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in October 2006 for the post of chef de cabinet Over the years, you worked closely with
of the Director-General. In March of 2011, the several Directors-General, each with their own
outgoing Director-General moved me to the leadership style, priorities, and vision. What
vacant position of Chief Librarian of UNOG, a was the key to supporting them effectively over
most interesting, challenging at first, but very such a long period? What made this sensitive
rewarding job. The UNOG Library is the largest and demanding role sustainable for you?
and most versatile library in the UN Secretariat. I did indeed work with several Directors-General,
Unlike the Dag Hammarskjold Library in New five to be exact, counting the interim ones. Each
York, which due to budget cuts, unfortunately, a very different person. The key to working with
no longer buys new books, the UNOG Library them was to always remember that they were
and Archives is a living institution which serves the Directors-General, not you. It was my job of International Geneva. What is your vision
the UN presence in Geneva, the Diplomatic to ensure the optimum conditions for them to for its evolution? Do you believe it needs to be
Corps, various students and researchers and conduct their business by organizing their office reimagined, and if so, what concrete steps could
is accessible remotely by anyone from every and support for their activities. The position of help restore its centrality in global diplomacy?
corner of the world, for free. In learning the chef de cabinet, in my interpretation, was a mix Unfortunately, this growing concern about
substance of the profession, I enjoyed the of the functions of chief of staff and of political the relevance of International Geneva has not
support and excellent collaboration of over fifty adviser, providing the Director-General with the been there just since my recent retirement
top-notch staff members, librarians, archivists best option from those available, but without from the Organization, but at least for the past
and colleagues of other unique professions such closing off the avenue for the direct reporting two decades, if not longer. Geneva is one of the
as bookbinder, the last of which was eliminated by line managers. An important aspect and my three Headquarters-type Offices Away from
due to budget cuts, thus depriving the UNOG particular favorite among my functions was Headquarters (OAH), together with Vienna
Library and UN and League of Nations Archives that of working the diplomatic ‘back channel’ and Nairobi. We must bear in mind, that OAH
of a key skill to maintain its collections. The and political ‘early warning radar’ before an are substantively and structurally complex,
next Director-General asked me to return two issue would come to the Director-General and multifaceted, multidirectional, multisectoral
years later to the chef de cabinet position where laying out options for the Director-General’s and multifunctional organisms. They are staffed
I served the Organization until my retirement in consideration. And, finally, I used to refer to with professional and above categories and
2023. 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
United Nations Headquarters and the United the Director-General went through me, at which of the Secretariat, together with UNHQ, they
Nations Office at Geneva, two of the largest moment I would take out all the ‘toxins’ and send perform on behalf of the Secretary-General,
parts of the world-wide Secretariat are very in ‘clean’ stuff. Similarly, everything that returned a variety of political, developmental, legal,
different, but in many ways very similar. Having also came to me through the personal assistant humanitarian, informational, regional and
spent over ten years at UNHQ in a variety for implementation. I must admit, though, that I other activities, as well as significant conference
with me throughout my over thirty years in the of offices, humanitarian affairs, children and have a problematic trait, that of speaking truth to management and administrative support
Organization and remains with me to this day. armed conflict, UN50 protocol, and others, power. In the case of the senior officials I worked functions. To the Member States who maintain
I felt strange in the one office-one building for, I considered it my duty to provide them with full-fledged diplomatic outposts in these three
You arrived in Geneva nearly 25 years ago, just as environment of the High Commissioner’s all sides of an issue, even those that I knew they locations, just as they do at UNHQ, OAH, are
Switzerland was joining the United Nations, and office when I came to Geneva in 2003, whereas would not necessarily appreciate. Some shot the the United Nations Secretariat in their regions
were immediately appointed Chef de Cabinet to UNOG had a similar structure, function and messenger, others did not. and areas of coverage. Together with the five
the Director-General of UNOG. How did the vibe as UN HQ, but ‘horizontally’, of course, as Regional Commissions the three OAH make
pace and nature of work in Geneva compare to opposed to the skyscraper configuration in New My UN career was unusual in the number of up the United Nations worldwide Secretariat.
the more politically charged environment of New York. But beyond geometry, New York is the under-secretary-general-level bosses that I Geneva stands out by far as physically the
York? center for peace and security issues, which, by worked for directly, seventeen in thirty some largest UN duty station, even edging New
No, it wasn’t quite such a ‘fairy tale!’ The late Sergio definition, are ‘politically charged’, as you put it. years, counting the interim ones. Among them York somewhat, when the funds, programmes
Vieira de Mello, the brilliant UN ‘troubleshooter’ But anyone who has worked in Geneva, whether were such prominent personalities as Joseph and specialized agencies of the UN system in
who was murdered together with twenty-one on the Secretariat side, or as part of a delegation, Verner Reed, Jan Eliasson, Yasushi Akashi, Sergio Geneva are added to the calculation. Factoring
other colleagues in Baghdad twenty-two years will attest to the fact that there is frequently Vieira de Mello, James A. Baker, III, President in the existence in Geneva of three distinct
ago this August asked me to join him in his new ‘high drama’ in meetings of intergovernmental Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, and a number of Diplomatic Corps, one accredited to UNOG and
position of High Commissioner for Human bodies in Geneva, whether in the Human Rights others. It was great schooling by all my bosses other international organizations, another to the
Rights, as his chief of communications. Following Council, the Conference on Disarmament, even in diplomacy, politics and the fine art of dealing World Trade Organization (WTO) and the third
a tumultuous three-year transition after his in such seemingly technical organizations as the with people. to the Conference on Disarmament, the presence
death, I moved to UNOG as senior political Economic Commission for Europe. Everything of over forty funds, programmes and specialized
adviser to the Director-General and inside of in the United Nations is political and politicized. Since your recent retirement, there has been agencies (with over twenty headquartered here),
a year in that temporary position, was selected Geneva is no exception. growing concern about the future relevance over 400 non-governmental organizations

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