The United Nations Office at Geneva threw open its doors this weekend, welcoming locals and the region’s large expat community into the grounds and buildings to discover the Sustainable Development Goals and see the historical Palais des Nations before extensive renovations begin. Switzerland, our host country, was the guest of honour.
UNRISD, whose offices are located in the Palais des Nations in Geneva, joined in enthusiastically. The Open Day gave us an opportunity to profile the role of research within the UN and the wider development community, as well as promote the importance of the themes we work on.
Several colleagues shared their expertise with visitors at the SDG cubes scattered around the Palais.
We also had fun on the UNRISD stand in the tent dedicated to international Geneva. As well as plenty of knowledge to share, we had UNRISD pencils, stickers and publications to give away. Children and their families also discovered what UNRISD is doing to help implement the SDGs via a specially designed mapping game.
UNRISD Director Paul Ladd spoke about our work, focusing on inequalities,
migration and SSE, and
universal health care, in a live interview with UN WebTV and Radio, which was broadcast to all the visitors at Open Day and online. Click on the image to view the video.
Paul also took part in some speed-meetings, which were an opportunity for visitors to dialogue and exchange with people working for the UN about any topics that struck their fancy—in 3 minutes or less!
Over 14,000 people took up the invitation to visit UNOG on Saturday, some of whom were
welcomed by the Director General in person, Mr. Michael Møller. Visitors relaxed and picknicked in the Ariana Park which surrounds the Palais, enjoying the sunshine and the chance to turn the Palais des Nations into the people’s palace.