According to Bern, Switzerland’s budget for International Geneva is to be increased by CHF 44.8 million annually from 2016-2019. Seeking to strengthen the country’s role as premier host to the United Nations, the Federal Council plans to dish out a total of CHF 117.2 million over the three-year period. While the UN headquarters operates as […]
A Swiss role for Afghanistan?
GENEVA NATO will be ending its official role after 13 years in occupation of Afghanistan on 31 December, 2014. Nearly 10,000 US troops, mainly special forces, but also several thousand Australian, British and other NATO forces are expected to remain in a primarily training capacity for another two or three years. Last week, President Obama […]
From Grade I apples to car seat belts: The UN’s unknown “pearl”
Heading one of the United Nations’ least known but most influential organizations, Christian Bach, the recently appointed Danish Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) is hoping to turn it into a household name. GENEVA One of the UN’s most pervasive problems is that it is marketing itself poorly. Given that much […]
CERN names new director general
Italian physicist Fabiola Gianotti has been named director general of the CERN particle physics research centre. She is the first woman nominated and chosen to head a leading global scientific institution. With a doctorate from the University of Milan, Gianotti has worked as a CERN researcher since 1987. Once she receives formal approval from the […]
The United Nations: more consultants, fewer rights
Cash loans online easy approval. GENEVA The United Nations both here in Geneva and worldwide is relying increasingly on consultants with short-term contracts to do its work, seriously hampering the organization’s overall professionalism. Consultants, many who have come to Switzerland with their families from other countries, or may be on mission elsewhere in the world, […]
Geneva ranked as best city in the world
While currently draped in November fog, Geneva might not seem to be the most liveable city in the world. When my wife first came here some years back in mid-winter, she did not even realise that Geneva was surrounded by mountains until one of those heavenly days suddenly lifted the grey from the end of […]
Ecuadorian President and Foreign Minister seek agreement in Geneva against corporate abuses
Corporate abuse of workers’ rights, the environment, corporate corruption and massive tax evasion are all issues in dire need of direct and strong redress. These are issues that recently civil society organisations in Geneva have been calling on the international community and even the Swiss Government to regulate and enforce. Le News has reported on […]
A global fund for reporting: Who should pay?
At last week’s Women’s Forum in Deauville, many participants said they wanted the private sector, governments and society-at-large to respond more effectively – fewer words, more action – to global humanitarian and development concerns. Whether clamping down on female genital mutilation or the need for companies to assume more socially responsible roles, there were at […]
The ICRC – Doing the impossible
Earlier this month, Laurent DuPasquier, a 38-year-old Swiss national, was killed when a cluster bomb landed near the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in the Ukranian town of Donetsk. DuPasquier had been working for the Geneva-based humanitarian organization for more than five years in Pakistan, Yemen, Haiti, Egypt and Papua New Guinea. For […]
Lake Geneva’s higher education card
A recent article in Le Temps suggests that Patrick Aebischer, president of Lausanne’s prestigious École Polytechnique Fédérale (EPFL), has gone too far with his ambitious plans to expand what is now referred to as the “MIT of Europe”. The 9 February referendum on immigration threatens not only EPFL’s European Union funding, but also access to […]
