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TALKING POINTS
FOR THE LUNCHEON GIVEN BY THE COMMITTEE
OF THE PRESS CORRESPONDENTS' ASSOCIATION

15 March 1993

1. When I came to Geneva some ambassadors told me that 70 per cent of all
the practical work done by the UN is done in Geneva. Now I see for myself that
this is absolutely true. In fact I am much impressed by the scope and magnitude
of activities undertaken by the UN Geneva Office and the chain of UN organs
located in this city.

2. In this connection it seems to me that press is not always fair to Geneva.
Most of the reports on the UN activities come from New York. No doubt, the
New York Headquarters play a leading role in the solution of world political
problems and formulating the guidelines for the work of the whole Organiza-
tion. However, it should not overshadow the work done in other UN centres,
in particular, Geneva.

3. I would like to urge you to be more cooperative in reporting to the world
what we are doing here. It will case our efforts to achieve the new aims put be-
fore the Geneva Office by the Secretary-General.

4. At my press-conference I had already outlined the main directions of the
work of the Geneva Office. Today I would like to inform you that we had al-
ready begun to implement them. I had extensive consultations with the Heads
of a number of the UN organs and specialized agencies located not only in Ge-
neva but also in Paris and Vienna. They all agreed that Geneva Office should
become the coordinating centre for all the UN activities initiated in Europe.
We are now in the process of establishing regular channels of communication
with the European organizations such as CSCE, EC and NATO. Judging by the

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