Date:
Location:
Title:
Conflicts, challenges, cooperation and solutions – The UN in the 21st Century
Lecturer:
Michael Møller, Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG)
Language:
English
Collaboration with:
National Library of Greece
Synopsis of the lecture:
Canvassing the state of international relations, you can paint a plausible picture of the world on the brink of collapse: protracted conflicts, geopolitical tensions, rampant inequalities, and environmental disasters threaten to upend both our way of life and the political order that underpins it. However, considering that more people have risen out of extreme poverty than ever before and that on average humankind is living longer and healthier lives than at any time in the past, you can equally sketch out why we might just be living in the best of times. The Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva, Mr. Michael Møller, will explore how multilateral responses and international cooperation play a critical role in sustaining this progress while addressing the existential challenges of our time – and why the UN remains an indispensable instrument in these efforts.
Short bio of the lecturer:
Michael Møller is the 12th Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva (UN Geneva). He has over 38 years of experience as an international civil servant in the United Nations. He began his career in 1979 with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and worked for the United Nations in various capacities in New York, Mexico, Iran, Haiti, Cyprus and Geneva. In 1995-1997, he served as Senior Political Adviser to the Director-General of UN Geneva. Between 1997 and 2001, he was Head of the Office of the Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs at United Nations headquarters; between 2001 and 2006 he was Director for Political, Peacekeeping and Humanitarian Affairs in the Office of the Secretary-General, while serving concurrently as Deputy Chef de Cabinet of the Secretary-General for the last two years of that period. Mr. Møller also served as the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Cyprus from 2006 to 2008 and was the Executive Director of the Kofi Annan Foundation from 2008 to 2011. In recognition of his efforts to deepen public understanding of the vital role of the United Nations and its partners in Geneva, Mr. Møller received a series of prizes from the City of Geneva, the Union Suisse des Attachés de Presse and, most recently, the Fondation pour Genève. Born in 1952 in Copenhagen, Mr. Møller earned a Master’s degree in International Relations from Johns Hopkins University, United States, and a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations from the University of Sussex, United Kingdom.
Events Series 2018 is implemented under the auspices of H.E. the President of the Hellenic Republic Mr. Prokopios Pavlopoulos.
