Series G.XIV 02 - Conference on Non-Governmental Organizations & Committees

With the creation of the United Nations in 1945, the dissolution and the liquidation of the League of Nations in 1946, the League of Nations Headquarters in Geneva, the Palais des Nations, became the United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG).
However, this official name has changed many times before being formally established:

• from August 1946 to April 1947 : "United Nations Geneva Office" (in French "Bureau de Genève" Circulaire d'Information du Bureau de Genève, Doc. IC/Genève/1);
• from April 1947 to August 1948: "European Office of the United Nations" (in French "Office Européen des Nations Unies");
• from August 1948 to August 1949: "United Nations Office at Geneva" (in French " Office des Nations Unies à Genève") (IC/Geneva 152)
• from August 1949 to January 1966: "European Office of the United Nations", (in French "Office Européen des Nations Unies") (SGB/82/Rev. 1)
• from 1 February 1966, "United Nations Office at Geneva", (in French "Office des Nations Unies à Genève") (ST/SGB/128/Corr. 1 du 9 fév. 1966)

Main Functions

The main functions of UNOG, as defined from 1946 to 1973, can be summarized as follows:

• to serve as a centre for United Nations meetings in Europe;
• to serve as a seat for the Economic Commission for Europe (ECE), the Permanent Central Opium Board (PCOB), and the Narcotic Drug Supervisory Body (NDSB);
• to provide office space and conference facilities to Specialized Agencies;
• to ensure the establishment of common services at Geneva;
• to undertake other activities as requested by Headquarters.
  (Secretary General's Bulletin SGB/82 dated 1 July 1948)

These functions developped with the different reorganisations.

In 1966, the UNOG got new functions. Among them :

• to serve as a seat for the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
• to represent the Secretary-General concerning relationships with the specialized agencies in Europe, as well as the International Atomic energy Agency. (ST/SGB/131 Oct 1966)
  As a result, the scope of these functions was enlarged between 1946 and 1973. Besides being the headquarters of ECE, the Division of Narcotic Drugs, the Joint Secretariat of Permanent Central Opium Board (PCOB) and Narcotic Drug Supervisory Body (NDSB), and the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, it also housed the Division of Social Affairs, the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD) which was created in 1963, and the International Bureau for Declaration of Death of Missing Persons (IBD) since 1953. It was also the headquarters for the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) since 1951 and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) since 1966.
  The United Nations Social Defence Research Institute (UNSDRI), created in 1972 and located in Rome, was administratively attached to the Office of the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva.