European UNAs Meeting – Geneva 2011

WFUNA held its European UNAs Meeting in Geneva on 3-4 October 2011. Participating UNAs included Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, France, Finland, Hungary, Israel, Luxembourg, Norway, Russia, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.

WFUNA Secretary-General, Bonian Golmohammadi, chaired the meeting. UNA representatives met with Alessandra Vellucci, Chief of External Relations of the United Nations Information Service, and received briefings on the Conference of Disarmament, and the existing debate on how to reform it, from Silvia Mercogliano of the Office of Disarmament Affairs and Prof. John King from U-peace University. A presentation on the International Organization for Migration was delivered by Larn Johann Lonnback. The second day of the meeting was dedicated to humanitarian affairs: UNAs discussed current humanitarian crises and the role of the Office of Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs with Vanessa Huguenin, and visited the International Committee of the Red Cross where they were briefed on the activities of the ICRC in the field by Christophe Hambye, Head of Donors Relations. A lecture by Tobias Koheler on International Humanitarian Law concluded the visit.

Throughout the meeting, UNA representatives had the opportunity to discuss their projects and initiatives, learn more about each others and about WFUNA’s programs and updates. Discussions focused in particular on how to develop joint advocacy projects and fundraising.