UN Library Talk: "The lasting legacy of a man of action: Fridtjof Nansen First High Commissioner for Refugees"

Deputy Secretary-General Eliasson,
Ambassador Kongstad,
Excellencies,
Ms. Fosse,
Mr. Endres,
Ladies and gentlemen:

I am pleased to welcome you to today’s UNOG Library Talk to mark this year’s World Refugees Day which takes place every year on 20 June. I think, there’s no better way to commemorate this day than by remembering may be the most important pioneer of the modern international protection system for refugees, Mr. Fridtjof Nansen. Mr. Nansen was a renowned Arctic explorer and a member of the Norwegian delegation to the League of Nation from its start in 1920. The same year, he was appointed High Commissioner by the League Council to assist in the resettlement of prisoners of war and refugees. In 1921, he was nominated High Commissioner for Refugees, a post he held until his death in 1930. In this function, he helped hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing their countries of origin across Europe, Asia Minor and the Middle East. The “Nansen Passport” which was his idea, was a brilliant one. It provided displaced persons with an identification that allowed them to travel internationally without threat of being forcibly returned to their countries of origin. Today’s ‘laissez-passer’ for refugees is very much a continuation of the ‘Nansen Passport’.

Mr. Nansen was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1922. After his death, the League created the Nansen International Office for Refugees to continue his work and legacy. The Nansen Office was itself awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1938.

His merits are summarized in a recent book “Nansen: Explorer and Humanitarian”. We are very lucky to have with us today one of the two co-authors of this volume, Ms. Marit Fosse, who will share her perspective of this unique person of his time. We will also be hearing other speakers, who will highlight complementary aspects of Mr. Nansen’s work and achievements, which the award established in his honour reminds us of to this day.

I am very pleased that we can host this event at the Palais des Nations which is also home to the Nansen Archives. They are part of the League of Nations Archives which are managed by the Library of the United Nations in Geneva. The Nansen Archives represent one of the Library’s most valuable collections - more than 600,000 pages of unique resources documenting the pioneering work of Mr. Nansen and of the League of Nations in the domain of international assistance to refugees in all its aspects, covering the period from 1920 until World War II. Like most of the archives of this period, these documents are fragile and in danger of further deteriorating if they are manipulated too often. We are therefore in the process of digitizing the collection and of making it globally accessible. Thanks to the support of the Fritt Ord Foundation and the Norwegian National Archives this has already been done for some 300,000 pages.

Thank you again to the organizers and the distinguished panel for bringing this topic to the United Nations’ Library, a unique heritage centre and a place of knowledge management and cultural diplomacy in the service of peace, rights and well-being. I wish you all an inspiring discussion.

Thank you very much.