Palace of Nations

The United Nations Library & Archives Geneva is part of the United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG), located in the Palace of Nations. The library and archives open their doors not only to UN staff and members of the diplomatic corps but to researchers, students and practitioners from all walks of life. The UN Library, previously the League of Nations Library, was established in 1919 and became the UN Library following the transfer of the League’s assets to the United Nations in 1946. The library aims to uphold the vision of John D. Rockefeller, Jr., who, in 1927, made a significant donation to the League of Nations that enabled the construction of the library building “to serve as a centre of international research and an instrument of international understanding”.

The United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG, French: 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.

The grounds of the Palais des Nations (seat of the United Nations Office at Geneva) contain many fine objects donated by member states of the United Nations, private sponsors and artists. The Celestial Sphere (also known as the Armillary Sphere) in the Ariana Park of the Palais des Nations is the best-known of these. The huge - over four meter diameter - Celestial Sphere is the chef d'oeuvre of the American sculptor Paul Manship (1885–1966). It was donated in 1939 by the Woodrow Wilson Foundation to what was then the League of Nations building. Known also as the Woodrow Wilson Memorial Sphere of the Palais des Nations it is today a symbol of Geneva International and of Geneva as the centre of dialogue and peace.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC; French: Comité international de la Croix-Rouge) is a humanitarian organization which is based in Geneva, Switzerland, and it is also a three-time Nobel Prize Laureate. State parties (signatories) to the Geneva Convention of 1949 and its Additional Protocols of 1977 (Protocol I, Protocol II) and 2005 have given the ICRC a mandate to protect victims of international and internal armed conflicts. Such victims include war wounded persons, prisoners, refugees, civilians, and other non-combatants.The ICRC is part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, along with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and 192 National Societies. It is the oldest and most honoured organization within the movement and one of the most widely recognized organizations in the world, having won three Nobel Peace Prizes (in 1917, 1944, and 1963).

Health & Help is an international non-governmental humanitarian aid organization, providing medical care in developing countries. The organization opened its clinics in Central American countries with poorly developed infrastructure and low-income population, with little or medical care in most of the regions. The project was founded in 2015 by Viktoria Valikova, MD, an infectious disease specialist from Ufa, Russia, who has been working in Central America since 2014, and Karina Basharova, the CEO of the project. The first clinic opened its doors in early 2017[1][2]. There are two Health & Help medical facilities in Central America, located in rural parts of Guatemala and Nicaragua. Health & Help staff includes multinational volunteer physicians and other medical professionals as well as photographers, coordinators, assistants, construction workers and home-based specialists[3].

The library of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) – in French: la bibliothèque du Comité international de la Croix-Rouge (CICR) – is a public library based at the headquarter of the international organization in Geneva, Switzerland. It was apparently founded around the time of the ICRC's inception in 1863. The library in its self-description is "the leading documentary resource" on the ICRC in particular and International humanitarian law (IHL) in general, along with the ICRC Archives. It plays a central role for the mandate of the ICRC according to article 4 (g) of its Statutes "to work for the understanding and dissemination of knowledge of international humanitarian law applicable in armed conflicts and to prepare any development thereof".

The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, and to prevent and alleviate human suffering. Within it there are three distinct organisations that are legally independent from each other, but are united within the movement through common basic principles, objectives, symbols, statutes and governing organisations.

The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Museum is a museum located in Geneva, Switzerland.

Broken Chair is a monumental sculpture in wood designed by Swiss artist Daniel Berset, and constructed by carpenter Louis Genève. It is constructed of 5.5 tons of wood and is 12 metres (39 feet) high.It depicts a giant chair with a broken leg and stands across the street from the Palace of Nations, in Geneva. It symbolises opposition to land mines and cluster bombs, and acts as a reminder to politicians and diplomats visiting Geneva.

The Collège Sismondi, is one of 11 public secondary schools in Geneva offering a 'Certificat de maturité gymnasiale', which provides access to all Swiss universities. The school is located right next to the United Nations Office in Geneva and across the Maison de la paix.

Genève-Sécheron railway station (French: Gare de Genève-Sécheron) is a railway station in the municipality of Geneva, in the Swiss canton of Geneva. It is an intermediate stop on the standard gauge Lausanne–Geneva line of Swiss Federal Railways.

The Penthes Castle (French: Château de Penthes) is a castle in the municipality of Pregny-Chambésy, in the Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It is classified as Cultural Property of National and Regional Significance.The Penthes Castle is located within the Penthes estate (French: Domaine de Penthes). The estate is first documented as of 1358 as belonging to Guillaume de Visencier and housing a fortified house. During the 17th century, the estate becomes part of the fiefdom of Antoine de Charrière, lord of Penthaz. It is henceforth named after him. In 1761, the estate, then owned by the Geneva General Hospital (now known as the Geneva University Hospitals), is sold to Alexandre Sales de Genève, who transforms the fortified house into a manor. In 1972, the Canton of Geneva purchases the Penthes estate. The Foundation for the History of the Swiss Abroad, dedicated to studying and promoting the history of the relations between Switzerland and the rest of the world, moves in the Castle in 1978 and creates a museum as well as a research center. The City of Geneva acquires the estate in 1983 and turns it into a public parc.