Bi-Annual Civil Society Briefing

Chers représentants d'organisations non gouvernementales,
Chers collègues et amis :

C’est un grand plaisir pour moi de continuer notre échange régulier dans le format des réunions semestrielles, ce qui me donne l'occasion de vous mettre à jour sur les priorités et les activités de l’Office des Nations Unies à Genève, et d'entendre vos commentaires, idées et questions.

Permettez-moi de commencer par une mise à jour quant aux réformes du Secrétaire général. Ces réformes visent à améliorer la contribution des Nations Unies au développement durable, à améliorer ses capacités de mieux répondre aux conflits armés et situations de crise, ainsi qu’à optimiser sa gestion interne et sa capacité d’action tout court. Depuis sa prise de fonction en janvier 2017, le Secrétaire général a également pris des mesures pour promouvoir l’égalité des sexes, éliminer l’exploitation et les atteintes sexuelles et protéger les lanceurs d’alertes.

Le premier volet, la réforme de l’architecture en matière de paix et de sécurité, a été approuvée par l’Assemblée générale un peu plus tôt cette année. La réforme est en cours et sera déployée le 1er janvier 2019. Elle propose les trois objectifs principaux suivants : mettre l’accent sur la prévention et maintien de la paix, rendre le volet paix et sécurité plus cohérent, réactif et efficace, et enfin aligner le volet paix et sécurité avec les autres volets d’activité de l’Organisation.

Grâce à cette réforme, les synergies mises en place entre consolidation et maintien de la paix seront renforcées. De plus, les Départements des affaires politiques et d’opérations de maintien de la paix seront fusionnés et remplacés par le Département des affaires politiques et de la consolidation de la paix ainsi que le Département des opérations de paix.

Dans ce contexte, le Secrétaire général a également lancé son Agenda pour le désarmement intitulé « Assurer notre avenir commun » à Genève le 24 mai dernier. Le Secrétaire général s’est ainsi engagé à dialoguer pas seulement avec les Etats, mais aussi avec les entrepreneurs et les chefs d’entreprises, avec des experts et ceux de la société civile au sein des réunions des différentes entités des Nations Unies. Il a souligné le rôle indispensable de la société civile et le mérite des associations de physiciens, d’avocats et de scientifiques qui contribuent à la recherche sur le sujet ; celui des organisations humanitaires qui permettent aux voix des communautés les plus démunies d’être entendues et celui des organisations qui veillent à ce que les perspectives de genre puissent être entendues.

Le second volet de réforme concerne le pilier Développement, avec une attention particulière sur la mise en œuvre des Objectifs du développement durable. L’Assemblée général a approuvé la proposition du Secrétaire général, mais pas son enveloppe financière qui venait avec. Un tel financement devra donc provenir de ressources extra-budgétaires ou autres, ce qui devrait couvrir le début de la phase de mise en œuvre de la réforme dont la mise en œuvre commencera le 1er janvier 2019.

Au cœur de la réforme du pilier Développement, se trouve également le renforcement du système et de la fonction des coordinateurs résidents. À partir de janvier 2019, il est prévu que 129 coordinateurs résidents avec un personnel de soutien minimum soient mis en place. Les coordinateurs résidents seront séparés des fonctions du Programme des Nations unies pour le développement, leurs rapports hiérarchiques changeront : du PNUD ils passeront au Secrétariat des Nations Unies. Cette transition globale vers une nouvelle génération d’équipes de pays des Nations Unies [country teams], avec un coordinateur résident fort, visera à renforcer la coopération entre tous les acteurs du développement afin de mieux ajuster et coordonner leurs actions en vue de la mise en œuvre du Programme de Développement durable à l’horizon.

Le troisième volet est la proposition de réforme de la gestion interne, en partie déjà adoptée par l’Assemblée générale. Ses principaux objectifs sont d’aider l’Organisation à devenir plus souple, flexible et axée sur le terrain, à mettre en œuvre un processus de prise de décisions décentralisé et à simplifier les processus. Cette réforme vise également à responsabiliser les supérieurs et le personnel, à accroître la transparence et à améliorer l'exécution de nos mandats.

De manière plus générale, ces trois axes de réforme accordent la priorité à la prévention, à augmenter la collaboration au sein et entre les trois piliers des Nations Unies – développement, droits de l’homme, paix et sécurité – à concentrer les efforts vers plus d’efficacité et de transparence, ainsi que moins de fragmentation et de bureaucratie.

Le Secrétaire général a récemment nommé M. Jens Wandel au poste de conseiller spécial pour la réforme, chargé de superviser la mise en œuvre des trois piliers de la réforme. Il a aussi lancé un nouveau site Web [reform.un.org] dans le but principal de partager des informations sur les activités de réforme.

Le soutien de tous les acteurs, dont la société civile, dans la mise en œuvre du programme de réforme du Secrétaire général reste essentiel.

Let me now update you on how the UN agenda and priorities are translated in our work at UN Geneva.

As Secretary-General of the Conference on Disarmament, I continue expanding avenues of engagement of the CD with non-State actors. In this context, on 17 August 2018, I organized the third CD-Civil Society dialogue, which successfully provided a platform where States and civil society organizations and entities could engage and take stock of trends, scientific advances and technological developments that may impact the future work of the Conference on Disarmament and the international security environment.

I also welcome the continued participation and essential contribution of scientific and professional associations, academic institutions, think tanks, other non-governmental entities and individual experts participating in the meetings of States parties of the disarmament treaties taking place at the Palais des Nations (Anti-Personnel Landmines Convention, Biological Weapons Convention, Convention on Cluster Munitions and the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons).

Geneva continues to be an important center for UN mediation both in terms of hosting peace talks and as an incubator of new ideas. A number of NGOs are contributing to our work in this area.

In September we hosted the Consultation on Yemen which aimed at restarting the peace process. We continue to host and support the Office of the Special Envoy for Syria. I know that a number of NGOs are supporting the Envoy, in particular in the context of the Civil Society Support Room. The Geneva International Discussions also continued their regular schedule of meetings at the Palais.

In addition, in November [27-28 November] we will be hosting the Geneva Ministerial Conference on Afghanistan, together with UNAMA [UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan]. In December [5-6 December], we will also be hosting a roundtable discussion on Western Sahara. [Both meetings are closed to the public, and attendance is by invitation only]

In the area of innovation, the UN Department of Political Affairs, DiploFoundation, Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, Swisspeace have launched an initiative to explore how digital technology is impacting the work of mediators in preventing and resolving violent conflicts. The initiative uses the hashtag #CyberMediation to inform the peacemaking community and the public about its activities and expand its partnerships. Furthermore, UN Department of Political Affairs and the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue are in the process of developing a toolkit on the use of new technologies in mediation.

Collaboration and partnerships among different actors involved in mediation is essential. Geneva, which hosts a variety of organizations working on different aspects of the peace and security agenda, provides a rich environment for fostering such collaboration.

In a related context, let me mention that the Geneva Peace Week 2018 will take place from 5 to 9 November. With an overarching theme of Building Peace in a Turbulent World, it will comprise about 65 events organized by more than 120 organizations to reflect on the lessons of a century of liberal internationalism in the service of peace and to focus on the roles that every person, actor and institution can play in building peace and resolving conflict. I invite you to participate.

Let me now turn to the renovation of the Palais - the Strategic Heritage Plan (SHP), which is progressing well and moving forward on multiple fronts. Significant progress has been made towards achieving key project milestones for planning, design, procurement and construction activities.

The new building construction is advancing. The revised delivery date for the new building will be spring 2020, and the completion date of the SHP project is at the end of 2023.

Maintaining business continuity throughout the renovation is one of the key objectives of the SHP project. Options are currently being assessed for the continuity of conferencing activities. For UN calendar meetings approved by the General Assembly, options are being considered ranging from the use of alternate conference facilities to creating temporary conferencing spaces.

Other types of meetings, such as side-events, informal panel discussions and consultations, which are not included in the official UN calendar, will have to be reduced where practicable. We will need to be prepared for the fact that as of the end of 2019, when renovation works start on the conference rooms, the availability of space for meetings will be reduced. This will be particularly true as of mid-2021, when the Building E will be closed.

The NGO Resource Centre, currently located on the ground floor of the E building, will close in October 2021 for approximately two years. During renovation work, it will be temporarily housed in the new Building H. Following the renovation work, the Centre will return to the E building and will be located on level 1.

You might have already seen that the renovation of the Pregny security pavilion has started. It envisages the reorganization of the space to allow for an expedited security screening procedure and the introduction of automation of conference badging following online registration in INDICO. This should further reduce waiting times for conference participants. Needless to say that we do our utmost to minimize disruptions of access. The works will finish by the end of the year.

In line with the Secretary-General’s Action plan for a climate-neutral United Nations by 2020 at the latest, UN Geneva established an Environmental Policy in September 2018, to guide the organization in achieving its environmental goals. With this policy, UN Geneva is integrating sustainable development practices into its operations and facilities management. The specific goal is to create a United Nations that does not have a negative impact on the climate.

Between 2009 and 2016, UN Geneva and the organizations it hosts at the Palais have reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by 44%, due to a combination of efforts, such as changing our heating system from fuel to natural gas or using the water of Lake Geneva to cool the building. With the renovation of the Palais des Nations, we expect to reduce our emissions further as 90% of our heating and cooling is planned to be sourced from renewable energies. UN Geneva decided this year to become climate-neutral ahead of the 2020 target, by off-setting its residual greenhouse gas emissions.

The use of new communication technologies in the UN is becoming more important. Our Secretary-General recently launched his Strategy on New Technologies and outlined ways how the UN can use technology to enhance its external interactions. There’s a need for constantly adapting to new communication developments to maintain the UN’s relevance in the public debate.

This is exactly what UN Geneva is doing. We have been innovating in the way we communicate to the public by fully embracing digital communications and integrating the already existing TV, radio, web and social media production into multimedia distribution platforms. This has allowed us to leverage Geneva's time zone, which is aligned with Africa and the Middle East, where most of today’s conflicts, humanitarian operations and development efforts are concentrated, as well as Geneva’s key role in humanitarian, health and human rights sectors. Our audience has been able to receive first-off-the-block information in French and English across media platforms.

We have also engaged in a total redesign of the UN Geneva website, which will become a news and public information multilingual platform showcasing the work of International Geneva. It will come online by the end of this year.

Another avenue for effective change has been the strengthening of social media activities, that have fully benefited from the multimedia production of the UN Information Service. We have seen quite amazing results, with a steady increase of followers of UN Geneva Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts. Today, 630,000 people follow our social media accounts and in 2017 our pictures on Flickr had over one million views. The opening of the latest Human Rights Council session saw nearly 500,000 impressions on Twitter in one day, and we have now over 100,000 followers on Instagram.

Our Visitors’ Service welcomes NGOs all year around, including now on Saturdays, for regular or tailor-made guided tours.

In addition, the UN Information Service organizes many outreach activities that involve NGOs. This includes the “Mix&Mash” events that take place every three months in downtown Geneva and provide excellent occasions to spread the word about the work of International Geneva. NGOs can also present their work by having stands at the events.

The Perception Change Project continues to be a pioneering actor for changing a narrative about the collective work of the United Nations and International Geneva.

The following new and ongoing initiatives are worth highlighting:
- Newsletter on Impact Stories is a compilation of stories with an impact from International Geneva, shared every month with the subscribers. The newsletter contains solutions, positive results and stories, offering a window into the massive impact that International Geneva has in everybody's lives.
- Iceberg series is a collection of 9 books for age 13+ that highlights the added value of the work of international organizations and actors to the wellbeing of our world.
- “170 Jobs with a purpose” is a booklet for students discovering their potential career paths. It shows how ordinary jobs can have extraordinary impact.
- SDG Mapping is a visualization of data, showing expertise from International Geneva towards the SDGs. Data is already available on the website sdgmapping.ch and the new printed version with contributions from over 70 actors from Geneva is in the pipeline. It maps expertise for 10 areas identified by the PCP and its partners, for each SDG.
- The booklet, “170 daily actions to transform our world” continues to be translated into more languages beyond the 6 official UN languages.
- The worldwide campaign, “YouNeedToKnow” [www.youneedtoknow.ch], continues to be deployed during peak traffic periods at the Duty Free Shop at airports across the world. With this campaign, we aim to help inform 2 billion people about the 17 SDGs.
- GVAData [www.gvadata.ch] is an easy-to-navigate online compilation of the work done by over 200 actors in Geneva. It aims to become the go-to portal when looking for information about the work of International Geneva.

The SDG Lab in my office continues building strong relationships with the vast network of NGOs active in Geneva. There are a number of programmes the Lab offers through the Geneva 2030 Ecosystem that can be taken advantage of:

- For those interested in learning new methods and approaches for tackling the SDGs in a coherent, integrated way, the SDG Lab runs two ongoing events. The ‘So What’ conversation series encourages policy coherence and integrated approaches by exploring linkages between goals that may not be seen as related. The ‘Transformation Series’ provides free 2-3 hour trainings on topics that can help to develop new approaches to development challenges such as systems thinking, future and foresight, and human centered design.

- The Lab will be holding a large meeting of the Geneva 2030 Ecosystem on 27 November. The format will allow individuals and entities to put forward challenges and opportunities they are experiencing in the implementation of the SDGs and receive input and ideas from the community. It will be a great opportunity to meet actors working on the SDGs and gain new perspective. I encourage you to attend.

The Lab is also engaged in a number of long term collaboration and innovation initiatives that may be of interest:

- The Lab has partnered with Sustainable Finance Geneva, the International Institute for Sustainable Development and the Canton of Geneva to facilitate a large-scale collaboration between financial institutions and International Geneva actors. The goal of this effort is to develop new, potentially transformative models of SDGs financing utilizing the unique expertise in Geneva.

- The Lab has also begun experimenting with models that allow countries to leverage the expertise of the Geneva community to realize their own development efforts and build on the important work already underway with the UN country team and other local actors. The first engagement has been with Niger. The Lab provides support to the Government of Niger in building partnerships with Geneva-based organizations to advance the “Niger 2.0” strategy, which aims to promote development through technology.

The Lab also continues to explore its role as an amplifier of practices that work or do not work at country level. In 2019, the Lab will begin a process of uncovering, understanding, and sharing these partnerships to promote learning.

Next year, our Library will celebrate 100 years since its establishment, just like the League of Nations. From June 2019 until November 2020, UN Geneva and many Swiss and international partners will collaborate on a number of initiatives to celebrate the Centenary of Multilateral Diplomacy and to underline the growing importance of multilateralism since the creation of the League of Nations. I would like to encourage you to share your ideas for celebrating this historic milestone with us.

To update you on the digitization of historical Archives of the League of Nations, I am pleased to let you know that the first million pages of documents have been uploaded in May this year. 14 million to go, at the pace of 15,000 pages a day, with a plan to finish the work by mid-2021. This project is one of the largest ever realized in the archives field and will allow researchers to access invaluable information on multilateralism and peacebuilding, while improving long-term preservation of the physical documents.

Once completed, this project will contribute to profiling the UN Library at Geneva as a center for research on the history of multilateralism. I welcome your ideas and support in this regard as we continue to improve ways and means to give access to the substantive knowledge held in Geneva and elsewhere.

A few words on the expansion of the International Gender Champions (IGC) network, which now counts 201 active Champions and 98 alumni. There are currently four IGC hubs (Geneva, New York, Vienna and Nairobi). A fifth one is expected to be launched in January 2019 in The Hague and already gathers some 35 founding members.

In order to bring about change in specific sectors, the IGC launched its five Impact Groups, which tackle the issues of Trade, Change management, Representation, Standards and Disarmament. Impact Groups serve as a collaboration platform for experts and Member States representatives to foster tangible measures and bring about change in specific sectors.

For example, in the context of the Representation Impact Group, a toolkit on gender-responsive assemblies was launched in the margins of the General Assembly last month. This document compiles a set of concrete best practices and tools to be applied before, during, and after an Assembly or inter-governmental meeting, in order to ensure its gender-responsiveness. It is intended to Heads of organizations, Secretariats and governing bodies, as well as delegates and civil society.

Many civil society leaders have become gender champions, and I urge all of you once again to adopt the panel parity pledge and ensure that women get the visibility and voice in all public discussions you hold in Geneva and beyond. This is a concrete and tangible step towards the implementation of the 2030 Agenda.

As part of my own commitments as Gender Champion in 2018, I launched a year-long campaign “I say no to sexism. What do you say?”. The campaign positions UN Geneva as a sexism-free zone and targets all individuals coming to the Palais: not only UN staff, but also journalists, visitors and delegates. The campaign’s objectives are to raise awareness of the harm done by casual sexism and to encourage people to speak up.

In the context of initiatives to promote gender equality, I would like to invite you to TEDxPlaceDesNationsWomen, which will take place on 6 December in the Assembly Hall. This year’s edition, co-organized by UNOG and UNHCR, will be held under the theme “Empower” and will focus on gender equality and women’s empowerment.

As you can see, we have a lot of plans and work ahead of us, but as our Secretary-General said in his last week’s message on United Nations Day, “We do not give up!”.

I am pleased that at UN Geneva, we have established good collaboration and open channel of communication with NGOs. It is obvious that civil society actors are essential partners for the work of the United Nations. NGOs are best at bringing voices and practices from local and national level to contribute to intergovernmental discussions in Geneva. You bring knowledge, expertise and ideas. You spread the message and information on the work done in International Geneva through your networks and partners to the local level. It is only by working together, hand in hand, that we can advance our common objectives for a better world.

I will conclude here and open our dialogue. Thank you.