MESSAGE OF DIRECTOR-GENERAL OF UNOG TO SEMINAR ON THE INTELLECTUAL CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE UNITED NATIONS

Following is the message of Sergei Ordzhonikidze, Under-Secretary-General, Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva, to a seminar held today at the Varembe Conference Centre in Geneva entitled "From Development to International Economic Governance: The Intellectual Contributions of the United Nations". The message was delivered by the Chief Librarian of the United Nations Office at Geneva, Pierre Le Loarer.

"It gives me great pleasure to convey my best wishes for interesting and thought-provoking discussions to all of you gathered here today.

The projects that are being presented do not only show the breadth and reach of ideas that were nurtured and refined by the United Nations. Importantly, they highlight the reality that sparked these ideas in the first place and inspired people within the United Nations system and beyond to strive for their implementation. And they demonstrate how these ideas played a significant role in stimulating progress and changing that reality.

The United Nations Intellectual History Project is not a theoretical exercise. It aims to provide a greater appreciation of how creative thinking is stimulated, innovative ideas are shaped and dynamic strategies implemented. The focus is on the results; not the rhetoric. The Project is as forward-looking as the ideas that it traces.

In examining how the United Nations has influenced the international debate through its research, analysis and conceptual originality, the Project makes a practical contribution to strengthening the Organization’s future capacity in this regard. Exploring the lessons learnt from the United Nations’ role in formulating fresh ideas is thus a particularly valuable contribution to the ongoing reform of the United Nations.

Today’s events provide welcome opportunities to bring these lessons to a wider audience and to use them to reflect on how the United Nations may continue to contribute as an incubator of influential ideas. I welcome the constructive collaboration with the Geneva International Academic Network in organizing this event and the active involvement of the wider academic and research community in Geneva, in particular the University of Geneva. This engagement between “International” and “Intellectual” Geneva adds particular value to the discussions.

As we celebrate the sixtieth anniversary of the United Nations, this clearer understanding of its intellectual impact adds an important dimension to our overall knowledge of the Organization’s contribution to shaping international affairs. As mandated by the Charter, the Organization has actively sought to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom. The exhibition, organized by the UNOG Library, explores United Nations ideas in the service of development in greater detail, and I invite you all to take the opportunity to benefit from it. The Chief Librarian, Mr. Pierre Le Loarer, will highlight some additional important aspects of the exhibition".

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