Switzerland celebrates 20 years of UN Membership

Local news, 10.09.2022

Swiss President Ignazio Cassis inaugurated a 1:25 model of the Palais des Nations in Melide, Ticino, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Switzerland joining the United Nations.

La Directrice générale de l'ONU à Genève, Tatiana Valovaya, et le Président de la Confédération, Ignazio Cassis, devant le modèle réduit du Palais des Nations à Melide (TI).

The model is over 11 meters long, weighs over a metric ton an demanded over 4,000 hours of work. It is a detailed reproduction of the historical building that hosted the League of Nations and, since 1945, the European Headquarters of the UN. The diplomatic corps accredited in Switzerland and the Director-General of the UN in Geneva gathered around the Swiss President for the ceremony.

"The Palais des Nations is both a painful memory and a sign of hope", the Swiss President said, referring to the League of Nations and also to the fact that multilateralism was able to adapt and create solutions throughout history.

Former Heads of Government Joseph Deiss, Ruth Dreifuss et Luigi Pedrazzini remember these days that changed the international profile of Switzerland.

Switzerland, Host State and Member State, is also called home by over a thousand UN staff. 

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Press releases, 23.05.2022

At the World Economic Forum 2022 in Davos, the Geneva Day focused on the future of work, digital trust, and new technologies.

President Cassis stands at the lectern and speaks. In the background is a blue wall with "World Economic Forum" written on it.
President Cassis at the WEF 2022 in Davos © WEF

Geneva Day covered new technologies at the service of humanity, because digital innovation has shown time and again how new technologies can help humanity to address the challenges of today and tomorrow; the future of work, because in a post-COVID wolrd, geopolitical and economic pressures may create new social tensions and crack open long existing ones; and pioneering digital trust - a commitment for the future, because the digital transformation has profound ethical implications and calls for concrete solutions for a human-centered digital transformation of the future.