The UN

     The United Nations. A global institution that that hosts an impressive array of humanitarian groups and committees. Most people who come to Geneva come to work or see the UN and, appropriately, the buildings and the grounds took up a large portion of the city where we were living. The security was as comprehensive as any airport, more so since we had to wear identity badges. Whoever had paid the bills (as it turns out, mostly Spain) had spared no expense. The many chambers of the new wing were grand and beautifully decorated. Artwork donated from various countries lined the walls. Peacocks wandered the lush, carefully maintained grass. The cafeteria offered a variety of familiar and ethnic dishes. Like all of Switzerland the entire place was disturbingly clean. Needless to say we were impressed by our tour.
      But I had come to Switzerland witha difficult question on my lips, and the shiny interior did nothing to address my worries that the United Nations had become disconnected from the problems we were sure to see first hand during the rest of our trip. They say that once three Swiss are gathered a meeting is sure to follow, and a committee follows. We saw first hand the truth of this. Over a series of one hour presentations we heard from representatives from the UN council on human rights, the UNDP (United Nations Development Progrramme), the WFP, and OCHA. As one speaker joked, they like their abbreviations. There was a good deal of positive news from these meetings. They had measured progress to report after explaining the roles of their organizations, and almost every presenter mentioned their contribution to achieving the MDG's (Millinnium Development Goals, designed to improve health and decrease poverty by 2015). However most of these sessions was still someone in a suit spouting facts, figures, and statistics. The most encouraging was our visit to the World Food Program. The lady who spoke to us gave it straight, she told us the scope of the problem and the limits of the organization. She explained that they moved office every 4 years, that 90 of their employees were in the field, and of those working in the office almost all had been on site several times in their life. She told of her own experiences, telling us about a riot she had witnessed during a food distribution. She said she could not be expected to do her job if she became disconnected from the problem, and that she bated being in Switzerland doing logistics but someone had to do it. This was exactly what I needed to hear. Perhaps there is hope after all.

 -JT