WHO HQ main building, Geneva from Southwest

The United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG, french: Office des Nations Unies à Genève) in

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, is one of the four major offices of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

where numerous different UN agencies have a joint presence. The main UNOG administrative offices are located inside the Palais des Nations complex, which was originally constructed for the

League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...

between 1929 and 1938. Besides United Nations administration, the Palais des Nations also hosts the offices for a number of programmes and funds such as the

United Nations Conference on Trade and Development The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) is an intergovernmental organization within the United Nations Secretariat that promotes the interests of developing countries in world trade. It was established in 1964 by the ...

(UNCTAD), the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the

United Nations Economic Commission for Europe The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (ECE or UNECE) is one of the five regional commissions under the jurisdiction of the United Nations Economic and Social Council. It was established in order to promote economic cooperation and i ...

(ECE). The United Nations and its specialized agencies, programmes and funds may have other offices or functions hosted outside the Palais des Nations, normally in office spaces provided by the Swiss Government. UN specialised agencies and other UN entities with offices in Geneva hold bi-weekly briefings at the Palais des Nations, organized by the

United Nations Information Service at Geneva United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two fi ...

. UNOG produces an annual report where it lists all major events and activities that happened through a year.

Constituent agencies

Headquartered in Geneva

* Conference on Disarmament *

International Bureau of Education The International Bureau of Education (IBE-UNESCO) is a UNESCO category 1 institute mandated as the Centre of Excellence in curriculum and related matters. Consistent with the declaration of the decision of the 36th session of the General Confer ...

International Computing Centre The United Nations International Computing Centre (UNICC) was established in 1971 by a Memorandum of Agreement among the United Nations (UN), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the World Health Organization (WHO), pursuant t ...

International Labour Organization The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is the first and o ...

International Organization for Migration The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is a United Nations agency that provides services and advice concerning migration to governments and migrants, including internally displaced persons, refugees, and migrant workers. The IOM was ...

International Trade Centre The International Trade Centre (ITC) () is a multilateral agency which has a joint mandate with the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the United Nations (UN) through the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). The head ...

International Telecommunication Union The International Telecommunication Union is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for many matters related to information and communication technologies. It was established on 17 May 1865 as the International Telegraph Unio ...

* Joint Inspection Unit *

Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS) (, ONUSIDA) is the main advocate for accelerated, comprehensive and coordinated global action on the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The mission of UNAIDS is to lead, strengthen and support an e ...

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, commonly known as the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) or the United Nations Human Rights Office, is a department of the Secretariat of the United Nati ...

United Nations Chief Executives Board for Coordination The United Nations System consists of the United Nations' six principal organs (the General Assembly, Security Council, Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), Trusteeship Council, International Court of Justice (ICJ), and the UN Secretariat), ...

United Nations Compensation Commission The United Nations Compensation Commission (UNCC) was created in 1991 as a subsidiary organ of the United Nations Security Council. Its mandate is to process claims and pay compensation for losses and damage suffered as a direct result of Iraq's 19 ...

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, local integrati ...

* United Nations Human Rights Council (see also

United Nations Commission on Human Rights The United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) was a functional commission within the overall framework of the United Nations from 1946 until it was replaced by the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2006. It was a subsidiary body of t ...

) *

United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research The United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) was established in 1980 by the United Nations General Assembly to inform States and the global community on questions of international security, and to assist with disarmament eff ...

* United Nations Institute for Training and Research *

United Nations Non-Governmental Liaison Service The United Nations Non-Governmental Liaison Service (UN-NGLS or NGLS) is a programme of the United Nations mandated to promote and develop constructive relations between the United Nations and civil society organizations. UN-NGLS operates autonomo ...

* United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs *

United Nations Office on Sport for Development and Peace The United Nations Office on Sport for Development and Peace (UNOSDP) was introduced by Kofi Annan in 2001. Its mandate was to coordinate the efforts undertaken by the United Nations in promoting sport in a systematic and coherent way as a means ...

* United Nations Research Institute For Social Development *

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of h ...

World Intellectual Property Organization The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO; french: link=no, Organisation mondiale de la propriété intellectuelle (OMPI)) is one of the list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, 15 specialized agencies of the United Nation ...

World Meteorological Organization The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for promoting international cooperation on atmospheric science, climatology, hydrology and geophysics. The WMO originated from the Internati ...

World Trade Organization The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization that regulates and facilitates international trade. With effective cooperation in the United Nations System, governments use the organization to establish, revise, and e ...

Presence at Geneva

* Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations - FAO (headquarters in Rome) *

International Atomic Energy Agency The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is an intergovernmental organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons. It was established in 1957 ...

(headquarters are in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

) *

United Nations Environment Programme The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is responsible for coordinating responses to environmental issues within the United Nations system. It was established by Maurice Strong, its first director, after the United Nations Conference on th ...

(headquarters are in

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper ha ...

) * United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (headquarters are in Paris) *

United Nations Industrial Development Organization The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) (French: Organisation des Nations unies pour le développement industriel; French/Spanish acronym: ONUDI) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that assists countries in e ...

(headquarters are in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

) * World Food Programme (headquarters are in Rome) *

United Nations World Tourism Organization The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) is the United Nations specialized agency entrusted with the promotion of responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism. Its headquarters are in Madrid, Spain. UNWTO is the leading internati ...

(headquarters in Madrid)

Directors-general

Wladimir Moderow Wladimir is a masculine given name. It is an alternative spelling of the name Vladimir. Notable people with the name include: * Wladimir Brunet de Presle (1809–1875), French historian * Wladimir de Schoenefeld (1816–1875), German-French botanis ...

, Poland, 1946–1951 #

Adriaan Pelt Adriaan Pelt (8 May 1892, in Koog aan de Zaan – 11 April 1981, in Hermance near Geneva, Switzerland) was a Dutch journalist, international civil servant and diplomat, most famous for drafting the post war constitution of Libya. As a reporter ...

, Netherlands, 1952–1957 #

Pier Pasquale Spinelli Seaside pleasure pier in Brighton, England. The first seaside piers were built in England in the early 19th century.">England.html" ;"title="Brighton, England">Brighton, England. The first seaside piers were built in England in the early 19th ...

, Italy, 1957–1968 #

Vittorio Winspeare-Guicciardi Vittorio is an Italian male given name which has roots from the Byzantine-Bulgarian name Victor (name), Victor. People with the given name Vittorio include: * Vittorio Emanuele, Prince of Naples, pretender to the former Kingdom of Italy * Vittor ...

, Italy, 1968–1978 #

Luigi Cottafavi is a fictional character featured in video games and related media released by Nintendo. Created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto, Luigi is portrayed as the younger fraternal twin brother and sidekick of Mario, Nintendo's masc ...

, Italy, 1978–1983 #

Eric Suy The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, or Eirik is derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization). The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-Norse languag ...

, Belgium, 1983–1987 #

Jan Mårtenson Jan Per Gösta Mårtenson (born 14 February 1933) is a Swedish diplomat who is also famous as the author of some fifty Swedish crime novels. Biography Mårtenson has served as Head of the Secretariat for the King of Sweden many years. Jan Mårte ...

, Sweden, 1987–1992 #

Antoine Blanca Antoine is a French given name (from the Latin ''Antonius'' meaning 'highly praise-worthy') that is a variant of Danton, Titouan, D'Anton and Antonin. The name is used in France, Switzerland, Belgium, Canada, West Greenland, Haiti, French Guiana ...

, France, 1992–1993 #

Vladimir Petrovsky Vladimir Fedorovich Petrovsky ( rus, Влади́мир Фёдорович Петро́вский, p=vlɐˈdʲimʲɪr ˈfʲɵdərəvʲɪtɕ pɪˈtrovskʲɪj; 29 April 1933, Stalingrad – 21 February 2014) was a Soviet/Russian diplomat, Ambassa ...

, Russia, 1993–2002 #

Sergei Ordzhonikidze Sergei Alexandrovich Ordzhonikidze (russian: Серге́й Александрович Орджоникидзе; born 14 March 1946 in Moscow) is a Russian diplomat. He was the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva from 2002 t ...

, Russia, 2002–2011 #

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev Kassym-Jomart Kemeluly Tokayev ( kk, Қасым-Жомарт Кемелұлы Тоқаев, Qasym-Jomart Kemelūly Toqaev ; born 17 May 1953) is a Kazakh politician and diplomat who is currently serving as the President of Kazakhstan since 12 J ...

, Kazakhstan, 2011–2013 #

Michael Møller Michael Møller (born 9 November 1952, in Denmark) is president of the Diplomatic Forum of the Geneva Science and Diplomacy Anticipator Foundation, principal advisor at Macro Advisory Partners and member of the boards of several foundations, inclu ...

, Denmark, 2013–2019 # Tatiana Valovaya, Russia, 2019–present

Administrative history

# United Nations Geneva Office, from beginning, Aug 1946 – Apr 1947, (IC/Geneva/1) # European Office of the UN, 11 Apr 1947 – 10 Aug 1948, (IC/Geneva/49) # United Nations Office at Geneva, 10 Aug 1948 – 9 Aug 1949, (IC/Geneva/152) # European Office of the UN, 9 Aug 1949 – 8 Dec 1957, (SGB/82/Rev.1) # United Nations Office at Geneva, 8 December 1957 – present, (SGB/82/Rev.2)

Notes

References

Bibliography

* Joëlle Kuntz, ''Geneva and the Call of Internationalism: A History'', Éditions Zoé, 2011, 96 pages ().

External links

Official website

UN Geneva information

United Nations organisations in GenevaUN Geneva Annual Report
{{DEFAULTSORT:United Nations Office At Geneva Organisations based in Geneva Diplomatic buildings United Nations properties

Constituent agencies

Headquartered in Geneva

Presence at Geneva

Directors-general

Administrative history

See also

Notes

References

Bibliography

External links