Page 59 - 100 Reflections that Crafted Geneva International_V-Petrovsky_private special edition

Bringing the Concept to Life

taking into account the staff of all the intergovernmental organizations, those
who work in diplomatic missions and the representatives of non-governmental
organizations. If we also include their families, we arrive at the even more
impressive figure of 70,000 people connected with international organizations
in the broad sense. More than 3,000 Swiss nationals work in international
organizations, including diplomatic missions. The number of delegates
attending meetings is estimated to be 120,000 yearly.

The Palais des Nations also plays an essential role in respect of information.
Each year the Information Service accredits some 230 press correspondents, who
are joined by some 300 journalists for short periods from the print media, radio
and television. These figures can easily be multiplied tenfold on the occasion of
major conferences.

The international community in Geneva is the equivalent of a provincial
town in Switzerland or France.

The UN, which is designed to serve the peoples of the world, has to have
its doors wide open to the public at large, to all those men and women who
come in search of more information about it. Thus, each year some 150,000
visitors come to the Palais des Nations in order to visit one of the architectural
wonders of the City of Geneva and to obtain information about the activities of
the United Nations.

The UN Office at Geneva wishes to be seen by the Swiss population, not
as an exotic place, but as an open house, where "vostra res agitur'', whether or
not your country chooses to become a UN Member State.

I deeply believe that today, in the new era of multilateralism based on the
UN Charter, Geneva will certainly build upon its tradition as "capital of
internationalism".

As Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva, I see the
following priority tasks:

First, to strengthen Geneva as a centre for conference diplomacy and an
international forum for consultations, cooperation and dialogue affecting
nations in Europe, as well as the Mediterranean area and the Euro-Asian
continent. Looking at the "Agenda for Peace", we stand ready for the possibility
that such major organs of the United Nations as the Security Council could
meet here in the Palais des Nations.

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