Despite COVID-19, UN Geneva continues to be the centre of multilateral diplomacy Overview of UN Geneva’s activities between 1 April and 1 November 2020
Leading the pandemic response in Geneva
UN Geneva was the driving force behind the local COVID-19 response among UN entities • In her capacity as UN designated official for Security in Switzerland, the Director-General chaired 20 coordination meetings of the Security Management Team (representatives of Geneva-based UN entities). UN Geneva also coordinated regular meetings of security, human resources, medical and communications networks of UN presences and other organizations in Geneva • UNOG ensured that the 164,481 square meters of Palais des Nations buildings were assessed and prepared for the safe return of UN personnel and delegates and for the resumption of in-person conferencing activities, including establishing safe distancing measures and installing more than 240 hand sanitizer stations
Service Delivery
We ensured the UN had the personnel and resources it needed to deliver its mission of one of the main Service Centers of the UN Secretariat
• 3,800 personnel contracts administered and more than 1,842 Carte de Légitimation requests processed • 230,000+ payments processed for goods and services needed to implement our essential work and that of over 40 other entities serviced by UNOG • Continued to make wellbeing and counselling services available to more than 4,400 personnel, and medico-administrative services for more than 6,000 personnel in field and headquarters duty stations
The renovation of the Palais continued • Pandemic-related closures impacted the timetable of the renovation but did not block it • A three-conference room temporary structure, Tempus, completed and opened • CHF 35 M+ worth of construction and renovation works • Preparatory work of the renovation of the original building underway • Start of the Celestial Sphere Restoration Project
Ensuring the continuation of the intergovernmental process
In June, at the request of the Member States, UN Geneva was the first UN duty station to resume official meetings on the premises. It has also been implementing new tools for remote multilingual participation
At the request of the Member States, the Palais hosted three hybrid sessions of the Human Rights Council and serviced the remainder of the Conference on Disarmament’s 2020 session
The production of news material and event coverage continued and was developed on an effective hybrid platform for press activities of Geneva-based agencies • 145 press conferences • 33 press releases • 214 meeting summaries • 1,102 news products
UN Geneva continued to place news on social media and disseminate information worldwide • We published 5,971 tweets; 864 Facebook posts; 170 Instagram posts; 137 LinkedIn posts • We surpassed 1 M followers among the five social media platforms of UN Geneva, and we now stand at 1.15 M
UN Geneva remained the location of choice for UN-led mediation processes • Libyan Joint Military Commission signed a complete and permanent Ceasefire Agreement • Implementation of Prisoners’ Exchange Agreement in Yemen • Meeting of the Syrian Constitutional Committee • 2020 Afghanistan Conference
We continued to organize high-level meetings at the Palais des Nations Visits to UNOG and meetings of the Director-General with: • Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations • President of Switzerland • Presidents of both Chambers of the Swiss Parliament • Head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of Switzerland • President of the Senate of Uzbekistan • 26 ceremonies of the presentation of the letters of credence by new Ambassadors, Permanent Representatives to UNOG and other international organizations in Geneva • 11 ceremonies of the presentation of the letters of nomination by the new Ambassadors, Permanent Representatives to the Conference on Disarmament
We enhanced the visibility of diplomatic members listed in the Blue Book as the information provided by permanent missions is now available on ungeneva.org in French and in English
Outreach & engagement
The Director-General continued outreach and engagement, despite numerous restrictions • 88 speeches delivered • 14 interviews granted
We marked 100 years of multilateralism and 75 years of the UN
• The centenary flags were raised on the Mont-Blanc Bridge this summer, 3-9 August • On the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the entry into force of the UN Charter (24 October), the Palais des Nations and Geneva's iconic Jet d'Eau were lit in blue, and the UN flags were raised on the Mont-Blanc Bridge on 19-25 October
Despite global isolation, global conversation about multilateralism continued through digital dialogues • “Multilateralism of the Future: How Will Global Cooperation Evolve in the 21st Century?” • “Multilateralism in the Time of COVID-19” • “Multilateralism in the Time of COVID-19 – Special Edition: Culture, Sports and Tourism”
The Perception Change Project's creative initiatives were not confined to a limited communication space: despite social distancing, International Geneva was brought closer to the public • 7 editions of the Newsletter on the impact of International Geneva, two of which were dedicated to the response to COVID-19 • 1 infographic with 12 organizations on the response to COVID-19 • New publication “170 Actions to Combat Climate Change” • 1,000 copies of a new pocket map of International Geneva
Through the SDG Lab, we continued to animate an innovative community of Geneva-based actors working for the Global Goals • Webinar on SDG challenges in the UNECE region focused on implementation hurdles • Virtual discussion on COVID-19, inequalities and the informal economy • SDG Moment Gathering with Geneva 2030 Ecosystem to mark the Decade of Action • Peer networking initiative SDG Lunch Collider shifted to virtual meetups
Knowledge & Learning
UN Geneva reacted and adapted fast, taking all Knowledge and Learning Commons' events online
We expanded the conversations about the importance of multilateralism
• 52 events with 3,685 participants • Launch of “The Conference Primers”, an online platform with summaries of key events from International Geneva
• Our podcast “The Next Page”, hosting experts on multilateralism, released 13 episodes with around 3,300 downloads
Cultural events continued, strictly following safety requirements
Normal life came to a halt for many, but we increased the online services of our Library & Archives
• 44 artworks from all over the world for the online Art Contest and subsequent Exhibition at the Palais des Nations “The Future We Want”, organized by the Perception Change Project, at the D10 Art Space Gallery in Geneva as of mid-December
• 279 requests for remote access to e-resources • 4,934 questions answered through the Virtual Reference Service, including 254 through the new live chat function implemented in April 2020 • Increase of 232 % in FAQ consultations • 246 new, free and open access databases • More than 12,000 entries updated in the online catalogue • More than 5,300 books and documents added to our catalogue • 1,090 documents (i.e. 16,471 pages) uploaded into the UN Official Document System (ODS)
• 56 artworks from the UNOG collection showed in the exhibition "Tout un monde – l’art du Palais des Nations s’invite en ville" in the D10 Art Space gallery in Geneva, June-December 2020 • The Exhibitions “100 Years of Multilateralism in Geneva” and “YouNeedToKnow” at the Place des Nations, in September and October
Digitization of the League of Nations archives started before COVID-19 and has since continued at the same pace • 1,299 scanned official document volumes (in-situ) • 1,750 metadata descriptions (remotely) • 1,225,286 pages scanned, representing 21,779 files • Long-awaited access to digitized files given to external researchers