Within International Geneva
The Geneva Liaison Office (GLO) was established in 1979 in order to liaise UNESCO with the United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG), the UN Specialized Agencies based in Geneva (e.g. WHO, ILO, ITU, WIPO, IOM and WMO), the UN programmes, funds and organizations (e.g. OHCHR, UNHCHR, UNAIDS, UNCTAD, etc.) and other actors in the Genève internationale (e.g. IPU, ICRC, IFCRC, CERN, IUCN, WEF, ALIPH, etc.).
The Office also develops and maintains cooperation with Swiss-based institutions starting with the Swiss National Commission for UNESCO, universities (UNIGE, The Graduate Institute, EPFL, etc), as well as the civil society organizations (NGOs and philanthropic organizations).
The Office’s core tasks include inter alia:
- representing UNESCO in different inter-governmental and UN inter-agency meetings and to many diverse cooperation platforms in Geneva;
- advocating for UNESCO’s mandate, strategic programme priorities and orientations and acting as a clearing house for information of relevance to UNESCO;
- developing new partnerships with UN entities, donors, the private sector and the civil society.
The Office focuses on issues related to Human Rights, Education of Migrants and Refugees, Peace, Science and Technology for Development, Post Conflict and Post Disaster Reconstruction, Climate Change, Cultural Heritage, Information Society among others.
Director - Vincent Defourny
Prior to his incumbency in Geneva, Vincent Defourny held multiple senior positions within UNESCO: Director of the Brasilia Office; Director of Extrabudgetary Funding Sources and Director of Public Information where he managed to relaunch the UNESCO Courier after several years of disappearance.
Before joining UNESCO in 1997, he worked in Uganda as a secondary school teacher, taught in higher education and worked as a communication and management consultant. He holds a doctoral degree in Social Communication from UCLouvain and speaks French, English, Spanish and Portuguese.
Team
Directions
We will receive visitors only if an appointment has been made in advance.
The Office is located at 15 route des Morillons, 1218 Le Grand-Saconnex - ground floor.
Public transportation options:
From downtown Geneva:
- Bus route 5 (direction Aéroport, stop Crêts-de-Morillon)
- Bus route 8 (direction OMS, stop BIT)
- Bus route 22 (Direction ZIPLO, stop OMS)
- Bus route 28 (direction Les Esserts, stop OMS)
- Bus route F (direction Ferney-Mairie/Gex-ZAC, stop OMS)
From Geneva International Airport:
- Bus route 28 (direction Jardin Botanique, stop OMS)
- Bus route 5 (direction Hôpital, stop Crêts-de-Morillon)
Information about Geneva's public transportation system:
- See the official website of the Geneva Public Transport Authority (TPG) for more information (French only).
- If you are staying in a hotel in the Canton of Geneva you will receive a visitor pass that allows free travel on all modes of public transportation in the Canton for the duration of your stay.
- There is a public transport ticket machine in the luggage hall of Geneva International airport where you can get a free ticket for transport from the airport to your hotel.
Taxi options:
- Alptaxi: +41 (0)22 741 41 41
- Centrale Taxi-Phone: +41 (0)22 331 41 33
- Coopérative Taxis 202: +41 (0)22 320 22 02
Postal Address
UNESCO-GLO
Palais des Nations
1211 Geneva 10
Switzerland