United Nations Office at Geneva



The United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG, Office des Nations Unies à Genève) in Geneva, Switzerland, is one of the four major offices of the United Nations where numerous different UN agencies have a joint presence. The main UNOG administrative offices are located inside the Palais des Nations complex, which was originally constructed for the League of Nations between 1929 and 1938.

Besides United Nations administration, the Palais des Nations also hosts the offices for a number of programmes and funds such as the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (ECE).

The United Nations and its specialized agencies, programmes and funds may have other offices or functions hosted outside the Palais des Nations, normally in office spaces provided by the Swiss Government.

UN specialised agencies and other UN entities with offices in Geneva hold bi-weekly briefings at the Palais des Nations, organized by the United Nations Information Service at Geneva.

UNOG produces an annual report where it lists all major events and activities that happened through a year.

Headquartered in Geneva

 * Conference on Disarmament
 * International Bureau of Education
 * International Computing Centre
 * International Labour Organization
 * International Organization for Migration
 * International Trade Centre
 * International Telecommunication Union
 * Joint Inspection Unit
 * Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS
 * Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
 * United Nations Chief Executives Board for Coordination
 * United Nations Compensation Commission
 * United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
 * United Nations Economic Commission for Europe
 * United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
 * United Nations Human Rights Council (see also United Nations Commission on Human Rights)
 * United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research
 * United Nations Institute for Training and Research
 * United Nations Non-Governmental Liaison Service
 * United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
 * United Nations Office on Sport for Development and Peace
 * United Nations Research Institute For Social Development
 * World Health Organization
 * World Intellectual Property Organization
 * World Meteorological Organization
 * World Trade Organization

Presence at Geneva

 * Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (headquarters in Rome)
 * International Atomic Energy Agency (headquarters are in Vienna)
 * United Nations Environment Programme (headquarters are in Nairobi)
 * United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (headquarters are in Paris)
 * United Nations Industrial Development Organization (headquarters are in Vienna)
 * World Food Programme (headquarters are in Rome)
 * United Nations World Tourism Organization (headquarters in Madrid)

Directors-general



 * 1) Wladimir Moderow, Poland, 1946–1951
 * 2) Adriaan Pelt, Netherlands, 1952–1957
 * 3) Pier Pasquale Spinelli, Italy, 1957–1968
 * 4) Vittorio Winspeare-Guicciardi, Italy, 1968–1978
 * 5) Luigi Cottafavi, Italy, 1978–1983
 * 6) Eric Suy, Belgium, 1983–1987
 * 7) Jan Mårtenson, Sweden, 1987–1992
 * 8) Antoine Blanca, France, 1992–1993
 * 9) Vladimir Petrovsky, Russia, 1993–2002
 * 10) Sergei Ordzhonikidze, Russia, 2002–2011
 * 11) Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Kazakhstan, 2011–2013
 * 12) Michael Møller, Denmark, 2013–2019
 * 13) Tatiana Valovaya, Russia, 2019–present

Administrative history

 * 1) United Nations Geneva Office, from beginning, Aug 1946 – Apr 1947, (IC/Geneva/1)
 * 2) European Office of the UN, 11 Apr 1947  – 10 Aug 1948, (IC/Geneva/49)
 * 3) United Nations Office at Geneva, 10 Aug 1948  – 9 Aug 1949, (IC/Geneva/152)
 * 4) European Office of the UN, 9 Aug 1949  – 8 Dec 1957, (SGB/82/Rev.1)
 * 5) United Nations Office at Geneva, 8 December 1957 – present, (SGB/82/Rev.2)