UNITED NATIONS DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL INAUGURATES PALAIS WILSON
Press Release
DSG/2
HR/4364
UNITED NATIONS DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL INAUGURATES PALAIS WILSON
19980605 GENEVA, 5 June (UN Information Service) -- United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Louise Frechette today officially received the Palais Wilson from the President of the Swiss Confederation, Flavio Cotti, and inaugurated the building as the new headquarters for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the secretariat of the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction.This morning, Mr. Cotti, Ms. Frechette, Mary Robinson -- the High Commissioner for Human Rights -- and prominent human rights activists from around the world participated in a discussion at the Palais Wilson on "Human Rights -- an Instrument for Peace". This was followed by an encounter with the press. Then Ms. Frechette cut the ribbon, officially inaugurating the building, and a lunch was held for 1,000 persons to conclude the ceremony.
The Palais Wilson was build in 1875 as a luxury hotel on the banks of Lake Leman. In 1924, it was renamed the Palais Wilson in honour of former United States President Woodrow Wilson and became the first headquarters of the League of Nations. In 1936, the League's offices moved to the newly built Palais des Nations, which today houses the Geneva headquarters of the United Nations.
After a period as government offices and two damaging fires in the mid- 1980s, the Palais Wilson has been restored to its former splendor at a cost to the Swiss Government of close to $50 million. The building has been given to the United Nations as a contribution by Switzerland to the work of the Organization. From August this year, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the secretariat of the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction will be based in the building.
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