The International Geneva Welcome Centre (CAGI) (Centre d'Accueil de la Genève Internationale) was launched in 1996 to guide, inform, and help integrate the community of international civil servants, and members of diplomatic missions, consulates, and non governmental organizations (including families), working in the Geneva region.
The CAGI is a private non-profit organisation, and recognised as being of public utility. It represents a partnership between the Swiss Confederation and the Canton of Geneva, cofounders, as well as between the public and private sectors.
The mission of the Centre is threefold:
- Offering practical assistance to newcomers - particularly with housing, schooling, and other issues - and answering the various questions internationals have throughout their stay in Geneva.
- Instructing, in collaboration with the appropriate authorities, the requests of international NGOs, wishing to set up an office in Geneva.
- Launching or supporting projects with a view to promote cultural and social exchanges between "International Geneva" and the local communities.
The CAGI has developed a number of top-quality services, and established itself as a much appreciated interlocutor for both international organisations and their staff and the private-sector organisations in Geneva it works with. In this way the International Geneva Welcome Centre makes a major contribution to raising Geneva's attractiveness as a hub of international co-operation.
