Bi-Annual Civil Society Briefing

Chers collègues et amis :

Je suis ravi de vous accueillir aujourd'hui au Palais des Nations. Je suis très sensible à notre échange périodique sur la façon dont l'ONUG et la société civile peuvent et doivent continuer à coopérer ensemble pour la promotion des droits et du bien-être. La date de la réunion d'aujourd'hui coïncide avec la session du Conseil des droits de l'homme et offre ainsi une bonne occasion pour saluer aussi les ONG qui viennent de loin pour participer à notre réunion. Il est important que les voix du terrain se fassent davantage entendre.

En juin dernier, en coopération avec la Fédération mondiale des Associations pour les Nations Unies, le Service de Liaison Non Gouvernemental de l’ONU et la Conférence des ONG ayant des relations consultatives avec les Nations Unies, nous avons organisé un événement d'une journée. Durant cette journée quelques 150 représentants de missions permanentes, d’organisations internationales, de la société civile et d’institutions universitaires de Genève, ont discuté de la relation entre les Nations Unies et la société civile. Les participants ont échangé sur leurs expériences, sur leurs pratiques ainsi que sur les enseignements tirés de leur engagement avec les différents partenaires. Nous avons également discuté de la façon dont le partenariat entre les Nations Unies et la société civile pourrait être renforcé, ainsi que de la façon d’augmenter l’impact du travail et décisions prises à Genève sur les différentes régions du monde. La société civile est un acteur et un partenaire essentiel pour le travail des Nations Unies. Leurs contributions sont indispensables pour amener le travail effectué à Genève plus proche du terrain. C’est grâce à ses contributions que les voix et les pratiques à l'échelon local et national s’inscrivent dans les débats inter-gouvernementaux. Il est également fondamental d'agir collectivement pour créer un environnement favorable à la société civile à tous les niveaux, pour un engagement qui se veut libre, actif, solidaire et concret. Le rapport de cet événement du mois de juin a été distribué et je vous encourage à l'utiliser dans votre travail.

Agenda prioritaire des Nations Unies en 2015

Comme vous le savez, 2015 est une année décisive pour la mise en place de cadres politiques qui seront importants pour les décennies à venir.

Les 17 objectifs pour le développement durable démontrent l'ampleur et l'ambition du nouveau programme universel. Ils offrent au monde une nouvelle possibilité d’éliminer la pauvreté, l'exclusion et de lutter contre les inégalités. Ils représentent un engagement des dirigeants du monde pour une action commune à travers trois dimensions indissociables du développement durable - économique, social et environnemental.

Alors que la date du Sommet consacré à l’adoption des objectifs de développement durable approche, nous devons nous rappeler que le succès de l'agenda du développement de l’après-2015 dépendra dans une large mesure des mécanismes et des partenariats solides, ouverts, accessibles, inclusifs et participatifs. Nous avons besoin d'un changement de paradigme, d’une nouvelle façon de penser et d’agir, afin de mettre en œuvre les Objectifs du Développement Durable. Nous devons exploiter la créativité et les connaissances qui s’offrent à nous. La société civile a travaillé activement à l'élaboration des objectifs et des indicateurs. La société civile ne peut pas s’arrêter là. Elle doit être engagée à tous les niveaux pour contribuer à la mise en œuvre et le suivi des 17 objectifs. Il existe un réel besoin d’instaurer des mécanismes de suivi et de responsabilisation dans le nouveau cadre de développement. La société civile peut apporter des solutions innovantes qui pourraient être reproduites. Nous comptons sur votre contribution, votre dévouement, vos idées et actions novatrices.

Let me turn to our activities of the past months here in Geneva. Geneva continues to play a pivotal role in support of the UN peace, development and rights agenda. UNOG continues to serve as an important venue for international negotiations and consultations to tackle a number of challenges:

• In January and September, the SRSG for Libya hosted successful rounds of political dialogue between Libyan parties in Geneva. The dialogue has now moved back to the region and is making erratic progress toward the signing of a peace agreement.

• Since the beginning of May, the Special Envoy on Syria launched a series of in-depth, separate consultations with Syrian stakeholders and regional and international actors to take stock of their views on reopening peace talks based on the 2012 Geneva Communiqué. Building on these consultations, Mr. De Mistura has now decided to form four thematic working groups: safety and protection for all; political and legal issues; military, security and counterterrorism issues; and continuity of public services and reconstruction and development. The Security Council has endorsed this road map. We hope they will start work very soon.

• In June, consultations among Yemeni parties, facilitated by the UN Special Envoy started in Geneva with the participation of the Secretary-General, and the consultations are now continuing in the region.

• Further, UNOG continues to assist the organization and holding of the Geneva International Discussions dealing with the aftermath of the August 2008 armed conflict in Georgia, which are jointly led by the UN, EU and OSCE. To date, 32 rounds of the discussions have taken place. The next round is scheduled for October here at the Palais.

• Finally, UNOG hosts the Special Envoy for the Great Lakes who recently (on 28 August) convened a meeting with the Envoys for the Great Lakes Region of the African Union, the USA, the EU and Belgium.

Let me talk about the informal Conference on Disarmament – Civil Society Forum, which I organized on 19 March. The Forum was the first of its kind and a pilot to increase the quality of interaction between the CD Members and civil society. It was well attended by both States, civil society representatives and experts. A large number of CD Member States expressed their appreciation for this initiative in formal and informal meetings. Discussions were qualitatively very good, honest and straightforward. But I regret that in this year’s session, the Conference on Disarmament could not agree on formalizing its interaction with civil society. It is unfortunate and, in my mind, self-defeating, that the Conference does not take advantage of the richness of ideas that civil society can bring to the table. In other disarmament fora, such as the General Assembly’s First Committee or the meetings of States Parties convened under several disarmament treaties serviced by the United Nations, civil society presence and contribution enrich the debate. I especially regret that the last NGO regularly attending the public meetings of the CD, the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), announced its withdrawal from interaction with the CD. As a follow-up to the forum, I organised on 27 May this year an informal meeting to hear the views of civil society organisations about the way forward. At that meeting, I mentioned that it was my intention to organise similar initiatives in the future. I plan to convene another informal meeting between CD Member States and civil society in the first quarter of 2016, and am looking forward to receiving your views on the substance and format of such a meeting. This is not to formalise and enshrine new structures, but an attempt to push the CD to be more open for interaction.

Let me turn to our 70th anniversary. UNOG is using every opportunity to highlight the UN’s 70th anniversary and to raise awareness of the work of the UN family and its impact on people’s lives. We launched a 70-day countdown to the anniversary with a social media campaign on Twitter and Facebook. Since 16 August, and every day until 24 October, UNOG’s Twitter account and Facebook page feature interesting facts and archival photos about the UN in Geneva and the Organization’s history, honouring its accomplishments, decisive moments and individuals who have changed the world through words and actions.

One of this year’s key events is the Open Day on 24 October 2015, the anniversary date of the entry into force of the Charter of the United Nations. This Open Day is a unique opportunity to invite the wider public to discover the Palais des Nations, the work of the UN and international organizations based in Geneva. We hope to attract more than 10,000 visitors that day. On 24 October, activities will include the official inauguration of the sculpture Rebirth by Italian artist Michelangelo Pistoletto, concerts, performances, art and photo exhibitions, free guided tours of the Palais and the Museum of the League of Nations, children’s and sporting activities, among other things. Our webpage on the Open Day is updated regularly. I know that some NGOs are already planning to play an active role, and I encourage all of you to be part of this important celebration with your families.

I would also like to update you on the Perception Change Project (PCP), which I launched in 2014 with the aim of better illustrating the impact of the work of the UN family on our daily life. The PCP continues to bring partners from across International Geneva to collaborate on a series of projects and initiatives that showcase the extraordinary substance of the work we do in Geneva. Since our last meeting, links between the NGO community and the Perception Change Project have been strengthened, and more NGOs have engaged with our different creative outreach efforts. Over the last 12 months, UNOG has implemented a number of initiatives:

• We have created a “Geneva Voice” through blogs and Op-Eds of Heads of organizations, quotes on social media and interviews.
• We have also increased media coverage in most influential media worldwide and contributed to more forward- looking reporting
• We have established a crowd sourcing platform for content and support of high-profile projects – for example, Fondation pour Genève’s Road Show celebrating the 200th Anniversary of Geneva joining the Swiss Confederation and the role of International Geneva.
• We have built a cross-cutting network of 60+ project partners and even more supporters, international organizations, foundations and NGOs, governmental entities and private sector.
• We designed several creative outreach efforts to engage new audiences. A good example has been our book “Recipes for peace, rights & well-being, produced in 4 languages that shows how International Geneva works in innovative and creative ways across silos. The book was distributed across Switzerland as part of the Roadshow. It has also been featured at the Geneva Book Fair, the WTO Open Day, the Swiss National Day and will be also at the Expo Milan, and the UN Open Day.
• We opened the park of the UN to the public through the Escalade training run at the Arianna park and the TEDxPlaceDesNations in 2014. Another edition of TEDEx will take place in 2016.

We are also working on a series of different projects to further promote international Geneva:

• A databook that will show the richness of information produced by partners across Geneva.
• A messaging tool for speechwriters with links to the history of the Palais de Nations and examples of the unique synergies that are found here.

• A children’s storybook that will touch upon key development challenges in a creative and new way using old traditional stories and fairy tales from around the world.

• Mapping the expertise of International Geneva around the Sustainable Development Goals. The enormous richness and efficiencies found here should be something experts, policy-makers and governments have at hand as they make decisions. I would like to thank those NGOs who participated in our initial mapping of the expertise found in Geneva for each of the Sustainable Development Goals. Over 75 organizations responded to our survey and we are producing a series of visualizations that will show how our expertise and competence is spread across International Geneva. This will be a vital instrument for Member States as we embark on the challenge to implement these Goals.

Gender equality should be at the heart of all our efforts, at all levels. In June this year I launched, together with the Permanent Representative of the USA, the International Geneva Gender Champions Initiative - a network of decision-makers in Geneva. The members of this network will lead by example through concrete actions that bring genuine change both in organizational culture and in programming. One concrete action is to strive for gender parity in all discussions in International Geneva. I personally will no longer accept invitations to serve on a panel without any women participants. Many Permanent Missions and International Organizations join this initiative. The idea is that actions should be practical, implementable and trackable. I am also initiating the compilation of a Gender Policy for UNOG, and introducing a gender equality component as part of induction and training programmes.

Let me turn to the Strategic Heritage Plan (SHP) - the renovation and modernization of our common work space in the Palais des Nations. The project will address a number of fire, health and safety code compliance issues as well as improving accessibility for persons with disabilities. With regard to the planning and design of the project, we have completed the feasibility phase and the concept design is nearly complete. Construction works are planned to start in 2017 and then be completed in phases by 2023. I believe that through this project we can make the Palais a safer, more accessible, more sustainable, and much more modern and functional platform for all of us. We will continue keeping you posted on the progress of this endeavor.

In conclusion, I would like to reaffirm my commitment to ensuring that civil society space at the Palais des Nations is defended, sustained and enlarged. Your feedback and input on how we can do better is very much welcome and appreciated. As always, I encourage you to bring to my attention issues that you feel warrant closer attention by my Office and myself.

I will close here and open for our discussion.

Thank you.