Workshop on Diplomatic Protocol in Geneva
The United Nations and its related bodies, agencies and programmes convene thousands of formal and informal, official and unofficial, meetings and conferences each year. The Secretary-General meets with Heads of States and Governments and Ministers on an ongoing basis either at Headquarters or during his travels. The Special Representatives of the Secretary-General in the field interface on a daily base with the highest-level of Government officials and regularly receive foreign dignitaries from the international political and military sphere. The diplomat or professional working within or in cooperation with United Nations often requires an in-depth understanding of the various layers of protocol and formal rules of the United Nations as well as the multilateral system in the broadest sense.
This workshop will focus most specifically on the rules of protocol in practice in and around the United Nations Office at Geneva, including:
- Explanation of the specificities of Geneva;
- Presentation of the Swiss, Geneva and UN protocol rules;
- Practical exercises and study of interesting cases;
- Visit of the facilities of Geneva International Airport for the arrival of “High Ranking Personalities" (TBC).
The objectives of this workshop will be to provide participants with:
- An overview of Geneva’s unique multilateral mandate;
- An understanding of the three layers of protocol that are relevant to their daily work in Geneva: The protocol regulations for the Swiss Confederation, the Protocol Service of the State Council of the Republic and Canton of Geneva and the Guidelines on Diplomatic Practice of the United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG);
- A briefing on the procedures for welcoming Heads of States and other high ranking personalities at the airport of Geneva (TBC);
- A concrete understanding, with the help of simulation exercises and role playing, of UNOG’s Guidelines on Diplomatic Courtesy in Geneva.
The sessions will be highly participative in nature, combining short presentations, exercises, case studies, discussion groups and video analysis. By the end of the workshop, participants will have a fuller understanding of the complexity of multilateral conferences and their interacting elements and be able to integrate more readily into multilateral conference processes.
The workshop is open to members of Permanent Missions accredited to the United Nations Office at Geneva, irrespective of their ranks and functions, in particular recently accredited diplomats from developing countries who are new to a multilateral environment.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION: We highly recommend credit card payments.
Due to the high amount of important international conferences taking place in Geneva in June, we would like to highlight that the visit of the Geneva International Airport's facilities for the arrival of “High Ranking Personalities" will only be confirmed on short notice.
A fee-waiver is applicable to requesting members of Permanent missions from countries classified by the World Bank as “lower-income”, “lower-middle income”, and “higher-middle income” economies.
To apply for a fee waiver diplomats only have to send an email containing their contact details and the course title to: diplomacy [at] unitar.org (diplomacy[at]unitar[dot]org) . The fee-waiver fellowship covers the participation fee however it does not cover any travel expenditures.
The workshop will take place at the International Environment House (IEH); Châtelaine, Geneva. The Conference Room will be confirmed later.
The workshop will be conducted in English. The participants will be provided with a set of background material at the beginning of the course. Participants who have followed the workshop in its entirety will be awarded a course certificate.
The course participation fee is 1,200 USD. Participants may pay individually per course attended, or their government may wish to cover the costs of an annual subscription. More information about UNITAR’s Core Diplomacy Training (CDT) pricing policy is available at: http://www.unitar.org/mdp/cdt.
For the diplomats eligible for a fee waiver as part of the CDT fellowship scheme, please contact the Multilateral Diplomacy Programme for more details by e-mail at: diplomacy [at] unitar.org (diplomacy[at]unitar[dot]org) and by phone at: +41 22 917 85 18. Registration will be closed as soon as the course is full and your place will be secured once your payment is confirmed.
Important: Upon course registration, the applicant accepts to make the full payment for the UNITAR course(s) immediately following receipt of the invoice and payment information. UNITAR reserves the right to rescind an applicant's enrollment at any time in case of non-receipt of payment. Payment is non-reimbursable but upon approval may be credited to another course.