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Challenging agenda:

The role of geneva in the years to come

by Vladimir Petrovsky

Geneva has enjoyed over eighty years on Present-day Geneva is a thriving hub of action
the diplomatic stage. The UN’s predecessor, in the service of humanity. Consider the
the League of Nations, a product of the following. About 3,800 people work for the
tragic “Great War,” found its home here. The United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG).
conclusion of the Treaty of Versailles led Add to that number 4,200 staff members
to the creation of the League in 1919. US from five specialized agencies and 3,450 staff
President Woodrow Wilson, the League’s and diplomats working for 151 of the UN’s
guiding figure, was among the leaders who 189 Member States. UNOG is the second
considered Geneva eminently suitable due United Nations office after Headquarters in
to Switzerland’s involvement in international New York and the world’s busiest conference
relations, which dates back to the 19 century. center. More than 600 meetings a month
th
This was the world’s first “Great Experiment” in bring 25,000 delegates to the city. Three types
multilateral diplomacy and collective security. of Ambassadors discharge their functions
The creation of the United Nations in 1945 is in Geneva: those assigned to UNOG, those
considered as the second Great Experiment. dealing with the Conference on Disarmament
Both the successes and failures of the League (CD) and those specializing in international
provided the principal direction and basis for trade.
the new Organization, which also came out of
the ashes of war. Geneva’s “personality” is unique; the
approach is hands-on, the projects concrete
The International Committee of the Red Cross and designed to have a broad impact. It serves
(ICRC) long ago put Geneva on the map as an increasingly important operational base.
the world capital of humanitarian activity. As In fact, US Energy Secretary Bill Richardson
the custodian of the Geneva Conventions, summed it up perfectly when he said that
the ICRC monitors with States-Parties the Geneva was where the UN did its “heavy
humane treatment of civilians in conflict and lifting.” The UN has boosted its capacity to
prisoners-of-war. dispatch rapid humanitarian aid, since the

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