Swiss President Didier Burkhalter addresses the Geneva-based United Nations Human Rights Council in February 2013
Keystone
The Swiss cabinet has agreed to increase its budget for International Geneva by over a third. This is part of a long-term strategy to consolidate Switzerland’s role as a host state for international organisations.
This content was published on
2 minutes
swissinfo.ch and agencies
In its plans submitted to parliament for approval, the government is seeking a bigger budget for the 2016-2019 period totalling CHF117.2 million ($122 million) – an increase of CHF44.8 million.
The money should go towards “improving building and technological infrastructures and on fostering better interaction between the various international and national actors”, the government said in a statement on Wednesday.
The move is in response to a parliamentary motion, “Strengthen International Geneva and Switzerland as places to host international and multilateral diplomacy”, which was backed by 120 parliamentarians and is in line with foreign policy strategy for 2012–2015, in which the cabinet aims to promote Switzerland’s long-term role as host state.
Geneva is home to the headquarters of 32 international organisations, such as the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). “International Geneva”, as it is known, is worth around CHF3 billion a year to the canton in taxes and spending power.
In all, some 40,000 international diplomats and civil servants are based in Geneva; in addition there are around 2,400 staff working for 250 non-governmental organisations. Around 8,500 staff work for the United Nations in Geneva, which is the largest concentration of UN personnel in the world. There are also 169 permanent diplomatic missions to the UN.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here. Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.
Read more
More
The interpreters who make the UN’s work possible
This content was published on
It’s morning and Edgington, a UN staff interpreter since 2004, is in her low-lit booth high above a huge meeting room at the UN’s Palais des Nations in Geneva, reading aloud so fast there’s almost no space between the words. “… concerns are raised by reports of an increase in cases of incitement to hatred…
Immigration vote leaves foreigners mired in confusion
This content was published on
“I’ve worked in Belgium, Ireland and Cyprus before here and all that is the result of the EU, so for me it’s ironic to be for the first time in the middle of Europe and not be part of it, and now get the message that we are not even sure we can stay,” declared…
This content was published on
The renovation project, known as the Strategic Heritage Plan, includes the demolition and replacement of one of its extensions. Swiss UN ambassador Paul Seger told the Swiss News Agency that the decision to allocate the money means that the detailed planning phase, scheduled for the next two years, can now go ahead. The UN Secretary…
This content was published on
After five years’ design and construction work, the first two ‘petals’ of the Geneva Graduate Institute’s new state-of-the-art campus are set to be officially opened on September 26 when former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, an ex-student, gives the inaugural lecture. The CHF200-million ‘Maison de la Paix’ is not the only big new project of…
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here. Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.