Page 394 - 100 Reflections that Crafted Geneva International_V-Petrovsky_private special edition

100 Reflections that Crafted Geneva International

particularly in the former Yugoslavia and the Caucasus. As the process has
evolved, with the holding of annual, high-level meetings and periodic expert-
level meetings on targeted issues, participants have agreed to widen the focus
of discussion to include the political, economic and social dimensions of post-
conflict situations where diverse components of the UN system, as well as the
Council of Europe and the OSCE are active. Now, nine UN entities, as well as
the ICRC and IOM, participate in meetings. Last week we held the 9th gather-
ing of the Tripartite process. On Thursday we held a targeted-oriented meeting
on “Law-enforcement, in particular Police” and Friday's High-level meeting,
with the participation of the Heads of Organizations and Programmes, was
attended for the first time by the European Commissioner who is emerging as
the fourth main partner.

We discussed the situation in different parts of Europe with the aim of a
more rational division of labor between all organizations based on their
comparative advantages. We all agreed that constructive parallelisms between
the UN and European organizations is the best way to deal with challenges of
globalization and regionalism, both of which are developing at great speed.

A dialogue is also in the process of development between UNOG and oth-
er regional organizations such as the Organization of the Islamic Conference,
the Organization of African Unity and the League of Arab States. The past few
years have also witnessed the creation of a number of new regional and sub-
regional structures, particularly in countries with economies in transition.
UNOG has established good cooperation with several, including the Com-
monwealth of Independent States and the Organization of Black Sea Economic
Cooperation, and intends to further develop such ties.

More and more delegations of lawmakers from around the world visit Ge-
neva. Only last week as Secretary-General of the Conference on Disarmament,
I had a very enriching dialogue with the member of the Committee of Foreign
Affairs of the UK House of Commons, who was here in Geneva. Following the
signing of a cooperation agreement between the UN Secretary-General and the
President of the Inter-Parliamentary Council, UNOG has deepened its ties
with the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), the Secretariat of which is based in
Geneva. It has been agreed that UNOG will join forces with the IPU in helping
it to familiarize parliamentarians more fully with the work of the United Na-
tions.

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