Inteational Geneva – why is it so important to Switzerland?

آخرین مطالب

امکانات وب

Inteational Geneva – why is it so important to Switzerland?

Palais des Nations, Geneva — The entrance of the Palais des Nations, the UN's European headquarters in Geneva
(United Nations Photo)

“The biggest multilateral centre in the world”, “the capital of peace”, “the foremost centre of global goveance” – Swiss officials often reach for superlatives to describe the concentration of inteational organisations and players in a district 2km north of Geneva city centre. What exactly is Inteational Geneva and why is it so important to Switzerland?

What is Inteational Geneva?

Geneva’s role as host to the world’s countries and institutions dates back to the founding of the Inteational Committee of the Red Crossexteal link (1863). Swiss neutrality and its humanitarian tradition later made it the obvious choice for the League of Nations – the forerunner to the United Nations – and the Inteational Labour Organization (ILO), whose arrival in 1919 marked the birth of Inteational Geneva.

The cityu202fis now home to the UN’s European headquartersexteal link, 36 inteational organisations such as the World Health Organization (WHO),exteal link around 700 non-govemental organisations (NGOsexteal link) and 179 diplomatic missions. The number of institutions, especially NGOs, and staff continues to rise steadily. According to March 2019 figuresexteal link, almost 34,000 people – 26,645 civil servants and officials, 4,203 diplomats and 3,109 NGO personnel – work in Inteational Geneva.

Officials say Geneva is also the world’s biggest centre for inteational conferences and a key location for peace talks, most recently on Cyprus, Yemen and Syria. Last year there were 3,236 conferences and meetings, attended by 207,147 people.u202f

Many multinationals are also registered in the city, providing over 76,000 jobsexteal link.

What areas does Inteational Geneva focus on?

From its humanitarian beginnings, the list of work carried out has expanded to include labour, human rights, migration, refugees, health, economic trade, intellectual property, telecommunications, standards and meteorology, among others. Officials insist that the work done there, like setting standards on toothpaste, has a direct impact on people’s daily life.

Looking ahead, the Swiss are positioning Geneva as a centre of expertise on disarmament, digital issues, climate change and migration. Recently they have been promoting the Swiss Digital Initiative foundation and the Geneva Science and Diplomacy Anticipator foundation, for example.

Why is it so important to Switzerland?

The Swiss authorities are convinced of the numerous benefits of Inteational Geneva. As Swiss ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Valentin Zellweger, puts it:exteal link “Geneva is an asset of key importance for the foreign policy of Switzerland. The role of host state is firmly rooted in our tradition and in our policy of providing good offices. Offering its neutrality, stability and hospitality to the world, Switzerland benefits from Inteational Geneva in terms of diplomatic and media visibility. In addition, Geneva serves the interests of Switzerland as an instrument and platform for the promotion of its key values, peace and human security.”

The foreign affairs ministry adds: “Despite Switzerland’s relatively small size, thanks to Inteational Geneva the Confederation is able to ‘punch above its weightexteal link’ in the inteational arena.”

There is also a major financial benefit in maintaining the level of organisations and staff in Geneva. Switzerland is investing CHF122 million ($123 million) in its newu202fhost state strategy foru202f2020-2023exteal link, which was approved by parliament earlier this year. Over CHF2.5 billion is also being invested over the next ten years in major renovation and new building and mobility projects in the inteational district.u202f

Meanwhile, the amount of money spent or invested by inteational agencies in Geneva continues to smash records. Last year it hit CHF6.3 billion. Over half of this amount – mostly salaries and insurance and pension payments – was spent or invested in Switzerland. This represented 11.3% of cantonal gross domestic product (GDP). Switzerland has also become a major supplier to the UN system.

World view Behind the scenes in Geneva

Under-secretaries, trainees, ambassadors, nutritionists, security guards and many, many more: around 8,500 people work for the United Nations ...

What are some of the main challenges?

They are numerous. This year the Swiss authorities symbolically reaffirmed their commitment to Inteational Geneva and the multilateral system, which is celebrating its centenaryexteal link. Yet wider threats loom as the multilateral system and its institutions face three related crises of power, relevance and legitimacyexteal link.

At the financial level, Inteational Geneva was largely unaffected by pressures on US foreign aid spending. But this year the UN has had to deal with a serious cashflow crisis as dozens of states – including its largest contributor, the US – have not paid their annual dues.

Meanwhile, in the world of inteational diplomacy, competition between host cities fighting for a slice of the action remains tough, the Swiss foreign affairs minister admitted recently.

And locally, Switzerlandu202fmay invest millionsu202finu202fInteational Geneva, yet manyu202fpeople in the majority German-speaking regionu202fareu202funfamiliar withu202fthe work carried out there,u202faccording to the Swiss think tank Foraus.

swissinfo.ch

Sign up for our free newsletters and get the top stories delivered to your inbox.

SWI swissinfo...

ما را در سایت SWI swissinfo دنبال می‌کنید

برچسب: نویسنده: کاوه محمدزادگان بازدید: 387 تاريخ: پنجشنبه 30 آبان 1398 ساعت: 23:25

Inteational Geneva – why is it so important to Switzerland?

آخرین مطالب

امکانات وب