Speeches 2012
The Director-General is often invited to speak on the work of the Organization at conferences, seminars and other types of meetings as well as at opening of cultural events. Many of these speeches and statements are made available to the public.
All publicly available speeches and statements are listed in chronological order. If you wish to search for a particular topic and/or event, you can use the regular search function of the website.
Click here to see the speeches of the previous Director-General.
15 December 2012
Statement by the Director-General at the Fukushima Ministerial Conference on Nuclear Safety
12 December 2012
Remarks of the Director-General at the opening of the exhibition “The State of the World’s Refugees : In Search of Solidarity”
12 December 2012
Remarks by the Director-General at the High Commissioner’s Fifth Dialogue on Protection Challenges “Faith and Protection”
11 December 2012
Opening remarks by the Director-General at the Meeting with the Group of Friends of the Palais des Nations
10 December 2012
Remarks by the Director-General at the Reception to mark the award of the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize to the European Union
10 December 2012
Opening remarks by the Director-General at the 19th General Assembly of the Students’ League of Nations
6 December 2012
Opening remarks by the Director-General at the “Fête de l’Escalade de la Pastorale”
6 December 2012
Remarks of the Director-General to a seminar on Public-Private Partnership options in the renovation of public buildings
3 December 2012
Message from the Director-General at the “Charity Concert against Female Genital Mutilation"
3 December 2012
Statement by the Director-General at the 12th Meeting of the States Parties to the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti Personnel Mines and on their Destruction
27 November 2012
Remarks of the Director-General at the opening of the exhibitions “You See Me – I See You: Cultural Diversity in the eyes of the Roma” and “Roma Politics in Austria”, delivered by Mr. David Chikvaidze, Chief Librarian, UNOG.
21 November 2012
Opening Remarks by the Director-General at the UNOG-DCAF Special Discussion -
“Arab Spring and Democratization: the Role of Security Sector Reform”
19 November 2012
Remarks of the Director-General at the opening of the exhibition "United, We Count"
14 November 2012
Opening remarks by the Director-General at the UNOG Library Talks
“United Nations Development: the Case for Reform”
13 November 2012
Statement by the Director-General at the “Fissile Material Cut-Off Treaty:
Progress and Challenges” Conference.
9 November 2012
Remarks by the Director-General at the Peacebuilding Platform Annual Meeting
“Operationalizing Resilience in Peacebuilding Contexts: Approaches, Lessons, Action Points”
8 November 2012
Opening Remarks by the Director-General at the Cyber Security Conference UNIDIR 2012
8 November 2012
Remarks by the Director-General at the British-Swiss Chamber of Commerce Breakfast.
29 October 2012
Opening remarks by the Director-General at the Conference of Burundi’s Development Partners – opening session
25 October 2012
Lecture by the Director-General
24 October 2012
Remarks of the Director-General to the Geneva International Model United Nations (GIMUN), delivered by Mr. Joshua Lincoln, Chef de Cabinet, Office of the Director-General
19 October 2012
Remarks of the Director-General at the OSCE Focus 2012 Conference
17 October 2012
Opening remarks of the Director-General at the 10th anniversary of Switzerland's membership in the United Nations
15 October 2012
Remarks of the Director-General at the Exchange with the High Representative for Disarmament Affairs and other high-level officials in the field of arms control and disarmament
12 October 2012
Remarks of the Director-General at the receipt of the 2012 University Medal
on behalf of the United Nations Office at Geneva, given by the University of Geneva.
12 October 2012
Remarks of the Director-General at an event marking the International Day for Disaster Reduction
11 October 2012
Remarks of the Director-General at the opening of the exhibition “The Role of Cooperatives in Food Security”, organized by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization on the occasion of World Food Day.
10 October 2012
Remarks of the Director-General at the Briefing by the Mexican Presidency of the G-20
9 October 2012
Remarks of the Director-General at the opening of the exhibition “L’homme. Son habitat. Ses croyances.”, organized by the Permanent Mission of Romania and the Permanent Observer Mission of the Council of Europe.
4 October 2012
Remarks of the Director-General at the opening of the exhibition "A new Afghanistan through Afghan eyes”
3 October 2012
Remarks of the Director-General at the opening of the performance of "Colorful Yunnan", organized by the Permanent Mission of China.
3 October 2012
The remarks of the Director-General at the opening of the exhibition “20 Years of Croatia in the United Nations” and the unveiling of a plaque commemorating the donation of the Croatian Government to the Palais des Nations on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the United Nations.
2 October 2012
Remarks of the Director-General at the opening of the theatre performance "La véritable apologie de Socrate
1 October 2012
Remarks of the Director-General at the opening of the exhibition "Roads" delivered by Ms. Sylvie Jacque, Officer-in-Charge, UNOG Library
1 October 2012
Remarks of the Director-General at the opening of the exhibition "Building the Future We Want", organized by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe.
28 September 2012
Remarks of the Director-General for the closing of the exhibition "Children, Migration and Family", delivered by Ms. Corinne Momal-Vanian, Director, United Nations Information Service
21 September 2012
Remarks of the Director-General at the commemoration of the International Day of Peace.
21 September 2012
Remarks of the Director-General at the seminar “Placing inclusiveness at the heart of peacebuilding? Limits and opportunities”, held on the occasion of the International Day of Peace.
15 September 2012
Remarks of the Director-General at United Nations "Open Day 2012"
14 September 2012
Remarks of the Director-General to the American International Club on "Current Challenges Facing the United Nations"
11 September 2012
Remarks of the Director-General upon the presentation of a gift of artwork from the Government of the Slovak Republic.
1 September 2012
Remarks of the Director-General at the launch of the Green Cross International photo exhibit:
‘Give Humanity a Chance, Give the Earth a Future’, delivered on the Director-General’s behalf by the Director of the Library of the United Nations Office at Geneva, Mr. David A. Chikvaidze
21 August 2012
Remarks of the Director-General at a panel discussion, held as part of the commemoration of World Humanitarian Day.
21 August 2012
Remarks of the Director-General during the commemoration of World Humanitarian Day 2012, unveiling of the plaque. (as prepared)
1 August 2012
Director-General's remarks at the traditional brunch hosted by the State Council of the Republic and Canton of Geneva on the occasion of the national day of Switzerland
31 July 2012
Director-General's remarks at the donation of a painting to the UNOG art collection
13 July 2012
Remarks of the Director-General to the Closing Ceremony of the 50th Graduate Study Programme – ‘Opportunities and challenges in a world of 7 billion’
2 July 2012
Keynote address of the Director-General at the “Training Course on Disarmament and Weapons of Mass Destruction” organized by the Geneva Centre for Security Policy
29 June 2012
Remarks of the Director-General to the African Group Initiative – “Urgent Appeal for the Sahel”
28 June 2012
Remarks of the Director-General at the inauguration of the Hans Erni fresco at the Place des Nations (in French)
26 June 2012
Remarks of the Director-General at the ceremony "La Vigne des Nations" (in French)
20 June 2012
Remarks of the Director-General at the Library Talks conference on "Volunteerism: Avenue for Social Transformation"
20 June 2012
Remarks of the Director-General at the World Economic Forum’s Global Leadership Fellows Programme
19 June 2012
Remarks of the Director-General at the opening of the exhibition "Women, Water and Wells".
19 June 2012
Remarks of the Director-General at the Library Talks event “Ninety years after the Åland Islands Settlement – Challenges and Prospects for Peace Mediation”
15 June 2012
Opening and Closing remarks of the Director-General at the panel discussion “20 Years of ‘An Agenda for Peace’: a New Vision for Conflict Prevention?”, organized by UNOG and the Geneva Peacebuilding Platform.
12 June 2012
(in French and English) Remarks of the Director-General at the concert and reception on the occasion of the 2012 International Media Seminar on Peace in the Middle East, organized by the UN Department of Public Information in cooperation with the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs.
11 June 2012
Remarks of the Director-General at the 7th edition of the Geneva Lecture Series with Mr. Carlos Slim Helú
6 June 2012
Remarks of the Director-General on Russian Language Day, as drafted. (in Russian)
5 June 2012
Remarks of the Director-General and message of the Secretary-General on the occasion of World Environment Day 2012.
4 June 2012
Remarks of the Director-General at the opening of the exhibition “Art rupestre: une lecture de la préhistoire” (in French and English)
29 May 2012
Remarks of the Director-General at the panel discussion 'Peacekeeping as a Global Partnership', and delivery of the message of the UN Secretary-General on the occasion of the International Day of UN Peacekeepers. The remarks were delivered by Mr. Joshua Lincoln, Chef de Cabinet, Office of the Director-General.
29 May 2012
Remarks of the Director-General on the International Day of UN Peacekeepers, delivered by Mr. Joshua Lincon, Chef de Cabinet. (in French and English)
22 May 2012
Remarks of the Director-General at "Sueños", a performance by Ecuadorian children, highlighting human rights for people with disabilities.
21 May 2012
Delivery of the Secretary-General's message at the Sixty-fifth World Health Assembly
16 May 2012
Delivery of the UN Secretary-General's message by the Director-General on the occasion of World Telecommunication and Information Society Day
15 May 2012
Remarks of the Director-General at the town hall meeting with staff of the United Nations Office at Geneva.
14 May 2012
Delivery of the Secretary-General's message at the WSIS Forum 2012
1 May 2012
Remarks of the Director-General and Message of the Secretary-General at the Opening session of the general meeting on cooperation between the United Nations and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation
30 April 2012
(in French and English) Remarks of the Director-General at the round table "Multilingualism in International Organizations: Information and Communication in a Globalized World".
26 April 2012
Remarks by the Director-General at the International Seminar on "Assessing the prospects for the implementation of Article VI of the NPT
24 April 2012
Remarks by the Director-General at the exhibition entitled "UN.IT - UNESCO Italia"
20 April 2012
Remarks of the Director-General at the Celebration of Chinese Language Day
17 April 2012
Remarks of the Director-General at the event entitled "The Human Cost of Military Spending"
16 April 2012
Remarks by the Director-General at the exhibition entitled "Koloman Sokol - The Life of an Artist in Exile"
10 April 2012
Remarks of the Director-General at the commemoration of the International Day of Reflection on the 1994 Genocide in Rwanda
4 April 2012
Remarks by the Director-General at the International Congress on Energy Security
29 March 2012
The message of the Director-General at the opening session of the annual conference on space security organized by the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR).
8 March 2012
Remarks of the Director-General at the exhibition entitled "Soul Gazers: Engaging Men for the Abandonment of Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting"
8 March 2012
Director-General's opening remarks at the reception hosted by Save a Child's Heart Switzerland
1 March 2012
Director-General's opening remarks at the music performance entitled "Breaking the Rules by Signmark"
1 March 2012
Remarks of the Director-General at the Launch of the "Lend Your Leg" 2012 Campaign
1 March 2012
Remarks by the Director-General at the Opening Session of the Governing Council of the Community of Democracies
29 February 2012
Remarks by the Director-General at the exhibition entitled "Václav Havel, Playwright, Human Rights Defender, Statesman"
28 February 2012
Remarks by the Director-General at the exhibition entitled "Aboriginal Dreamtime"
27 February 2012
Remarks by the Director-General at the exhibition of photographs entitled "London 2012 - Rio 2016 - Transformation Through Sport"
27 February 2012
Remarks by the Director-General at the exhibition entitled "La Edad de la Inocencia: Recuerdos de un tiempo pasado"
23 February 2012
Remarks of the Director-General at the "Human Writes” performance-installation danse
21 February 2012
Lecture by the Director-General entitled "Conflict Prevention: Challenges and Opportunities for the United Nations"
14 February 2012
Opening remarks by the Director-General at the exhibition "Fashioning Future History: 80th Anniversary of the World Disarmament Conference"
14 February 2012
Remarks by the Director-General to the plenary meeting of the Conference on Disarmament
6 February 2012
Remarks by the Director-General at the panel discussion on the Secretary-General's High-level Panel on Global Sustainability
31 January 2012
Remarks by the Director-General at the International Day of Commemoration in memory of the Victims of the Holocaust
24 January 2012
Message of the United Nations Secretary-General, Mr. Ban Ki-moon, to the Conference on Disarmament, delivered by the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva at its first plenary meeting of 2012.
23 January 2012
Remarks by the Director-General at Interpeace's Annual Advisory Council Meeting Partners Forum
19 January 2012
Remarks by the Director-General at the Public Discussion at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy "The Changing Nature of International Partnerships: Perspectives of the Heads of OSCE and UNOG"
12 January 2012
Opening remarks by the Director-General at the "World Food Programme - Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: Five decades of partnership" Exhibition
10 January 2012
Opening remarks by the Director-General at the "Chinese New Year Celebration"