United Nations (Geneva)
This section of the guide documents organizations within the UN system that have
archives in Geneva. With its history of playing host to international organizations, it is no
surprise that Geneva has many archives of internationalism. Further Geneva archives can
be found in the section of the guide on NGOs.
Table of Contents
United Nations Office at Geneva
League of Nations
UN High Commissioner for Refugees
International Labour Organization
World Health Organization
International Telecommunications Union
World Intellectual Property Office
1
2
3
4
5
5
6
United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG)
http://www.unog.ch/80256EE60057D930/%28httpPages%29/BB9628CFC1EA7B3EC12
56F8000562305?OpenDocument
Geneva, Switzerland
UNESCO/ICA Guide:
http://www.unesco.org/archives/sio/Eng/presentation.php?idOrg=1035.
Address:
UNOG Library
UNOG Archives
Palais des Nations
CH–1211 Geneva 10
Switzerland
Phone:
General Enquiries: (00) 41 22 917 41 81
UNOG Enquiries: (00) 41 22 917 27 81
Fax:
(00) 41 22 917 06 67
Email:
libraryarchives@unog.ch; Contact form
Hours:
Library:
Monday – Friday, 8.30am – 5.30pm
Archives Reading Room: Monday – Friday, 9am – 12am, 2pm – 5pm
Closed:
Holidays and UN holidays
The UNOG Archive is not held in the UNOG Library. It is situated in the Secretariat
wing of the Palais des Nations, on the first underground level at Door 6, Office PN 080.
Readers should contact the library before arrival. All readers must have valid ID (ID card,
passport, driving license, etc.), a student card, and a letter of recommendation from their
university or research institute. Notes on how to get to the library can be found here.
The Archives contains three collections: the UNOG Registry Collection (1946-1973); the
UNOG Registry Collection (1973- ); and the Records Retirement Collections (1946- ).
The latter covers records of the UNOG Secretariat; the Office of the High
Commissioner for Human Rights; the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs; the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development; and the
Conference on Disarmament. Resource guides are available onsite, and a fuller list of
holdings can be found here.
Online Catalogue:
http://biblio-archive.unog.ch/suchinfo.aspx
‘How to’ for
catalogue: http://www.unog.ch/80256EE60057D930/%28httpPages%29/D8C869E342
F8D3EDC12570C000572B2D?OpenDocument
League of Nations
http://www.unog.ch/80256EE60057D930/%28httpPages%29/775F57EE7B39FC0D8025
6EF8005048A6?OpenDocument
Geneva, Switzerland
UNESCO/ICA Guide:
http://www.unesco.org/archives/sio/Eng/presentation.php?idOrg=1024
Address:
UNOG Library
League of Nations Archives
Palais des Nations
CH–1211 Geneva 10
Switzerland
Phone:
General Enquiries:
(00) 41 22 917 41 81
League Enquiries:
(00) 41 22 917 41 93
Fax:
(00) 41 22 917 07 46
Email:
libraryarchives@unog.ch; Contact form
Hours: Library: Monday – Friday, 8.30am – 5.30pm
Archives: Monday – Friday, 8.30am – 12.30pm, 1.30pm – 5.30pm
Closed:
Holidays and UN holidays
The League of Nations Archives Reading Room is located on the third floor of the
UNOG Library, in room B 332. Readers should contact the library before arrival. All
readers must have valid ID (ID card, passport, driving license, etc.), a student card, and a
letter of recommendation from their university or research institute. Notes on how to get
to the library can be found here.
The archive contains 3,000 linear metres records of the League as well as peace
movements and international relations from the end of the nineteenth century onwards. It
contains the original files of the Secretariat and the files of the Commission, included
files concerning the Financial Reconstruction of Austria and Hungary; the Saar
Governing Commission; the Mixed Commission for the Exchange of Greek and
Turkish Populations; the Upper Silesia Mixed Commission; the Refugees Mixed
Archives Group; and the files of the Economic and Financial Section of the Secretariat
based at Princeton. It also contains private papers of officials and delegates, including
Secretaries-General, as well as those of peace campaigners and the International Peace
Bureau. The archive also holds documents and official publications of the League, as
well as working papers and minutes,
The archive holds a visual collection documenting peace movements; League
personalities, delegates, actions, and the Palais des Nations; caricatures and posters; and
the original interior designs of the Palais des Nations. An online League photo database
can be found at http://www.indiana.edu/~league/.
Online Catalogue:
http://biblio-archive.unog.ch/suchinfo.aspx; ‘How to’ Guide
UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
http://www.unhcr.org/pages/49da066c6.html
Geneva, Switzerland
UNESCO/ICA Guide:
http://www.unesco.org/archives/sio/Eng/presentation.php?idOrg=1032
Address:
Phone:
Email:
UNHCR Archives
94 Rue de Montbrillant
CH–1202 Geneva
Switzerland
(00) 41 22 739 81 11 (switchboard)
archives@unhcr.org
Hours:
Monday – Friday, 9am – 1pm
The archives of the UNHCR maintain an outstanding website, through which all
necessary information can be found.
The archives are split into three sections, all detailed folder by folder on the website with
links to individual finding aids: the Headquarters Fonds, in which even more interesting
files up to 1970 have recently been declassified in Fonds 11; the Field Fonds, containing
reports from field offices around the world; and the External Fonds, containing some
private papers and files relating to other UN agencies. UNHCR are increasingly adding
sources that can be viewed online. Currently these are available for Algeria, Sudan, and
Cyprus.
In order to protect privacy, especially that of individual refugees, all files are closed by
default, but opened on application according to the access policy. Files are reviewed by
UNHCR archival staff before research is allowed. To use the files, and before visiting the
library, researchers must fill in the Document Request Form, indicating material in order
of priority, and simultaneously complete a Research Application Form. These must be
sent to the archives with proposed dates of research, with at least two weeks’s notice.
Research Regulations:
http://www.unhcr.org/4c2b092d9.html
International Labour Organization (ILO)
http://www.ilo.org/public/english/support/lib/about/index.htm;
http://www.ilo.org/public/english/century/information_resources/ilo_archives.htm
Geneva, Switzerland
UNESCO/SIO Guide:
http://www.unesco.org/archives/sio/Eng/presentation.php?idOrg=1019
Address:
Phone:
Fax:
Email:
Hours:
Closed:
Historical Archives
International Labour Office (ILO)
4, Routes des Morillons
CH 1211 Geneva 22
Switzerland
General:
(00) 41 22 799 81 06
Reading Room: (00) 41 22 799 78 57
(00) 41 22 798 86 85
archives@ilo.org
Monday – Friday, 9am – 12am, 2pm – 5pm (by appointment only)
Room R2-38
Holidays
The ILO Archives serve as a repository for both Headquarters and Field Offices. They
are accessible after thirty years, with permission from the Archives and after contact has
been made.
The Archives contain around 70,000 files pre-1947, and over 200,000 files up to 1978.
There are also special collections for each of the ILO’s Directors and Directors-General,
as well as the private papers of C. Wilfred Jenks, photographic and audiovisual
collections, and the records of the International Labour Office (Basel, 1890-1919). The
ILO Library also has a strong collection of historical books and records on labour.
The ILO has begun its own History Project, the ILO Century Project, which has held
meetings and started and Oral History Project. The Archives have also assembled a
photographic history of the ILO, entitled ‘Seeking Peace by Cultivating Justice: A
photographic history of the ILO’, downloadable as a .pdf.
The ILO Library also maintains a selective bibliography of works written about the
organization.
Historical
Collections: http://www.ilo.org/public/english/support/lib/about/collect/historical.htm
World Health Organization (WHO)
http://www.who.int/archives/en/
Geneva, Switzerland
UNESCO/SIO Guide:
http://www.unesco.org/archives/sio/Eng/presentation.php?idOrg=1037
Address:
Phone:
World Health Organization
Records and Archives
Avenue Appia 20
1211 Geneva 27
Switzerland
(00) 41 22 791 21 11 (switchboard)
Hours:
Monday – Friday, 9am – 12am, 2pm – 4pm
The archives of the World Health Organization are based in Geneva. Access is by
written request, by filling in the Electronic research/information request form.
The Archives contain documents from the WHO’s history as well as the League of
Nations Health Section (copies of files held at the League of Nations Archive in Geneva),
sound recordings, videos, stamps, and oral histories. There is also potential for contact
with WHO’s regional offices, both through the central archives and the offices
themselves.
The WHO archives maintain an excellent website, and scholars are advised to consult it
before making further enquiries.
Fonds:
http://www.who.int/archives/fonds_collections/bytitle/en/index.html
(some with online finding aids)
Special
collections: http://www.who.int/archives/fonds_collections/special/en/index.html
Fonds by
theme: http://www.who.int/archives/fonds_collections/bysubject/en/index.html
Photo galleries: http://www.who.int/archives/exhibits/galleries/en/index.html
Links:
http://www.who.int/archives/links/en/
Regional offices: http://www.who.int/about/regions/en/index.html
International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
http://www.itu.int/library/
Geneva, Switzerland
UNESCO/SIO
Guide: http://www.unesco.org/archives/sio/Eng/presentation.php?idOrg=1022
Address:
Phone:
Fax:
Email:
International Telecommunication Union
Library and Archives Service
Place des Nations
CH–1211 Geneva 20
Switzerland
(00) 41 22 730 67 70
(00) 41 22 730 53 26
archives@itu.int
Hours:
Monday – Friday, 9am – 5pm
The archives of the International Telecommunication Union hold material dating back
to 1865, and are held at the ITU headquarters at the Place des Nations in Geneva. The
Reading Room is on the sixth floor of the Montbrillant building, and valid ID is required
for entry. Potential researchers should fill in a Researcher Registration Form at least one
week prior to arrival. Access is by appointment only. Researchers unable to travel to
Geneva, or requiring minimal documents, should fill in the Reference Request Form.
The archive’s documents are held under a 30-year rule. There is no online finding aid, but
the holdings document the activities and administration of the ITU, and include a series
of world and regional maps showing the extent of telecommunications networks between
1875 and 1930.
The ITU has begun a history project, the ITU History Portal, which showcases some
digitized documents.
Access rules:
http://www.itu.int/library/Requests/Access_archives.html
ITU News article: http://www.itu.int/library/BIBAR_ITU-NEWS_article-E.pdf
World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)
http://www.wipo.int/library/en/index.html
Geneva, Switzerland
UNESCO/SIO
Guide: http://www.unesco.org/archives/sio/Eng/presentation.php?idOrg=1038
Address:
Phone:
Fax:
Email:
35, Chemin des Colombettes
1211 Geneva 20
Switzerland
(00) 41 22 338 8573
(00) 41 22 338 8590
Contact form
Hours:
Monday – Friday, 9am – 6pm
In addition to 35,000 monographs relating to intellectual property rights, the WIPO
Library also holds an historical collection. This details international conferences –
perhaps back to the signing of the Berne Convention – with minutes, and so on. Potential
researchers are advised to contact the library directly.
Many of the files relating to WIPO have been looked after by the Swiss government.
Though WIPO is the best place to find out more, a link to the Swiss Federal Archive is
provided below.
Swiss Federal Archive: http://www.bar.admin.ch/org/index.html?lang=en
Hours:
http://www.bar.admin.ch/archivgut/00941/00942/index.html?lang=en