{"id":6124,"date":"2021-07-26T20:46:03","date_gmt":"2021-07-26T20:46:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/internationaldiplomat.com\/?p=6124"},"modified":"2021-07-26T20:46:03","modified_gmt":"2021-07-26T20:46:03","slug":"6124","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/12h71.com\/?p=6124","title":{"rendered":"Interview with Ms Tatiana Valovaya Director General, United Nations Office at Geneva"},"content":{"rendered":"

Interview with Ms Tatiana Valovaya Director General, United Nations Office at Geneva<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

She is the first woman to be Director-General of the United Nations Office Geneva, and she will be remembered in history for having shown to future generations of young women that everything is possible as long as you are focused, hardworking and persevering. <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Ms Valovaya carries a considerable burden of responsibility on her shoulders and, despite her busy schedule in this challenging Covid pandemic reality, she took the time to answer our numerous questions. As one might expect, as most things, this encounter was also online, and the Director-General\u2019s knowledge about the conference application TEAMS is impressive. Indeed, she was more adept at these online connections than the journalist sitting on the other side trying desperately to adjust the camera. One might think that somebody of her stature would be annoyed by this, but not the Director-General. She was patient and friendly. <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Before we leave the space to the Director General, let us briefly mention that she has been a diplomat, a journalist and a well-known and highly respected economist with more than 35 years of international experience to her credit and, despite it all, she is modest and gracious. So, Director-General, over to you, please\u2026 <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

First of all, we would like to congratulate you on your photo exhibition. How did that come about? <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

In fact, it is not my photo exhibition but the Palais des Nations\u2019<\/em> one. I just happened to be clicking on my camera. I\u2019m not the important actor in this. It was during the first lock-down. We had closed the Palais to most of the people in order to prepare it for safe return and new working conditions for staff. Of course, I was coming to the Palais<\/em>, checking on how things were progressing. It was the first time that I saw the Palais without people. Earlier, when I was in the Palais<\/em>, it was always full of crowds, crowds of people everywhere\u2026 You could see people but not the architecture. I was overwhelmed by the Palais<\/em>, by its architecture but also by its meaning. You know, I have been in many empty buildings, and sometimes you feel that emptiness. But here you did not feel the emptiness, the Palais<\/em> was alive even without people. There is a lot of history here, and I was just thinking how important it was that, after the First World War right up into the Great Depression, members of the League of Nations sat together to find financial resources to build this palace for the multilateral organisation \u2013 and how important it is now. Since I love to take photographs, one day I brought my camera and took some pictures. Then I shared these pictures with some of my colleagues only to show how different the Palais<\/em> looked.<\/span><\/p>\n

Some of these photos were immediately used by the internal magazine produced by our staff, and then somebody showed them to the Centre de la photographie de Gen\u00e8ve<\/em>. That is how it was decided that it would be a good idea to show them online, to show them to the people of Geneva, so that they could see the beauty and the architecture of the Palais<\/em>. It also served to remind that, although the Palais<\/em> was not open to the public, life went on and the work continued. It was a time for reflection, a time to rethink and prepare for another round of international multilateral activities. It happened purely by chance and my role was not central. The Palais<\/em> was the main character.<\/span><\/p>\n

You are the first woman appointed Director General of the United Nations Office Geneva. How does it feel to be a forerunner and a role model for generations of women? <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

It is very important that the United Nations Office at Geneva is finally led by a woman. I\u2019m the thirteenth Director-General and the first woman. It really shows how important gender parity is to the United Nations as an organization, how important it is to the Secretary-General. I think it\u2019s important that at the top level in the organization, we now have gender parity. At the level of under-secretaries-general and heads of departments, we really are a balanced organisation.<\/span><\/p>\n

I do not consider myself as a role model. When I was a young girl, we did have some female role models. These days it\u2019s really the mainstream. We take it for granted that women should be at the head of international organizations. I think the ideal for young generations is not an individual female as role model, but the fact that we are equal, we are professionals, we can lead international organisations. This is going to stay. This is the generation of equality.<\/span><\/p>\n

Do you think it is important to have a woman at the head of an international organization, country etc.? <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Of course, it\u2019s important! I really hope that my generation will see the day when it will not make news in the newspapers that this or that organization has finally had a woman named at its head. We should really take it for granted, as something normal. We should really reach a stage where it\u2019s normal, nothing exceptional. Women make up half of humanity!<\/span><\/p>\n

Your tenure occurs during highly unusual \u2013 even surreal \u2013 times such as have never been experienced at the United Nations, nor in the world. How has this affected your aspirations? <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Well, of course, it has affected them because it is a new challenge that is added to our work. Really, we had to work very hard just to prepare the Palais for reopening: 164,000 square meters had to be prepared for the safe return of staff, delegates and conference participants. We had to think about lots of things. From the very beginning, we identified the need to impose a distance of two meters in the conference rooms, thought through how people should walk along the corridors, along the staircases. It was altogether an unusual experience. We also had to have a common response of the whole international Geneva in the interaction with our host country.<\/span><\/p>\n

At the same time, it was immediately recognized that our agenda was more relevant than ever. We went on with all the issues that were on the agenda, for example the 75th anniversary of the United Nations, one of the key priorities for last year. We were very pleased and happy that we managed to implement all the ideas we had been discussing with my team at the end of 2019. We were able to carry out absolutely all of them, even if in a different, virtual format. For example, we had been discussing that we wanted to have a conference on the future of multilateralism and a dialogue with young people. We had three dialogues, in April, in June and then in October. We had fantastic participation, and not only by people in Geneva, but from many countries. We managed to carry out all our plans, albeit in a different manner; but our aspirations remained intact. We worked together in a unified manner to move forward the agenda of the United Nations.<\/span><\/p>\n

Today, we are learning to live with the virus, even to \u201cdance\u201d with the virus, having events at the Palais, continuing the renovation work, and even finishing a construction project. What kind of experience is this turning out to be for you, and how are you managing to carry on your work? <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n