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international
“It is often said openly – and is really doing. So, it’s important to allow
people to see what we are doing and how
rightly – that the sphere of important this work really is. I really think
disarmament can evolve only through it will depend on the subject, on the type of
meeting and on the organisers.
a larger participation of women.
It is crucial, and we need a more You are also Secretary-General of the
Conference on Disarmament and the Personal
balanced representation. ” Representative of the Secretary-General to
the Conference on Disarmament. Is this a
new experience and a new domain for you,
and how do you perceive this responsibility
considering that the Conference has been
paralysed for so long? And in the context of the
previous question, can issues on disarmament,
often sensitive and usually confidential, be
At the same time, another lesson of the discussed online?
pandemic is that virtual and hybrid tools can There was a period in my career when I was
give us additional benefits. Now we can include the head of the international department of
more actors in multilateral discussions. the Government of the Russian Federation,
and that covered all international issues. At
Many small states that could not send their that time, I was involved in all the items on
delegations to meetings here in Geneva are the international agenda.
now participating virtually. Representatives
from civil society and academia, who have So, I was aware of the issue of disarmament.
been involved in all our virtual meetings, are But at the same time, of course, I am in a
really very important in making decisions. new position, and for me it is very important,
especially since I am a female. It is often
So, I think the future will be hybrid: many said openly – and rightly – that the sphere
meetings in person but quite often with of disarmament can evolve only through a
additional hybrid elements which can enrich larger participation of women. It is crucial,
our discussions and really make possible and we need a more balanced representation.
inclusive multilateralism. When we are meeting, the majority of the
ambassadors are still men. We need to change
So, you think that there will be a combination the situation.
of the two? The meetings will be in person and
webcast at the same time? At the same time, the Conference on
No, not all the meetings. It depends upon Disarmament depends upon the consensus
the type of meeting. Quite a number of among the member states, so, we have to
informal or highly sensitive meetings will support them. It is a very difficult period
still be only in-person. But there are quite a now, we still cannot see enough trust among
few events that are open and of interest to the Member States, so, we have to support them
public. If people can watch them online, it is and help them to build this trust.
very important also for the United Nations
because people want to know what we are For me, what is really important is that all the
doing. members of the Conference value it and praise
it as a body. It is the only multilateral body on
Before coming to Geneva, I worked in close disarmament, and although we cannot go on
collaboration with the United Nations and I with our substantive decisions at the moment,
knew a lot about it’s work. However, when I we still hear from all members how important
came here, I realised that I knew maybe only it is to go on and support the Conference on
about 10 percent of what the United Nations Disarmament.
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This year, we had a virtual high-level segment on
disarmament, with a very active participation, and I
think it was a very important achievement.
Why do you think that disarmament is not so interesting
for women?
It is interesting for women, but we need to build up their
capacity. For instance, in the Office of Disarmament
Affairs we have a lot of young women, and we see that
in a number of delegations, there are already quite a few
young women, but it takes time for them to grow up and
reach the rank of ambassador. So, we have to promote
women’s participation. The Secretary-General is really
showing the example. In our United Nations system,
there are quite a high number of females in key positions
in the disarmament area.
What is your vision of the future of Geneva as a diplomatic
and conference centre? Will its role be strengthened, or,
on the contrary, will the move online leave it weakened? These days, because I could not bring my library here,
I really hope it will be strengthened. Why? Again, as a I mostly read online. I read newspapers. I start my day
result of the pandemic, we see how important in-person reading news from different sources, Russian, British,
meetings are. We really see that Geneva is a very important U.S., French… I have been reading more and more non-
place for this kind of meetings. We are really proud of fiction. I’m really very interested in history, and I think
our work during the pandemic. We had Libya talks that it’s a very important subject.
brought about a ceasefire. We had discussions on Libyan
political and economic issues. We had a conference on I’m now reading a lot about the history of Switzerland,
Afghanistan, resulting in pledges reaching 3.3 billion USD. Geneva and the Palais des Nations. It is very interesting
We had the continuation of the inter-Syrian dialogue. We for me to understand what was built and why, and how
had the Geneva International Discussions’ meetings. The negotiations took place. Lots of things took place here
Secretary-General is planning to convene informal talks in Geneva which are connected with my native country,
on Cyprus at the end of April. We understand that there Russia.
will also be significant hybrid and virtual meetings in
the future. We are building our capacity here in Geneva Speaking about writers: I love Russian literature, but I
to provide support for this kind of conference activities, had to read it at school, so my favourite writers were
to be able to provide technical support and multilingual those I did not have to read for school purposes. I have
interpretation for hybrid events. If we combine these two always had two favourite writers: Balzac and Dreiser.
elements - preserving and strengthening our traditional They are still very important for me. Speaking about
role, developing the new elements - we will really be able Russian literature, I really love Russian poetry, not
to strengthen our role and place. only Pushkin but also the so-called Russian poetry of
the Silver Century. What is interesting in this period,
Speaking about writing and the media, what are your is that many prominent poets are women. There are
favourites – periodicals, magazines, newspapers, online two absolutely fantastic poets of the end of the 19th
and in print? And who are your favourite writers (world and beginning of 20th century: Anna Akhmatova and
literature), the real masters of the pen, be it in Russian, Maria Tsvetaeva.
in English or in another language?
In Moscow, I have a huge library, and I buy books like What hobbies do you have – photography, music, plastic
a “bookaholic”. I am afraid that books one day will stop arts, painting…?
being printed, therefore I keep on buying. When I used I would say that my main hobby in normal times is
to travel to New York, London or Paris, I always returned travelling, and as a result of that and because one likes to
home with a suitcase full of books. I think I have enough keep memories, I like photography. I’m also interested in
books to last to the end of my days. painting, and I write.
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