Conference Management

The digital recordings of all "public" meetings can be accessed in all official languages on a dedicated portal online. The site allows for searches by date and key word. Thereafter, the audio language and requested segment of the meeting can be selected. The "floor" option will provide the recording of the original language in which the intervention was made, whereas the other languages will provide access to the interpretation. Only the intervention in the original language constitutes an authentic record of the proceedings. Please visit the web page for accessing recordings of meetings. Live webcast access is available in the original language that the intervention is being made, as well as in English (as broadcast from the interpretation booth). Please also check the web page for UN Web TV .

The Division of Conference Management of the United Nations Office at Geneva serves primarily conferences and meetings for the United Nations bodies and its Programmes, Funds, Regional Commissions, and Specialized Agencies. Non-governmental organizations, and other organizations with special status, are also allowed to host meetings at the Palais des Nations.

In United Nations terms,

(a) a standing body, usually established by the General Assembly, devoted to the study of a particular topic, with a permanent secretariat unit linked to it, e.g. the Conference on Disarmament, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development,

(b) a formal time-limited gathering - often called a special conference - of Governments and observers established by the General Assembly (A/CONF) or the Economic and Social Council (E/CONF) to examine a particular topic and to report thereon, e.g. the International Conference on Population and Development, the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development,

(c) a session, usually annual or biennial, of States parties to a Convention, e.g. the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change or the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in Those Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, Particularly in Africa.

A meeting is a gathering of two or more persons for three or fewer hours in sequence (one of a series of meetings during a session) during which a legislative, administrative or deliberative body occupies a conference room and/or a space on a meeting platform and requires some conference services. 

UN Geneva provides support only for a limited number of selected mandated sessions outside the UN Geneva premises.