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international

Over the years, you worked closely with
several Directors-General, each with their own
leadership style, priorities, and vision. What
was the key to supporting them effectively over
such a long period? What made this sensitive
and demanding role sustainable for you?
I did indeed work with several Directors-General,
five to be exact, counting the interim ones. Each
a very different person. The key to working with
them was to always remember that they were
the Directors-General, not you. It was my job of International Geneva. What is your vision
to ensure the optimum conditions for them to for its evolution? Do you believe it needs to be
conduct their business by organizing their office reimagined, and if so, what concrete steps could
and support for their activities. The position of help restore its centrality in global diplomacy?
chef de cabinet, in my interpretation, was a mix Unfortunately, this growing concern about
of the functions of chief of staff and of political the relevance of International Geneva has not
adviser, providing the Director-General with the been there just since my recent retirement
best option from those available, but without from the Organization, but at least for the past
closing off the avenue for the direct reporting two decades, if not longer. Geneva is one of the
by line managers. An important aspect and my three Headquarters-type Offices Away from
particular favorite among my functions was Headquarters (OAH), together with Vienna
that of working the diplomatic ‘back channel’ and Nairobi. We must bear in mind, that OAH
and political ‘early warning radar’ before an are substantively and structurally complex,
issue would come to the Director-General and multifaceted, multidirectional, multisectoral
laying out options for the Director-General’s and multifunctional organisms. They are staffed
consideration. And, finally, I used to refer to with professional and above categories and
myself as the ‘Director-General’s liver’, in the general service personnel of the same types of
sense that everything that passed on to the desk of occupations as at UNHQ. As constituent parts
the Director-General went through me, at which of the Secretariat, together with UNHQ, they
moment I would take out all the ‘toxins’ and send perform on behalf of the Secretary-General,
in ‘clean’ stuff. Similarly, everything that returned a variety of political, developmental, legal,
also came to me through the personal assistant humanitarian, informational, regional and
for implementation. I must admit, though, that I other activities, as well as significant conference
have a problematic trait, that of speaking truth to management and administrative support
power. In the case of the senior officials I worked functions. To the Member States who maintain
for, I considered it my duty to provide them with full-fledged diplomatic outposts in these three
all sides of an issue, even those that I knew they locations, just as they do at UNHQ, OAH, are
would not necessarily appreciate. Some shot the the United Nations Secretariat in their regions
messenger, others did not. and areas of coverage. Together with the five
Regional Commissions the three OAH make
My UN career was unusual in the number of up the United Nations worldwide Secretariat.
under-secretary-general-level bosses that I Geneva stands out by far as physically the
worked for directly, seventeen in thirty some largest UN duty station, even edging New
years, counting the interim ones. Among them York somewhat, when the funds, programmes
were such prominent personalities as Joseph and specialized agencies of the UN system in
Verner Reed, Jan Eliasson, Yasushi Akashi, Sergio Geneva are added to the calculation. Factoring
Vieira de Mello, James A. Baker, III, President in the existence in Geneva of three distinct
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, and a number of Diplomatic Corps, one accredited to UNOG and
others. It was great schooling by all my bosses other international organizations, another to the
in diplomacy, politics and the fine art of dealing World Trade Organization (WTO) and the third
with people. to the Conference on Disarmament, the presence
of over forty funds, programmes and specialized
Since your recent retirement, there has been agencies (with over twenty headquartered here),
growing concern about the future relevance over 400 non-governmental organizations

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