L'oeil de la Genève Internationale

"Geneva, City of Peace," 2021 was marked not only by the first meeting between the two heads of state, Joe Biden and Vladimir Poutine, the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, the launch of the Kofi Annan Geneva Peace Address with the participation of Nobel Prize Laureate Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the Geneva Science and Diplomacy Anticipator inaugural summit – to name but a few but also the 70th anniversary of the Refugee Convention and UNHCR's activities. As such, this year has perpetuated Geneva's tradition as a host city where dialogue takes place, and global governance reunites to build a better world. In this impetus, the Office of International Geneva looks forward to pursuing next year its endeavor in promoting, through its website, International Geneva's organizations' activities (up to 100 events in our calendar every week) and those who shape it (new interview section launched in 2021). 
Happy Holidays! 
 

On the occasion of the High-Level Officials Meeting held on 14 and 15 December, and to mark UNHCR 70 years of protecting, saving, and transforming millions of lives, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi shares his point of view through a selection of commented images from the Magnum Photos collection. 

The UNHCR in 7 images by Filippo Grandi  

"What are digital identities? Why do humanitarian organizations find them useful? and what risks might they pose for people living through crises?" On 8 December 2021, the ICRC Digital Dilemmas Dialogue #9 will focus on data protection with Omar Seghrouchni, President of the National Commission for the Protection of Personal Data in Morocco (CNDP), and Balthasar Staehelin, Director of the Office of Digital Transformation and Data (ICRC). You may register here. This photography of refugees and migrants informed by the Slovenian Red Cross was taken by Thomas Dworzak for the ICRC in 2015.

From 29 November to 2 December 2021, the Building Bridges Summit and Week convene actors from the finance industry, the United Nations, IOs, NGOs, academia, and policymakers to strengthen sustainable finance to address the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The week provides a wide range of sessions that encourage dialogue and collaboration, you may register here or view the sessions online. The above installation is entitled "Main corridor – North, 2013". It was designed and photographed by Ilkka Halso. 

From 22 to 26 November, the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) organizes the GEOWeek2021. This event convenes scientists, researchers, UN representatives, policymakers, and academics to discuss how earth observation, notably through the lens of nexus thinking, addresses climate change, biodiversity, the ocean, and ecosystem restoration. Most of the GEOWeek2021 will run on the following Airmeet event platform. Here, the remains of an ancient forest, possibly dead around 3500 BC, on the beach at Ynyslas, in Wales, Great Britain, pictured by David Hurn in 2008. 

The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) holds its annual FORESCAST conference on 16 and 17 November 2021. Technologists and strategists will tackle "how are the technologies and user habits evolving, and how does this affect future distribution options for media organizations." Rafal Milach took this still-life photograph in collage form in Poland in 2015.

The WHO's fourth meeting of the Strategic and Technical Advisory Group of Experts (STAGE) for Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health and Nutrition (MNCAHN) will be held virtually from 9 to 11 November 2021. This daily life moment, between mother and child, was taken by Enri Canaj in Athens, Greece, on 11 April 2020.

The International Council of Nurses Congress will be held virtually from 2-4 November 2021. Under the theme "Nursing in the World," UN officials, Policymakers, Health experts, and academics from around the world will gather to address the latest research and priorities in nursing and the future of healthcare. Here, an instant with a nurse in a reanimation room taken by Nanna Heitmann in June 2020, in Makhachkala, Dagestan, Russia. 

On 4 November, 2021, the Kofi Annan Foundation, the Geneva Peacebuilding Platform, and the Graduate Institute are pleased to invite you to the launch of the Kofi Annan Geneva Peace Address with the participation of Mrs. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate in 2011 and President of Liberia from 2006 to 2018. The photographer, Alex Majoli, took this portrait, in 2006, during the week of the inauguration of President Ellen-Johnson Sirleaf, in Monrovia, Liberia. 

The Parties to the Aarhus Convention and Parties to the Protocol on Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers (PRTRs) are meeting from 18 to 22 October 2021. Marking the 20th anniversary of the entry into force of the Aarhus Convention, this session will provide a multi-stakeholder platform "to discuss the challenges in promoting environmental democracy, digital transformation, and sustainable development." Magnum photographer Mark Power took those blocs of waste, in 2018, at the Paprec recycling plant, France.

From 11 to 22 October 2021, the WMO will hold an extraordinary session of the World Meteorological Congress. Most decisive items will be addressed, such as the global water agenda, the Earth System Data Exchange, and hydrology strategy and plan of action. This picture was taken by James Taylor in Australia and is part of the WMO 2016 Calendar Winners.

The Geneva Science and Diplomacy Anticipator (GESDA) Foundation holds its inaugural summit at the Campus Biotech from 7 to 9 October 2021. Over 500 participants (scientists, diplomats, UN officials, NGO representatives, academics, and decision-makers) will gather to address tomorrow's scientific and technological breakthroughs and how we can use them to benefit both humanity and the environment. Here, a drive at Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA, by Magnum photographer René Burri in 1981.

On 9 September 2021, the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) will hold the "European virtual roundtable #3 - Collaborating for impact: cancer research that changes lives". This peaceful portrait was taken, by Paolo Pellegrin, in an oncological dispensary in St. Petersburg, Russia in 2005. This lady "recovered from a remission from stage 4 lymphosarcoma after 6 cycles of chemotherapy."

On 30 and 31 August 2021, The Global Governance Centre at the Graduate Institute Geneva and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) invite you to be part of an ambitious multi-sectorial online conference on the "Global Governance of Plastic Pollution: Transforming the Global Plastics Economy." Here, the interrupted race of a multitude of plastic bags on the outskirts of the Tunisian city of Gafsa, photographed by Moises Saman in 2013.