, to acquire a global view of the issues commonly dealt with at UNOG,
to familiarize yourself with the internal mechanisms of the Organization, and to
establish lasting contacts with your UN counterparts.

You are assigned to the United Nations at a time when the international
community is taking stock of the deep changes occurring in the last decade of
this century and reappraising the goals, methods and structures of the
Organization accordingly. This is not a purely rhetorical exercise. It is a process
which engages the responsibility of Member States and requires their active
participation every step of the way. The effectiveness of the Organization is
directly related to the commitment of Member States and to their willingness
to endow the United Nations with the necessary means to meet the perennial
goals of the Charter in the twenty-first century.

The agenda for 1997 has been largely dominated by the reform process to
which the Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan, is fully committed. The purpose
of reforming the United Nations is to strengthen this unique universal
institution and prepare it to meet the challenges of the future. The emergence -
or, in several parts of the world, the re-emergence - of society is linked to two
interlocking processes: the quest for a more democratic, transparent,
accountable and enabling governance and the increasing preponderance of
market-based approaches to national and global economic management, which
have resulted in redefining the role of the State and vested new and broader
responsibilities in market and civil society actors in the pursuit of growth and
well-being. In this overall context, a vibrant civil society is critical to processes
of democratization and empowerment.

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