Page 498 - 100 Reflections that Crafted Geneva International_V.Petrovsky_private edition_hardcover

100 Reflections that Crafted Geneva International

those dealing with the Conference on Disarmament (CD) and those
specializing in international trade.

Geneva's “personality” is unique; the approach is hands-on, the projects
concrete and designed to have a broad impact. It serves an increasingly
important operational base. In fact, US Energy Secretary Bill Richardson
summed it up perfectly when he said that Geneva was where the UN did its
“heavy lifting.” The UN has boosted its capacity to dispatch rapid humanitarian
aid, since the numbers of victims of both conflict and natural disasters are
increasing as never before. When tragedy strikes, organizations such as the
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) act speedily to
move the key players and resources where they are urgently needed. In
economic development, the UN Conference on Trade and Development
(UNCTAD) represents the concerns of developing nations, and particularly,
the Least Developed Countries (LDCs), to extend the benefits of globalization
as equitably as possible.

Geneva's standard-setting work has improved the lot of people every-
where. Our basic assumptions about acceptable working conditions, such as
paid holidays, the right to sick leave, etc., are the result of the efforts of the In-
ternational Labour Organization (ILO). The World Intellectual Property
Organization (WIPO) has elaborated laws of copyright and protection of intel-
lectual property. The World Trade Organization, the entity that is expanding
and liberalizing global trade, hardly needs introduction.

Human security will be the leitmotiv for Geneva's actions in the coming
century, whether in disarmament, human rights or humanitarian action.
Human survival itself is the driving force behind the Conference on
Disarmament (CD). While New York retains the consultative bodies in
disarmament matters, the nuts-and-bolts of treaty-making is the CD's work.
Away from the media's glare, the multilateral and bilateral agreements
produced have saved millions of lives and spared our environment untold
damage and contamination. The CD is the international community's single
multilateral negotiating forum for disarmament agreements. All the militarily
significant States are represented in this 66-member body. The CD concluded
two major arms limitation treaties in the last decade: the Chemical Weapons
Convention (CWC) in 1992 and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty
(CTBT) in 1996, which banned all nuclear testing.

In 2001, Geneva will be at the epicenter of global arms-control negotia-
tions. Specifically, it will be the year of the Biological Weapons Convention

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