By United Nations Library & Archives Geneva
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Livio Silva-Müller and Remo Gassman speak with us about their findings on the financing of international organizations in Geneva, published in a report by the Geneva Graduate Institute. Their illuminating report covers 16 organizations and spans two decades, from 2000 to 2020, providing a comprehensive analysis of financial contributions to Geneva-based international organizations.
Livio and Remo put into perspective the total of 23.6 billion USD contributed in 2020 to the 16 organizations in the study and leave us with five take-away points from their research.
Join us as we explore the evolving landscape of multilateral funding, the role of major donors, and hear about some surprising findings that emerged from their meticulous research. Understand the trends, challenges, and implications of funding for international organizations dedicated to global health, humanitarian efforts, and beyond.
Discover how this research sheds light on the stability and future of international Geneva. Gain insights into the complexities of studying the financing of international organizations and future research needed to explore potential avenues for enhancing funding strategies moving forward.
Resources
Read the report and check out the figures mentioned in the conversation: https://www.graduateinstitute.ch/sites/internet/files/2024-06/geneva-policy-outlook-report.pdf
Where to listen to this episode
Content
Guests:
Livio Silva-Müller, PhD researcher, Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy, Geneva Graduate Institute.
Remo Gassmann, Program Director, Global Development Policy, Heinrich Böll Foundation
Host, producer and editor: Amy Smith
Recorded & produced at the United Nations Library & Archives Geneva
Join us as we delve into the intricacies of the World Happiness Report with the distinguished Professor Emeritus John Helliwell. As a founding editor of the report, Professor Helliwell shares the origins of the report, the methodology behind measuring happiness, and the profound implications of the findings.
Discover the pivotal role of the 2011 UN Resolution supported by Bhutan, the importance of subjective well-being data, and how the report has evolved to influence global perspectives on happiness and well-being. Learn about the top-ranking countries and the factors that contribute to their success, as well as surprising findings from this year's report.
Professor Helliwell also explores the significance of social connections, trust, and benevolence, shedding light on how these elements impact our daily lives and national policies. This episode is a deep dive into the science of happiness and a call to integrate well-being into every aspect of decision-making.
Tune in to understand how we can all contribute to a happier, more compassionate world.
Resources
The World Happiness Report 2024: https://worldhappiness.report/ed/2024/
The Gallup poll:
https://news.gallup.com/poll/612125/happiest-country-earth.aspx
Sustainable Development Solutions Network:
https://www.gallup.com/analytics/247355/gallup-world-happiness-report.aspx
What's the happiest country in the world?
https://news.gallup.com/poll/612125/happiest-country-earth.aspx
The Wellbeing Research Centre, University of Oxford: https://wellbeing.hmc.ox.ac.uk/
Professor Helliwell’s book recommendation:
Gawande, A. (2014). Being mortal: Medicine and what matters in the end. Metropolitan Books/Henry Holt and Company.
https://atulgawande.com/book/being-mortal/
Where to listen to this episode
Content
Guest: John Helliwell
Host, producer and editor: Amy Smith
Recorded & produced at the United Nations Library & Archives Geneva
In this episode, Emil Seidenfaden, an historian presently undertaking postdoctoral research at the Saxo Institute, University of Copenhagen, joined us to talk about his recent book, Informing Interwar Internationalism.
This fascinating work combines international history and media history and explores the intersection of journalism and diplomacy at the time of the League of Nations.
Emil talks about the relationship between public information and legitimacy, and how the Information Section officials at the League negotiated the tensions between propaganda, public opinion and internationalism.
Resources
Seidenfaden, E. E. (2024). Informing Interwar Internationalism: The Information Strategies of the League of Nations. Bloomsbury Academic. Histories of Internationalism
Seidenfaden, E. E. (2020). Daniel Hucker, Public Opinion and Twentieth-Century Diplomacy. A Global Perspective. Leiden: Brill.
Potter, S. J. (2023). Broadcasting in the Cause of Peace: Regulating International Radio Propaganda in Europe, 1921–1939. The International History Review, 45(6), 843–864. https://doi.org/10.1080/07075332.2023.2224352
Sweetser, A. (1916) Roadside Glimpses of the Great War. Macmillan. London.
Covenant of the League of Nations: https://libraryresources.unog.ch/ld.php?content_id=32971179
The League of Nations Information Section: https://libraryresources.unog.ch/LONSecretariat/information
Emil’s book recommendation:
Cohen, D. (2023). Last Call at the Hotel Imperial. The Reporters Who Took On A World At War. Penguin Random House.
Where to listen to this episode
Content
Guest: Emil Seidenfaden
Host, producer and editor: Amy Smith
Recorded & produced at the United Nations Library & Archives Geneva
Pour cet épisode, nous sommes enchantés d’accueillir Pierre Van Den Dungen pour parler d’Henri La Fontaine, un homme intense et fascinant gratifié du prix Nobel de la Paix en 1913.
Pierre Van Den Dungen, docteur en Philosophie et Lettres (Histoire), a consulté la totalité des papiers personnels de La Fontaine au Mundaneum, à Mons, afin de rédiger la biographie intitulée « Henri La Fontaine, prix Nobel de la Paix 1913 : une vie » publiée aux Editions Samsa en 2022. Pierre Van Den Dungen nous présente les grandes lignes de la personnalité de La Fontaine, en mettant en lumière son entourage, ses réseaux et sa sphère intime. Il explore ensuite les convictions pacifistes et mondialistes de La Fontaine, ainsi que son long mandat de 36 ans à la présidence du Bureau international de la Paix. Il traite également de la période de la vie de La Fontaine durant la Première Guerre mondiale, de son implication au sein de la Société des Nations, pour finalement évoquer les dernières années de sa vie durant la Seconde Guerre mondiale.
Ressources
Van den Dungen, Pierre. (2022) Henri La Fontaine, prix Nobel de la Paix 1913 : une vie. Bruxelles. Editions Samsa. https://www.henrilafontaine.be/ouvrage/henri-la-fontaine-2/
Rencontre avec Pierre Van Den Dungen : https://www.henrilafontaine.be/2023/01/07/chaire-hlf-rencontre-avec-pierre-van-den-dungen/
Fondation Henri La Fontaine : https://www.henrilafontaine.be/la-fondation/
Mundaneum : http://www.mundaneum.org/fr
Discours d’Henri La Fontaine, 8ème séance plénière de la première Assemblée de la Société des Nations, 20 novembre 1920 (p. 171 du PDF) : https://archives.ungeneva.org/the-records-of-the-first-assembly-plenary-meetings
Description des archives du Bureau International de la Paix (1891-1951) : https://archives.ungeneva.org/international-peace-bureau
Où écouter cet épisode
Contenu
Invité : Pierre Van den Dungen
Hôte : Hermine Diebolt
Réalisation : Amy Smith
Enregistré et réalisé à la Bibliothèque & Archives des Nations Unies à Genève
Robert Bruce Adolph joined us for this short episode to talk about his book Surviving the UN: The Unexpected Challenge. Robert worked on assignments in many conflict areas in the world in the 1990s during his second career as a UN Chief Security Officer, following his retirement as US Army Special Forces Lieutenant-Colonel. He was present during the deadly bomb attack on the UN compound in Baghdad on 19 August 2003.
Over two decades later, as we approach the anniversary of that horrific event, Robert Adolph talks about why he wrote the book and about learning from failure.
Resources
Adolph, Robert Bruce. (2020). Surviving the UN: The Unexpected Challenge. New Academia Publishing/Vellum.
(Available at the UNOG bookstore)
Website: Robert Bruce Adolph - https://robertbruceadolph.com/
Bob's book recommendation
Pinker, Steven. (2012). The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined. Penguin Books.
Where to listen to this episode
Content
Host: Amy Smith
Speakers: Robert Bruce Adolph
Production and editing: Amy Smith
Recorded & produced at the United Nations Library & Archives Geneva
*This episode was recorded online and we apologize for the low sound quality.
The interns working at the UN Library & Archives Geneva gathered for a discussion with the Director of the Library & Archives, Francesco Pisano, on their thoughts on multilateralism, multiculturalism and working at the UN.
Raphaela, Lucas, Alicia, Mengna and Ashrul come from different countries, are studying at different institutions and have different academic backgrounds. They share with us inside tips on applying for UN internships, explain their own motivations and give a glimpse of what they have learned during their time at the Library & Archives and UN Geneva. Together, they explore what multilateralism, multiculturalism and multilingualism mean to them in their lives and work.
Resources
UN Internships: https://www.un.org/en/academic-impact/page/internships
UN Careers: https://careers.un.org/home?language=en
Where to listen to this episode
Content
Host: Franceso Pisano
Speakers: Interns at the UN Library & Archives Geneva
Ashrul Bin Mohammad Azmi
Raphaela Gutierrez
Alicia Grünert
Lucas Westphal Jensen
Mengna CHEN
Concept and editing: Mengna CHEN
Producer: Amy Smith
Recorded & produced at the United Nations Library & Archives Geneva
Ellie Hutterli is a Senior Swiss UN Youth Delegate for 2022-24 and her priority topics are sustainable cities and communities, digitalization, reduced inequalities with a special focus on gender equality, and youth participation and inclusion. Ellie joins us for this episode to talk more about the Youth Delegate programme, her priority topic on women’s rights and gender equality, as well her thoughts more broadly on youth participation in the United Nations.
Resources
Conseil Suisse des Activités de Jeunesse : https://www.sajv.ch/en/projects/youth-rep
Youth Delegate Programme: https://social.desa.un.org/issues/youth/un-youth-delegate-programme#:~:text=The%20roles%20of%20a%20youth,attending%20meetings%20and%20informal%20negotiations.
Youth: https://social.desa.un.org/issues/youth
Our Common Agenda: https://www.un.org/en/common-agenda
Where to listen to this episode
Content
Guest: Ellie Hutterli, Swiss Youth Delegate
Host, producer and editor: Amy Smith
Recorded & produced at the United Nations Library & Archives Geneva
Thomas Hale is Professor in Public Policy (Global Public Policy) at the Blavatnik School of Government at the University of Oxford. He also co-leads the Net Zero Tracker and the Net Zero Regulation and Policy Hub. His research explores how we can manage transnational problems effectively and fairly.
In this conversation, Professor Hale talks with Francesco Pisano, Director of the UN Library & Archives Geneva, about his new book: Long Problems: Climate Change and the Challenge of Governing Across Time. The book offers a fresh perspective on addressing climate change through the lens of political science.
They explore the challenge of long problems and Thomas Hale argues that political science must play a crucial role, alongside natural sciences, in finding solutions to existential threats like climate change through new frameworks for long-term policymaking.
Resources:
https://www.bsg.ox.ac.uk/people/thomas-hale
Hale, T. (2024) Long Problems: Climate Change and the Challenge of Governing Across Time. Princeton University Press.
Long Problems | Princeton University Press
Where to listen to this episode
Content
Guest: Professor Thomas Hale
Host: Francesco Pisano
Producer and editor: Amy Smith
Recorded & produced at the United Nations Library & Archives Geneva
Join us for the next episode in our ambassadors series in which H.E. Mr. CHEN Xu, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Permanent Representative of the People's Republic of China to the United Nations Office at Geneva and other International Organizations in Switzerland talks with the Director of the Library & Archives, Francesco Pisano. Ambassador Chen speaks of the history of China, its role in the Asian region and in the world, as well as in the United Nations.
Content
Speaker: Ambassador CHEN Xu
Host: Francesco Pisano
Producer and editor: Amy Smith
Recorded & produced at the United Nations Library & Archives Geneva
Catherine Bertini is The Rockefeller Foundation Managing Director for Food, former Executive Director of the World Food Programme and World Food Prize Laureate (2003). We were delighted to have her join the Director of the Library & Archives, Francesco Pisano, for this episode to explore the question of food security and the vision of achieving zero hunger in an equitable world.
The Rockefeller Foundation published a report last year providing an analysis of the current obstacles to food security and offers innovative ideas to overcome them. You can read the report via the link below.
Resources
The Rockefeller Foundation Report: https://www.rockefellerfoundation.org/report/defining-the-path-to-zero-hunger-in-an-equitable-world/
International Food Policy Research Institute: https://www.ifpri.org/event/commitments-impact-analyzing-global-commitments-toward-promoting-food-security-and-healthy
Catherine Bertini: https://www.catherinebertini.com/
Where to listen to this episode
Content
Guest: Catherine Bertini, The Rockefeller Foundation, Food
Host: Francesco Pisano
Producer: Amy Smith
Editing: Mengna Chen
Recorded & produced at the United Nations Library & Archives Geneva
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