UN GVA – Linzy Dineen

United Nations Geneva

Our visit to the United Nations Office at Geneva was an incredibly enriching experience. Located in the Palais des Nations, it is the second largest of the UN’s major centers with only 200-300 fewer employees and annual meetings than the New York office. The building, originally constructed in the late 1920’s-early 1930’s, has 34 meeting rooms and 2,800 offices. The largest of the rooms, pictured below, seats 2,000 people.

Upon our arrival, we went through an extensive entrance process, then straight to the visitor’s center where we met our tour guide. She first brought us to observe an ongoing international negotiation in one of the meeting rooms. As it is was proceeding, she explained to us the formalities of such conventions, which we have been observing first-hand at COP3 of the Minamata Convention all week. For example, delegates of different regions sit in alphabetical order with UN officials at the front of the room and observers to the back. Each side of the room has balconies, one populated by the public (in this case, us) and the other by translators. The UN has six official languages, these being English, Spanish, French, Chinese, Russian, and Arabic. These languages are the most popular in the world and typically satisfy the needs of all parties, but delegates are welcome to bring their own translators as well.

As we walked around the complex, our guide continued providing us with facts about the UN. These included defining the “UN family,” which includes all employees of the United Nations, as well as specialized agencies such as the WHO and IPCC. In addition, we learned that the UN Charter entered into force on October 24^th, 1945, which is now celebrated as UN day annually. Before 1945, however, international relations were still very much relevant and necessary. In fact, the next room we visited within the Palais des Nations was the Council Chamber, which originally housed the League of Nations. The League, which operated from 1919-1946, was the first intergovernmental organization purposed for the maintenance of world peace. Though the League has since been succeeded by the UN, the Council Chamber is still operational and is home to the Conference on Disarmament, as well as other peace conferences.

The Council Chamber was my favorite stop on the tour. As you can see, its walls were lined with beautiful murals, gifts of Spain, which represent the triumphs of human diplomacy in health, technology, freedom, and peace. My favorite pieces, though, were murals toward the back of the room. These paintings, pictured below, depict five giants, each representing one of the five continents¹ and therefore collectively representing all the people of the world. In the images, the giants each wield a weapon so that no one may use it, and each equally hold the weight of a large physical obstacle. The responsibility of world peace is a burden for which each of them are accountable. Though these works are metaphorical, they clearly depict how international policy should persist through reality. There are no real winners in war, and war will always breed new conflict. Peace must prevail.

1. The UN utilizes the 5-continent model, which differs from the 7-continent model in that Europe and Asia are considered as one, Eurasia, and Antarctica is not considered as it is not populated.