Geneva Engage: Fostering effective links between Geneva and the world

The 6th Geneva Engage Awards were held on 18 February 2021.

Winners of the 6th Geneva Engage Awards

Permanent Representations category

• 1st place: Delegation of the EU to the UN and other international organisations in Geneva
• 2nd place: Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the UN Office in Geneva (UNOG)
• 3rd place: Permanent Mission of France to the UN in Geneva (UNOG)

NGOs and Associations category

• 1st place: The New Humanitarian (TNH)
• 2nd place World Council of Churches (Oikoumene)
• 3rd place: UN Watch

International Organisations category

• 1st place: UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
• 2nd place: UN Office at Geneva (UNOG)
• 3rd place: International Air Transport Association (IATA)

Online Participation Award

Winner: International Telecommunication Union (ITU)

The 4th Geneva Engage Awards ceremony was held in February 2019. The three recipients of the award were:

• Permanent Mission of Sweden to the UN (Category: Permanent Representations)
• International Air Transport Association (Category: International Organisations)
• Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisations (Category: Non-Governmental Organisations and Associations)

Don't miss ...

• For more details, read the analysis behind the awards.
• View our photo gallery and video recording.

The 2nd Geneva Engage Awards ceremony took place in February 2017. The three recipients of the awards were:

• Permanent Mission of the USA to the UN Office and Other International Organisations in Geneva (Category: Permanent Representations)
• World Health Organisation (Category: International Organisations)
• World Economic Forum (Category: Non-Governmental Organisations)

Don't miss ...

• Read the event report.
• Read the analysis behind the awards.
• View our photo gallery and video recording.

‘Innovative e-participation can increase the visibility and inclusiveness of the important work done across International Geneva, raising awareness about its direct impact on people everywhere and enabling us to listen to the voices outside of Geneva.’

This was how Director-General of the UN Office at Geneva Michael Moller summed up the aims of the Geneva Engage Conference during his keynote address.

Participants at the conference, which took place on 27/28 January 2016, looked for ways to foster effective links between International Geneva and communities worldwide that are affected by digital, climate change, migration, human rights, trade, and other policies discussed and negotiated in Geneva.

Permanent Representative of Switzerland to the UN in Geneva Alexandre Fasel stressed that ‘E-tools need to be adjusted to a wide range of scenarios. They can support the work of a select and focused group, for example twelve negotiators around the same table. They can also support creating a highly inclusive environment, for example reaching out to the more than three billion mobile users worldwide and helping them to voice their views.’

Delegate for International Geneva of the Republic and State of Geneva Olivier Coutau asked the  participants: ‘How do we make sure that the farmer growing rice in Matara (Sri Lanka), the combatant in Kunduz (Afghanistan), the teacher in Juba (South Sudan) and the factory director in Zenica (Bosnia and Herzegovina) are all aware of the decisions taken in Geneva?’ He concluded that ‘e-participation can help to make international Geneva more accountable, more impactful, more relevant and, at the end of the day, more sustainable.’

Director of DiploFoundation Jovan Kurbalija suggested that ‘Lac Leman can become the European Bay Area’. He explained: ‘With a unique blend of scientific, business, and policy institutions concentrated in a small space, Geneva can become a magnetic pool for the creative industry, think-tanks, and policy actors worldwide. The use of e-tools, including e-participation, can reinforce the local and physical relevance of Geneva, very much like what happened in the San Francisco Bay Area.’

During the first day, more than 100 participants conducted a real-life experiment in e-participation by having both presenters and participants both online and in situ. A particularly lively session was on the way how e-participation tools can help persons with disabilities. With close to a billion people with some form of disability, their inclusion in global policy is one of the important challenges of global policy. During the second day, the conference focused on ways to widen and broaden participation. It was also attended by the first ‘robot e-diplomat’.

The Geneva Engage Conference was organised by DiploFoundation and the Geneva Internet Platform (GIP) in co-operation and with the support of the Permanent Mission of Switzerland to the UN in Geneva, the Canton of Geneva, and with the support of ICANN.

Don't miss ...

• Visit the conference website. 
• Read the final report Menu for Innovative E-participation.
• Watch our video recordings and photo gallery.