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| U.N.O. Building Front View |
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| Ariana Park |
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| Celestial Sphere near Woodrow Wilson Monument |
Most of you might have heard of Geneva which has the privilege of having many international organizations and institutions, apart from being a cultural and commercial hub. This French-speaking city is set in between the Alpine peaks and Jura hills, beside Lake Geneva (also called Lake Leman) from which the Rhone river flows. It took almost three hours for us to travel from Lucerne to this historic city. Our luxury coach halted before the conglomeration of the U.N.O. building complex where we were asked to get down and relax for a while. The great building "Palace Des Nations" is the European head quarters of the U.N.O. It is seen in the middle of the Ariana Park on the banks of the Lake Geneva. Built in between 1929 and 1936 it was the main head quarters of the League of Nations until 1946. It has been the U.N.O. head quarters since 1966. The white edifice pedestalled on a flight of steps can be seen with an approach road flanked on both sides by a row of poles with fluttering flags of various nations. Just in the center of the open space there is a monument called "Woodrow Wilson's Monument," a spherical globe with various continents etched on it. There are thirty-four conference rooms and two thousand and eight hundred offices. Every year more than eight thousand meetings and six hundred conferences take place in these buildings. Visitors are allowed to see only a few rooms. "Consultation Halls", :The Hall of Human Rights" and "Assembly Hall" are some of the prominent rooms.
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| Broken Chair Monument |
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| Statue of Mahatma Gandhi at U.N.O. |
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| UNESCO |
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| W.H.O. |
Many of the rooms are decorated with artistic carvings, statues and artifacts donated by various nations. Nearly 25,000 delegates come here to negotiate on their national and international matters and affairs. The tour manager showed us from a distance the office complexes of International Labor Organization (I.L.O.), World Trade Organization (WTO) , United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) , International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and World Trade Organization (WTO). We saw a huge twelve-meter high three-legged wooden monument called "The Broken Chair", which was set up opposite the U.N.O.Building complex, as sad reminder of the tragedy caused to people who lost their lives or became physically disabled due to explosion of landmines. We looked at the statue of our Father of Nation, "Mahatma Gandhi" set up in Ariana Park. A sense of pride and delight swelled within our bosoms on seeing this black granite figure of Mahatma Gandhi sitting in meditative posture. This statue ,gifted by the Indian Government, was unveiled on the fourteenth of November in 2007.
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| Peace Monument |
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| Rebirth Sculpture |
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| Hall Of Human Rights |
Just behind the the World Health Organization (W.H.O.) building, many statues concerned with health and social awareness themes were set up to emphasize and highlight the humanitarian principles of the U.N.O. such as Aid for Visually Challenged People, Vaccination Drive, Friendship Symbol etc. We spent some time breathing fresh air and strolling through the garden, feeling a sense of pride that we had the rare opportunity of visiting this most prestigious organization which has nearly 193 countries as members and where so many issues of international importance are discussed and decisions are taken.
Another important thing we noticed here is that the U.N.O. has set a good example to all her member countries by adopting Eco-friendly and energy-saving methods such as re-cycling its resources, use of solar energy and cultivation of greenery . Let us hope that this reputed organization will succeed in her efforts in fulfilling her noble ideals: Equal rights for all human beings and all nations, economic and social progress, disarmament and maintenance of international peace and security.
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