geneva-paris st report 2009

Study Trip Report

of our visit to the International Organisations in Geneva and Paris

02nd

– 10th

May 2009

Export-Oriented Management

Export 2006

Hospitality kindly provided by:

DISCLAIMER

This study trip report contains information that is based on minutes taken by

students of IMC FH Krems and is intended as a summary of what has been

said and discussed during the meetings at the International Organisations

that were visited. The reader is cautioned that these minutes

may be subject to errors stemming from misunderstandings or

misperceptions on the part of the students.

Therefore, any quotation from this text is discouraged.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

At this point we would like to acknowledge all the people who made this unique study trip,

which no other university in Austria has ever conducted, possible. First and foremost, we

would like to express our gratitude to Prof. Dr. Anis Bajrektarevic, Chairperson for

International Law and Global Political Studies at the IMC University of Applied Sciences

Krems. Besides many in-house visits of speakers from all over the world, and several visits

to all relevant organisations in Vienna (UN, OSCE, EC) he initiated and organized this

special event for the 4th

consecutive time. We do deeply appreciate all the time and effort

Prof. Bajrektarevic invested throughout the past months. Without his personal reputation

and contacts, none of us would have had the chance to benefit from such a diverse and

highly informative programme.

Secondly, we are very grateful for the work of the organisation team – Natalie Plewa,

Anton Werner and Markus Traxler – both prior to and during the study trip. Smajo Pasalic

– class representative of Export 2006 – deserves to be given special credit as well, as he

not only generated a significant amount from the Austrian Students Union, but also

brokered access to the special funds of the Austrian Federal Ministry of Science and

Research.

Due tribute goes likewise to each and every organizer and speaker of all visited Geneva

and Paris entities and International Organisations. Moreover, we thank Ms. Cristina

Kokkinakis, Deputy Mission Head, and H.E. Ambassador Helene Steinhäusl for the warm

welcome, as well as Dr. Fischler for his surprise visit in Paris. To conclude with, we would

also like to express our gratitude to all the sponsors for their support, be it financial or in

kind.

We also thank Weingut Müllner, Printshop Krems and Dr. Lothar Hofmann.

Thank you all for your

kind support!

TABLE OF CONTENT

1 Introduction 1

2 Timetable 3

3 Destinations 7

3.1 Geneva 7

3.2 Paris 9

4 Monday, May 4th 2009 10

4.1 United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) 10

4.1.1 General Information 10

4.1.2 History 11

4.1.3 Functions 13

4.1.4 Decision Making Bodies 13

4.1.4.1 The Conference 13

4.1.4.2 Trade and Development Board 13

4.1.5 Creative Economy 14

4.1.6 UNCTAD XI 17

4.1.7 Question & Answer Session 17

4.1.8 Internship Opportunities 18

4.2 United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) 19

4.2.1 The Organisation and its Purpose 19

4.2.2 The History of the UNECE 20

4.2.3 Programmes of the UNECE 21

4.2.3.1 Environmental Policy 21

4.2.3.2 Housing and Land Management 21

4.2.3.3 Statistics 21

4.2.3.4 Sustainable Energy 22

4.2.3.5 Trade 22

4.2.3.6 Economic Cooperation and Integration 22

4.2.3.7 Timber 22

4.2.3.8 Transport 23

4.2.3.9 Technical Cooperation 23


4.3 United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG) 24

4.4 International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) 27

4.4.1 History 27

4.4.2 Structure of the ICRC 28

4.4.3 Mandate and Mission of the ICRC 29

4.4.4 Activities of the ICRC 29

4.4.5 Museum of the ICRC in Geneva 30

4.4.6 Internship/Employment Opportunities 32

4.5 World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) 34

4.5.1 Historical Development 34

4.5.2 Core Tasks and Aims 34

4.5.3 Decision Making Bodies 36



5 Tuesday, May 5th 2009 40

5.1 International Telecommunication Union (ITU) 40

5.1.1 Historical Background 40

5.1.2 Mission & Main Activities 41

5.1.3 Legal Framework 42

5.1.4 Membership 42

5.1.5 Decision Making Bodies and Process 42

5.1.6 Presentation and Discussion 43


5.2 International Labour Organisation (ILO) 46

5.2.1 The Organisation 46

5.2.2 History 47

5.2.3 Structure 48

5.2.4 Scope of Work 49


5.3 Special Action Program to Combat Forced Labour 51

5.3.1 Forced Labour and Human Trafficking 51

5.3.2 Key Figures 51

5.3.3 ILO‟s Strategies to Combat Forced Labour 52

5.3.4 The Challenges Ahead 53



5.4 Austrian Mission to the International Organisations in Geneva 56

5.4.1 Introduction 56

5.4.2 Tasks of the Austrian Mission in Geneva 58

5.4.3 Briefing on the New Influenza 58

5.4.4 Representing Austria at the World Trade Organization 59

5.4.5 Thematic Focus on Human Rights 61

5.4.6 Humanitarian Affairs 62


5.4.8 Reception 65

6 Wednesday, May 6th 2009 67

6.1 Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) 67

6.1.1 History 68

6.1.2 General Overview 68

6.1.3 Aims 69

6.1.4 Organisation 69

6.1.4.1 The Council 69

6.1.4.2 Committees 69

6.1.4.3 The Secretariat 70



6.2 Permanent Delegation of Austria to the OECD 71

6.2.1 Role and Responsibilities of the Austrian Mission 71



6.3 International Energy Agency (IEA) 73

6.3.1 General Information 73

6.3.2 Key Areas of Work 75

6.3.3 Future Trends 75



7 Thursday, May 7th 2009 79

7.1 International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) 79

7.1.1 The ICC and the Department of Policy and Business Practice 80

7.1.1.1 Question & Answer Session 82

7.1.2 ICC International Court of Arbitration, Secretariat & Arbitration Rules 82

7.1.3 ADR, Expertise and Dispute Boards 83


7.1.4 ICC Events Department and ICC Institute of World Business Law 84

7.1.5 Presentation of the World Chambers Federation (WCF) 85



7.2 United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) 87

7.2.1 History 89

7.2.2 Fields of Activities 89

7.2.2.1 Education 90

7.2.2.2 Natural Sciences 90

7.2.2.3 Social and Human Sciences 90

7.2.2.4 Culture 90

7.2.2.5 Communication and Information 90

7.2.3 The Millennium Development Goals and Water 90

7.2.4 Governing Bodies 91

7.2.4.1 General Conference 91

7.2.4.2 The Executive Board 91

7.2.5 Permanent Delegation of Austria to the UNESCO 92

7.2.6 Austria‟s Presence in UNESCO Bodies: 92


8 Friday, May 8th 2009 (Organizations Planned but not Visited) 95

8.1 The World Bank Group (WB) 95

8.1.1 The Structure of the World Bank Group 95

8.1.2 Organisation 96

8.1.3 Millennium Development Goals (to be Achieved by 2015) 96

8.1.4 Decision Making Authority 96

8.1.4.1 President of the World Bank 96

8.1.4.2 Board of Executive Directors 97

8.1.4.3 Board of Governors 97

8.1.5 Roles 97

8.1.5.1 The World Bank as a Lender 97

8.1.5.2 The World Bank as a Knowledge Broker 98

8.1.5.3 The World Bank as a Gatekeeper to Development Finance 98

8.1.6 Lending Instruments 98

8.1.6.1 Investment Loans 98

8.1.6.2 Adjustment Lending and other Non-Project Lending 99

8.1.7 World Bank Guarantees 99

8.1.8 The Structure of the World Bank Group 99

8.1.8.1 International Bank for Reconstruction and Development 99

8.1.8.2 International Development Association 100

8.1.9 International Finance Corporation (IFC) 100

8.1.10 Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) 101

8.1.11 International Centre for Settlement for Investment Disputes (ICSID) 101

8.1.12 Project Cycle 102

8.2 L‟Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie 103

8.2.1 History and Member Countries 103

8.2.2 Scope of Work 103

8.2.3 Decision Making Process and Organisation 104

8.2.3.1 Francophone Summit 104

8.2.3.2 Ministerial Conference 104

8.2.3.3 Permanent Council 105

8.2.3.4 Secretary General and Administrator 105

8.2.3.5 Admission Criteria 105

9 Diaries 106

9.1 Saturday, May 02nd 2009 & Sunday, May 03rd 2009 106

9.2 Monday, May 4th 2009 109

9.3 Tuesday, May 5th 2009 112

9.4 Wednesday, May 6th 2009 115

9.5 Thursday, May 7th 2009 118

9.6 Friday May 8th 2009 121

9.7 Saturday, May 9th 2009 125

10 Conclusion 128

11 Personal Comments 129

12 Contact Information 133

13 Timetable of Former Study Trips 135

14 Credits 142

Study Trip Report 2009

1

1 INTRODUCTION

In the course of the study programme “Export-Oriented Management” at the IMC

University of Applied Sciences Krems, it is an integral part to gain knowledge about

International Organisations and their respective mandates. However, having the chance to

expand this theoretical knowledge acquired in class and visiting these institutions as well

as getting to know more about their field of operations on-site is something that no one of

us would have expected in fall 2006, when we took on the challenge to study at the IMC.

In our fifth semester, our Professor and Chairperson for International Law and Global

Political Studies, Dr. Anis Bajrektarevic, informed us about the opportunity of this unique

study trip that should take place in the course of our International Strategies and Relations

class in the sixth semester. Consequently, Dr. Bajrektarevic, who arranged speakers and

worked out the substantive part of the program, as well as our organizational team, which

was mandated by students to carry out the technical part, hurled themselves into months of

preparation work, arranging an event that no other Austrian university has ever organized

comparably. Thanks to them, we could enjoy a diversified and very interesting programme

at a price affordable for each and every student.

Being the fourth generation of IMC students going to Geneva and Paris, but in fact the first

generation of IMC “Export-Oriented Bachelors”, we were even more grateful to manage

squeezing this study trip into the tight schedule of our concluding semester. On May 2nd

2009, right after handing in our Bachelor‟s theses and before taking our final exams, our


2

group of 67 students of the sixth semester as well as three exchange students and one

student from out partner university KROK of Ukraine, who was invited by us to join us as

our guest, finally left Krems, heading towards our neighbouring country Switzerland and

the city of Geneva. What followed was a week full of new experiences and contacts that

were established, strengthening our sense of community like no team building event could

have ever done. This report provides a summary of our exciting study trip to Geneva and

Paris, including an overview of all the organizations that have been visited as well as some

enjoyable personal impressions and pictures.


3

2 TIMETABLE

TIME INSTITUTION TOPIC SPEAKER

Monday, 04th

May 2009 (Geneva)

09:30-10:30

UNCTAD (United

Nations Conference

on Trade and

Development)

Introduction to

UNCTAD and briefing

on “Creative

Industries”

Ms. Edna Dos

Santos, Senior

Economic Affairs

Officer

10:30-11:30

UNECE (United

Nations Economic

Commission for

Europe)

Scope and work

Mr. Jean

Rodriguez, Senior

Public Information

Officer, Office of

the Executive

Secretary

11:30-12:45

UNOG (United

Nations Office at

Geneva)

Guided tour through

the facilities

01:45-02:45

ICRC (Museum of

International Red

Cross)

Tour through the

museum

03:15-04:30

WIPO (World

Intellectual Property

Organization)

General overview of

the history, structure

and activities of the

Organisation

Ms. Cathy Jewal,

Senior Information

Officer, Media

Relations and

Public Affairs

Section

Tuesday, 05th

May 2009 (Geneva)

09:00-10:45

ITU (International

Telecommunication

Union)

History, structure &

activities of the

Organization

Ms. Cristina Bueti,

Corporate Strategy

Division

11:00-12:00 ILO (International Introduction to the Mr. Hans von


4

Labour

Organization)

Organization and

activities of ILO

Rohland, Senior

Information

Officer

12:00-01:00

ILO Special Action

Program to combat

Forced Labour

Forced Labour and

Human Trafficking

Ms. Caroline

O‟Reilly,

Associate Expert

Ms. Udine Gröger,

Technical

Cooperation and

Research

03:00-05:30

Austrian Mission to

the International

Organizations in

Geneva

Mission Briefing

(Disarmament, CERN,

WTO, WHO, Human

Rights, Humanitarian

and Development

Affairs, ECE,

UNCTAD)

Ms. Christina

Kokkinakis,

Deputy Head of

Mission

Ms. Brigitte Lüth,

Attaché

Ms. Eva Schöfer,

First Secretary

Ms. Julia Wimmer,

Intern

Dr. Helmut Friza,

Minister

Plenipotentiary

Dr. Zehetner, First

Secretary

05:30-07:00

Austrian Mission to

the International

Organizations in

Geneva

Reception

Ms. Christina

Kokkinakis,

Deputy Head of

Mission

Wednesday, 06th

May 2009 (Paris)

03:00-03:10

OECD

(Organization for

Economic Co-

Operation and

Development)

Welcome by H.E. Dr.

Franz Fischler

H.E. Dr. Franz

Fischler, former

Minister and the

EU Commissioner

for Agriculture

03:10-04:15

Permanent

Delegation of Austria

to the OECD

(Organization for

OECD and the role of

Austrian delegation at

the OECD

Mr. Christoph

Mayer, Attaché,

Austrian

Delegation to the


5

Economic Co-

Operation and

Development)

OECD

04:15-05:30 IEA (International

Energy Agency)

IEA – An Overview

(incl. Qs & As Period)

Ms. Rebecca

Gaghen, Head,

Communication

and Information

Office (IEA)

Thursday, 07th

May 2009 (Paris)

10:00-10:30

ICC (International

Chamber of

Commerce)

ICC and the

Department of Policy

and Business Practice

Emily O‟Connor,

Senior Policy

Manager,

Commercial Law

and Practice

10:30-11:00

ICC (International

Chamber of

Commerce)

ICC International Court

of Arbitration, its

Secretariat and the ICC

Arbitration Rules

Loïc Coutelier,

Deputy Counsel at

the ICC

International

Court of

Arbitration

11:00-11:30 ADR, Expertise and

Dispute Boards

Mathilde Vital-

Durand, Lawyer,

ADR-Expertise-

Dispute Boards,

ICC Dispute

Resolution

Services

11:30-12:00

ICC Events

Department, ICC

Institute of World

Business Law

Katharine Bernet,

Project

Coordinator, ICC

Events

12:00-12:30

World Chambers

Federation (WCF)

Jérôme Auchère,

Coordinator, Trade

Doc ICC WCF


6

02:30-03:00

UNESCO (United

Nations Educational

Scientific and

Cultural

Organization)

Scope and Work of

UNESCO

Dr. Alexander

Schischlik, Chief

of Executive

Office, Chief of the

Section for the

Coordination of

Information and

Publications,

Supervisor of the

Unit for

Publications of the

Section

03:00-04:00 UNESCO Mission

Briefing

The Role of the

Austrian Delegation to

the UNESCO

H.E. Amb. Helene

Steinhäusl,

Ambassador,

Alternate

Permanent

Delegate

04:00-04:45 UNESCO Tour-de-exhibition &

UNESCO Movie

06:00-07:30 Austrian Embassy Reception

H.E. Amb. Helene

Steinhäusl,

Ambassador,

Alternate

Permanent

Delegate

Friday, 08th

May 2009 (Paris)

Public Holiday


7

3 DESTINATIONS

3.1 Geneva

Geneva is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland after Zürich. Situated where the

Rhône River exits the Lake Geneva, it is the capital of the Republic and Canton of Geneva.

This city has a population of 186,825 with its

metropolitan area having 812,000 inhabitants,

which extends partly over Switzerland and

France. Generally Geneva is considered to be

one of the most qualified global cities in the

world.

Geneva is a worldwide centre for diplomacy

and international cooperation, furthermore it is widely regard as one of the most important

major global cities, mainly due to the fact that it inhabits numerous international

organizations, including the headquarters of many of the agencies of the United Nations

(such as WHO, ILO, ITU, WIPO etc.), the International Committee of the Red Cross

(ICRC), the World Trade Organization (WTO) and so on. Moreover the well-known

Geneva Conventions were signed here, which regulate the treatment of wartime non-

combatants and prisoners of war.

Geneva has been described as the world‟s sixth most important financial centre by the

Global Financial Centres Index, ahead of other financial strongholds such as Tokyo,

Chicago, Frankfurt and Sydney; besides that it

hosts several headquarters of big multinational

companies including HP, Procter& Gamble, Sun

Microsystems, DuPont and many others.

The Jet d‟Eau - a large fountain that jets water up

to 140 meters is one of the city‟s most famous

landmarks and one of the largest fountains

worldwide. The beautiful natural environment

along with safe social surroundings, friendly and

helpful inhabitants, countless leisure activities and

convenient public services, all contribute to what a

survey conducted by Mercer in 2009 found out


8

about Geneva: Geneva has the third-highest quality of life in the world. The “Peace

Capital” and “the world‟s most compact metropolis” are often synonyms that are referred

to Geneva.

Geneva is also a famous scenic hotspot with a lot of showplaces including the very famous

Cathédrale St Pierre, Geneva Grand Theatre, University of Geneva, The Graduate Institute

of International and Development Studies (one of the first academic institutions to teach

international relations in the world) and CERN, the world largest particle physics

laboratory to which scientist from around the world travel to in order to conduct research

and exploration on fundamental forces and antimatters that lead to the creation of the

universe.

In modern Shopping areas in downtown, traditional Souvenirs such as original Swiss

handmade craftworks, Swiss Watches (Patek Philippe, Rolex, Omega etc.), Swiss Army

Knives (Victorinox, Wenger), typical Swiss Cheese (Emmentaler, Tilsiter, Gruyère) and

Swiss Chocolates (Lindt, Tobler, Nestlé) are eagerly bought by foreign tourists since the

mentioned above are the most famous Swiss products known to the world‟s general public.


9

3.2 Paris

Paris, the capital of France and the capital of

Love, is not only one of the most preferred tourist

destinations worldwide, one of the world's

leading business and cultural centers, but also a

major centre of economic activity. Its influence in politics, education, entertainment,

media, fashion, science and art, all contribute to its status as one of the world's major

global cities.

Regarding to the International Organizations, the International Energy Agency (IEA), the

Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the United Nations

Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the International Chamber

of Commerce (ICC) and the Paris Club are all located in Paris, which once again proves

that Paris is one of the most important economical and political window to the world.

The Paris Region also hosts 37 of the Fortune

Global 500 companies in several business

districts, notably La Défense, the largest

purpose-built business district in Europe.

According to 2005 estimates, the Paris urban

area is Europe's biggest city economy and the

fifth in the world's. The international

importance of Paris and France in this respect

is underlined by the fact that French is the

official language of diplomats as well as one

of the working languages in most International Organizations.

Paris is situated on the River Seine with 45 million tourists every year in the Paris Region,

60% of whom are foreign visitors. Paris is proud to offer its famous historic sites, such as

the NOTRE-Dame, the Victory Gate, La Tour Eiffel, and so on. Beside this, as one of the

most famous shopping streets in the world, the

Avenue des Champs-Élysées attracts tens of

millions of tourists from all over the world. With

its long history, great culture and beautiful

environment, Paris is becoming a more and more

charming city for many people and an important

international centre of the world.


10

4 MONDAY, MAY 4TH

2009

4.1 United Nations Conference on Trade and Development

(UNCTAD)

Date: Monday, May 4th

2009

Time: 09:30 am – 10:30 am

Topic: UNCTAD – Mandate, role and activities of the Organisation

Briefing on “Creative Industries”

Speaker: Ms. Edna dos Santos, Senior Economic Affairs Officer & Chief, Creative

Economy & Industries Programme UNCTAD

Moderator: Prof. Anis Bajrektarevic

4.1.1 General Information

The United Nations Conference on Trade and

Development (UNCTAD) was founded in

1964 as growing concerns about the place of

developing countries in international trade led

many of these countries to call for the

convening of a full-fledged conference

identifying appropriate international action.

The conference is the subsidiary organ of the

United Nations General Assembly and was established with the main aim to maximize

trade and to assist least developed countries in their efforts to integrate into the world

economy.

Our first official day in Geneva took us straight to

the amazing Palais de Nation, where students

already were awaited by our first speaker, Edna

dos Santos, Chief of Creative Economy and

Industries Program. Passing through the security

checks, we received a very warm welcome and

had the pleasure to listen to Ms. Santos in one of the impressive conference rooms.


11

Ms. Santos started her presentation by giving us students a comprehensive overview and

insight to the work of UNCTAD. The organisation serves as a permanent

intergovernmental body and composes 193 Member States. UNCTAD was established in

1964 as an organ of the United Nations General Assembly and is the only body of the UN

system that deals with all aspects of trade, investment and development.

Its headquarters is located in Geneva, whereas Dr. Supachai Panitchpakdi from Thailand

began his four year term as Secretary-General of UNCTAD on September 1st 2005.

The main goal of the organisation is to increase trade, investment and development in

developing countries and to help them in their way to integrate in the world economy. With

its 400 staff members it helps developing countries to make the most of trade, investment

and development opportunities and assists at the same time in their trade negotiations. One

of the main concerns of UNCTAD is to contribute effectively to the reduction of poverty,

whereas Ms. Santos clearly pointed out that UNCTAD assists in technical cooperation but

does not finance any project.

To reach these goals, the organisation pursue three key functions, which are undertaking

research, policy analysis, data collection, and serves at the same time as a forum for

intergovernmental deliberations and discussions on domestic policies, international actions

and current policy debates. The aim is to reach a mutual consensus concerning a

sustainable development whereas the conference plays a key role in identifying the role of

the United Nations and UNCTAD in addressing economic development problems.

4.1.2 History

As concerns about the position in international trade and integration of developing

countries became a major issue in the 1960‟s, the need for an international conference in


12

order to tackle against these problems and finding strategies and solutions to enhance the

situation was growing. Discussing these topics and giving prior importance to the

improvement of the situation and taking adequate actions, the first United Nations

Conference on Trade and Development was held in 1964 in Geneva. Since then, the

conference meets on a four year basis in order to encourage coherence between national

development strategies and global economic processes towards economic growth and

development in developing countries.

At the very beginning of its operation UNCTAD created an intergovernmental forum for

North-South dialogue and executed negotiations which were of high importance for

developing countries including debates on the “New International Economic Order”.

This time several agreements were brought into consideration and later adopted. One,

beyond many others, was the “Generalized System of Preferences” in 1968, where

improved market access to exports from developing countries was granted. Further

implemented actions were price stabilization of export products, maintaining national

merchant fleet and “Trade and Competition Policies”. In addition, UNCTAD identified the

Group of Least Developed Countries (LDC‟s) with the objective to tackle against current

problems and trying to fulfil their needs.

In the 80‟s, a change in economic thinking took place, meaning that economic

interdependence increased and present development strategies were focused on trade

liberalization and became more market-oriented. This decade has been also known as the

“lost decade” due to the fact that many developing countries were dominated by several

debt crises, whereas Latin America was most affected. Several trade rounds were held in

order to combat the problem whereas UNCTAD provided technical assistance as well as

debts were rescheduled in the Paris Club negotiations.

Within the last recent years, many developments were successfully achieved and

completed. Due to the financial inflows during the crises, an increasing stability was

obtained and foreign direct investment flows became a major component of globalization.

Another major outcome was the establishment of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in

1995 which was the outcome of the Uruguay Round under the General Agreement on

Tariffs and Trade (GATT). Further progress was seen in the extended analytical research

and work on international investment issues and the diversification of its technical

assistance.


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4.1.3 Functions

Over 40 years, UNCTAD is

working on the promotion of

current concerns of developing

countries with the main aim to

foster their economic growth.

Main priority is given to the

assistance to developing countries

in trade negotiations as well as

promoting the diversification of

production and trade structures in

order to implement new policies

by governments.

Further, the organisation offers capacity-building seminars, encouraging developing

countries to participate more actively in international investment rule making at regional

and multilateral levels. Another main concern of UNCTAD is the better integration of

Africa in the world economy, enhanced by providing analytical work aimed to produce a

comprehensive understanding of problems by African countries in their development

progress.

Furthermore, Ms. Santos mentioned UNCTAD‟s main publications, such as the Trade and

Development Report, the World Investment Report, LDCs Report and the Africa Report

beyond many others, are available on the UNCTAD website. Coming to a conclusion,

UNCTAD is facing macroeconomic and development policy challenges and plays an

important part in the international monetary and financial system.

4.1.4 Decision Making Bodies

4.1.4.1 The Conference

The so-called quadrennial conference is the highest decision making body of UNCTAD

with the member states participating in order to make assessment for trade and

development issues. Policy strategies are discussed and the work of the conference is laid

out.

4.1.4.2 Trade and Development Board

The Trade and Development Board plays a key role between the four years and serves as a

guiding function to the conference until they meet the next time. The Boards meets in


14

Geneva in regular sessions up to three times a year and dispose over three commissions

which allow governments to exchange opinion on policy issues in their respective division.

• The Commission on Trade in Goods and Services, and Commodities

• The Commission on Investment, Technology and Related Financial Issues

• The Commission Enterprise, Business Facilitation and Development

In addition, the work of the commissions is supported by specialized technical experts with

up to ten regular Export Meetings per year. Ensuring equal treatment to all developing

countries, all member states are given an equal vote which can make the decision making

sometimes very lasting.

4.1.5 Creative Economy

After the very interesting and informative introduction to UNCTAD‟s scope of work, Ms.

Santos followed her presentation with the part concerning the Creative Economy. As Ms.

Santos is the Chief of the Creative Economy, we got a really good insight how the creative

economy achieves to generate income and jobs while promoting social inclusion, cultural

diversity and human development among the world. The overall concept is based on

creative assets and intellectual capital, generating socio-economic growth, employment

and trade in most advanced countries. Further, it is part of diversified development option

calling for innovative multi-disciplinary policy responses and inter-ministerial actions.

The presentation started with an overall introduction to the Creative Economy Report

2008. The Report includes the following chapters which were explained individually by

Ms. Santos during her presentation.

• Chapter I: Concept and context of the creative economy

• Chapter II: The development dimension

• Chapter III: Analysing the creative economy

• Chapter IV: Towards evidence-based assessment of the creative economy

• Chapter V: International trade in creative goods and services

• Chapter VI: The role of intellectual property rights and the creative economy

• Chapter VII: Technology, connectivity and the creative economy

• Chapter VIII: Policy strategies for the creative industries

• Chapter IX: The international policy framework for creative economies

• Chapter X: Lessons learned and policy options


15


16

Ms. Santos gave us a really good introduction to the individual chapter and explained their

main purpose and scope of work.

She further outlined the jointly agreed classification of “creative goods” by experts and

statisticians from the secretariats of UNCTAD and ITC.

In order to gain a better understanding in which kind of sector the creative economy is

working, Ms. Santos mentioned the main products within creative economy, which are

• Designs

• Arts and Crafts

• Visual Arts

• Publishing

• Music

• New Media

• Audiovisuals

Further, Ms. Santos focused on the differences between the Creative Economy and the

Creative Industries. While the Creative Economy is a set of knowledge-based economic

activities with cultural value and cross-cutting linkages to the overall economy, the

Creative Industries are tangible goods and intangible services with creative content,

economic value and market objectives.

In most developed countries, the creative economy is enhancing economic growth,

employment and trade. The concept generally reflects a multi-disciplinary approach that

integrates culture, economics and technology, while creative industries can be defined as

the cycle of creation, production and commercialization of products and services that uses

knowledge and intellectual capital as primary inputs. They deal with the interaction of

various subsectors ranging from traditional crafts, books, and visual and performing arts, to

more technology-intensive and services-oriented fields such as the music and film

industries, television and radio broadcasting, new media and design. Today, creative

industries are among the most dynamic sectors in world trade. According to UNCTAD‟s

estimations, international trade of creative goods and services reached $445.2 billion in

2005, with an annual growth rate of 8.7 per cent from 2000 to 2005.


17

4.1.6 UNCTAD XI

In 2004 at UNCTAD XI, the topic of creative industries was introduced for the first time

into the international economic and development agenda, on the basis of recommendations

made by the Secretary-General‟s high level panel on creative industries and development

The São Paulo Consensus negotiated among 153 member States and agreed finally to the

main aim, beyond many other objectives of course, that the international community

should support national efforts of developing countries to increase their participation in and

benefit from dynamic sectors and to foster, protect and promote their creative industries” .

This was the very beginning for a growing awareness about the socio-economic potential

of the cultural and creative sector and greater political calls in both developing and

developed countries for encouraging the cultural and creative industries for development

gains. Since UNCTAD XI many events are taking place worldwide indicating that both the

political and the analytical agendas are moving in parallel as well as strategic policies

around the creative industries are being shaped all over the world.

For us students, it was a great and unique

opportunity to get a better understanding

of these topics as we got information out

of first hand source. Everybody of the

students was attracted by the perfect

organized event and the warm welcome

we received at UNCTAD. We also were

really impressed by the interesting and

informative presentation of Ms. Edna dos

Santos. It was an amazing first day and

start to our study trip, and we really would like to thank the whole UNCTAD Team for the

nice welcome and their efforts they have made.

4.1.7 Question & Answer Session

After Ms. Santos finished her presentation, students got the possibility to raise questions in

case there was any doubt left or to lay out their personal interests.

The first question that arose was about the difference between WTO and UNCTAD. Ms.

Santos was very pleased to answer this question and explained that while the WTO creates

rules and sets norms, UNCTAD tries to help and integrate developing nations into this

system if they wanted. They further try to promote a better understanding of the WTO

system.


18

The second question was concerning the personal view of Ms. Edna dos Santos of the

financial crisis. Her opinion towards the crisis was that it was expectable and foreseeable

due to the imbalance in the monetary system and financial instability. She also pointed out

the importance to rethink now economic models and referred also to UNCTAD‟s

publication on the financial crisis on their website.

4.1.8 Internship Opportunities

As a last point, Prof. Anis Bajrektarevic came up with the question of a possible internship

opportunity at UNCTAD. Generally, Ms. Santos was very pleased to give us students from

Export-oriented Management the possibility of an internship in order to get a better

understanding of trade and development issues. An internship programme can take place at

any time during the year for a minimum of two and a maximum of six months. Generally,

there is no compensation paid to interns that means the student has to borne all costs during

the stay in Geneva. For further information about the programme and the application

process she referred to the official webpage

(www.unctad.org/Templates/Page.asp?intItemID=2106&lang=1).


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4.2 United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE)


2009

Time: 10:30 am – 11:30 am

Topic: Scope of work of the UNECE

Speaker: Mr. Jean Rodriguez, Senior Public Information Officer,

Office of the Executive Secretary


Impressed by the Palais des Nations in Geneva, headquarters of the United Nations in

Europe and globally second most important centre of the UN following New York, we had

the pleasure to experience our second

meeting in one of the biggest conference

rooms of this historic lieu.

We were introduced to the UNECE by Mr.

Jean Rodriguez, public information officer at

the UNECE, who laid a special focus on

briefing us on the commission‟s highly

interesting scope of work.

4.2.1 The Organisation and its Purpose

Firstly, a brief introduction about the organisation and its history was given. The UNECE

was established in 1947 as one of the five regional economic commissions of the United

Nations. The underlying idea was to create an organisation that supports the development

of trade in post-war Europe. In this context, Mr. Rodriguez underlined the organisation‟s

crucial role in the past in building a bridge between the two sides of the iron curtain as well

as the vital role it assumes nowadays in the integration of the newly formed Central and

Eastern European countries into the world economies.

Today the organisation is centred in Geneva, has 56 member states and understands itself

as a multilateral platform that facilitates economic integration among its members. It was

indicated that its main activities are centred on assisting countries in their accession

procedure to the European Union, supporting economies in transition from being centrally

planned ones to market economies, helping with the institution building process as well as


20

providing economic and technical expertise together with technical cooperation to

countries in need of it.

The member states of the UNECE are spread over three continents – Europe, North

America and Asia, making reference to the idea the UNECE is based on. It includes all

countries engaging in the re-building of Europe after the Second World War and supports

the transition to market economy of countries that emerged after the dissolution of the

Soviet Union. Austria joined the UNECE in 1955 and is currently represented by H.E. Mr.

Christian Strohal.

The Commission is led by an Executive

Committee consisting of the UNECE‟s

Chairperson and two Vice-Chairpersons.

Currently Mr. Van Meeuwen from Belgium

serves as the Chairperson and Mr. Amirbayov

from Azerbaijan as well as Mr. Vukčević act as

Vice-Chairpersons. Beyond the Executive

Committee there are eight Sectoral Committees

addressed to the different programmes of the

UNECE. The programmes are further grouped

into six divisions which are headed by the

Executive Secretary, currently represented by

Mr. Kubiš. It has been pointed out by Mr.

Rodriguez that after 2005‟s reform focusing on

modernization and more horizontal structures,

UNECE presents itself today more streamlined

and focused. This can also be illustrated by the

fact that it counts only 221 employees.

4.2.2 The History of the UNECE

The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe was, as mentioned above,

established in 1947 by the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). The Commission

itself was established in 1957 after estimating its need in Europe in order to maintain peace

and to foster economic activities. Resulting, the Commission was transformed into a

permanent body of the United Nations.

However, the importance of the Commission became more apparent with the outbreak of

the Cold War. As Mr. Rodriguez indicated the UNECE remained as the only instrument for


21

dialogue among all European states during this time. The activities of the UNECE were

restricted to those of common interest, which because of different economic systems

differed substantially.

With the end of the Cold War the Commission supported the establishment of market

economies and the integration of countries from the former Eastern Bloc into the global

economic system. It set up a new system of workshops and seminars in order to provide

advice from specialists to members. In 1997 and 2005 the Commission underwent major

reforms in order to be able to cope successfully with the Europe of the 21st century.

4.2.3 Programmes of the UNECE

Following the general introduction to the UNECE, Mr. Rodriguez gave a comprehensive

insight into the nine different programmes within the scope of work of the institution:

4.2.3.1 Environmental Policy

It is the general goal of this program to protect the environment as well as human health

and promote sustainable development in its member states. The strategy used by the

UNECE is based on a four-pillar approach, including the cooperation of governments to

formulate an environmental policy and support its implementation, the assumption of an

active role in certain regional and cross-regional sectoral processes, the conduction of

performance reviews of countries and the negotiation of environmental treaties.

4.2.3.2 Housing and Land Management

The provision of better housing conditions as well ensuring security of tenure in the

UNECE‟s region is the goal of this committee. Mr. Rodriguez pointed out that there is an

urgent need to establish higher standards with regards to housing as currently more than 50

million inhabitants within Europe live under very poor conditions in informal settlements.

Further, he mentioned that the UNECE is supporting governments in establishing adequate

policies with regards to the building of new housings.

4.2.3.3 Statistics

It was indicated that the focus within the statistics department is placed on coordinating

statistical activities in the region, developing statistical standards and guidelines, enabling

statistical offices to exchange experiences, supporting countries in the development of their

national statistical systems and the establishment of an online database of economics and

gender statistics.


22

4.2.3.4 Sustainable Energy

The goal of this program is to promote a sustainable energy development strategy for the

UNECE‟s region. Mr. Rodriguez mentioned two major challenges in this area: Firstly, the

fact that sustainable energy shall be used and secondly, the establishment of links between

the member states. Core objectives include the assurance of access to high quality energy

for all inhabitants of the UNECE‟s region, the security of energy supplies, a development

towards a more sustainable energy use as well as established energy networks across the

region and energy efficiency. Thus, the Commission promotes the usage of cleaner sources

in more efficient ways.

4.2.3.5 Trade

This program‟s key areas of work in 2008-09 include the development and maintenance of

effective international trade related instruments, norms, standards and recommendations

adapted to the need of the global economy, the reduction of trade barriers generally, and

especially in the UNECE‟s member states as well as the facilitation of trade policy

development by providing an international platform for the exchange of views. The

importance of the standards developed here was illustrated by Mr. Rodriguez with the help

of the example of vegetables and fruits of which 70% of the total amount sold globally do

comply with the standards of the UNECE.

4.2.3.6 Economic Cooperation and Integration

This committee promotes a policy, financial and regulatory environment fostering

economic growth, innovation and competitiveness in the UNECE‟s region. Its four main

thematic areas include the promotion of knowledge-based economy and innovation to

strengthen the member states‟ economies, the facilitation of the development of

entrepreneurship and promotion of the emergence of new companies as well as the

facilitation of effective regulatory policies and corporate governance.

4.2.3.7 Timber

The timber committee (TC) and European Forestry Commission (EFC) work together and

provide a joint team to guarantee a sustainable forest management in Europe, the

Commonwealth of Independent States and North America. Mr. Rodriguez pointed out that

this area of work is especially important as some of the top producers of timber are

members of the UNECE, for example Canada and the Russian Federation.


23

4.2.3.8 Transport

Transport constitutes a major program of the UNECE, engaging for example in the

promotion of road safety, the facilitation of the international movements of goods, the

synchronization of transport infrastructures as well as the development of the

recommendations on the transport of dangerous goods. Moreover, it contributes to the

implementation of the Pan-European Program on Transport, Environment and Health

(THE PEP).

4.2.3.9 Technical Cooperation

The ECE technical cooperation is characterized by a demand driven and result oriented

approach and focuses on countries with economies in transition of Eastern Europe, the

Caucasus, Central Asia and South-Eastern Europe, but is also linked to the ECE‟s

normative work. It aims to improve the national capacity of the countries to implement

global and ECE instruments, norms and standards. Services provided include advice,

capacity-building workshops, seminars and study tours as well as training courses and

technical cooperation projects.

Finally, Mr. Rodriguez made reference to the relation and collaboration of the UNECE

with other bodies, such as e.g. the OECD, OSCE, EU or other UN bodies as well as non-

governmental organisations.


The United Nations Economic Commission for

Europe on an ad hoc basis assigns internships to

students enrolled at a graduate school. Internships

are unpaid and usually have duration of two to three

months; however, in special cases they may be

extended to six months.

Applications for an internship with the UNECE,

including a CV, a completed internship application form as well as a statement of the field

of activity the candidate wishes to work in together with available dates, might be sent via

mail to the generic E-mail at the UNECE ([email protected]).

Mr. Rodriguez also mentioned that additional information on the internship programme of

the UNECE can be found on the homepage of the institution and the procedure described

should be followed. (www.unece.org/oes/internships/internship_prog.htm).

mailto:[email protected]


24

4.3 United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG)


2009

Time: 11:30 am - 12:45 am

Topic: Guided tour through the facilities

After the presentation on UNCTAD

and UNECE we were glad to have a

guided tour through the building of

the United Nations Office in

Geneva, where we could visit the

most important and impressive halls

and rooms. For the 45 minutes tour

the group was split into two sub

groups.

The conference rooms showed to the IMC students were the Swiss room, also named

Room XIX, the Assembly Hall and the Spanish room. Generally the layout of all 34

conference rooms of the United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG) is similar. The

respective delegates are seated in alphabetical order of the countries either according to

English or French names. There are also places for the permanent observers Palestine and

Vatican, and for Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs).

Furthermore, journalists and the general public can attend

the conferences at the gallery. Usually translators and

interpreters of the six official UN languages, namely

English, French, Russian, Arabic, Chinese and Spanish, are

present.

Switzerland donated a large amount of money for the

construction of the new wing; therefore, one of the most

important conference rooms was named the Swiss room.

400 to 600 delegates can seat inside this room.

The Assembly Hall has a capacity of over 1200 seats and

hosts some of the most important events such as the annual meeting of the General

Assembly, which is usually held in New York, but can sometimes take place in Geneva. In


25

1946 the League of Nations was dissolved and in 1948 the Declaration of Human Rights

was signed in this room.

The third room, also called Spanish

Room, is the oldest of these three

conference halls. It was donated and

decorated by the government of

Spain in the 1930‟s. It was dedicated

to the predecessors of international

law who lived in the 16th

century.

The walls and the ceiling show the

process of mankind concerning war,

technology, social behaviour and sciences. A lot of suffering is displayed but also hope for

future generations symbolized by a mother with a newborn baby. The main conferences

held here are on disarmament, nuclear testing and chemical weapons.

Furthermore, an impressive hallway called the „Gallery of Lost Steps‟ was shown to the

students. It was built completely by gifts from member states such as marble from Italy or

columns from Sweden which should demonstrate that the UN member states can work

together on a certain project to create something beautiful. Quite extraordinary were also

the artworks donated by different members and distributed on the whole area of the

UNOG.

The library of the UNOG was mentioned in the tour as well. It comprises over 1,000

volumes concerning international law and relations dating back to its foundation in the

1920‟s. Unfortunately, it is only open for delegates and academic researchers.

The United Nations Office at

Geneva is the second-biggest of

the major office sites of the

United Nations (after New York

and beside Vienna and Nairobi).

With around 8,000 meetings a

year the UNOG is one of the

busiest conference centres in the

world and is also the biggest

duty station of the United

Nations beside New York.


26

The United Nations family in Geneva is with around 8,500 employees the largest

concentration of United Nations personnel in the world. They work in the fields of health,

labour, intellectual property, disarmament efforts, human rights, humanitarian action and

disaster relief economic, trade and development activities, science and technology and also

research and training. Two thirds of the activities of the United Nations system take place

in Geneva and so making it a key centre of international co-operation and multilateral

negotiation.

The Office provides financial and administrative support services to more than 20 Geneva

based organisations and departments.

Beside the administration it also hosts

the offices for several specialized

agencies such as the International

Labour Organisation, the World

Health Organisation or the United

Nations Institute for Disarmament

Research. The UNOG is headed by a

Director-General who is accountable

directly to the Secretary- General.

At the moment 167 permanent missions (out of 192 member states) are accredited to the

UNOG additionally two non-member states and eight intergovernmental organisations are

participating as observers in the work of the UN.

The delegations of the First Assembly of the League of Nations were welcomed in Geneva

on November 15th

1920. In 1936 the League of Nations moved to the newly built Palais

des Nations.

The Palais is located in the 45-hectar Ariana Park among majestic trees. The City of

Geneva made the park available to the United Nations for its offices as long as the United

Nations exists. Originally the park was owned by the Revilliod de Rive family which

bequeathed the Park to the City of Geneva; one of the conditions was that the coffin of

Revilliod should remain on the land of the former owner and that peacocks should roam

freely on its grounds.

When in April 1946 the League of Nations was dissolved at a final Assembly on Geneva,

the League handed over among other assets the Palais des Nations to the United Nations.

While the headquarters of the new organisation has since be established in New York the


27

European Office of the United Nations was created in the Palais des Nations becoming the

United Nations Office at Geneva in 1966.

4.4 International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC)


2009

Time: 01:45 pm – 02:45 pm

Topic: Guided tour through the museum

4.4.1 History

The history of the ICRC started in 1859, during the war of Italian Unification, when a

citizen from Switzerland, Henry Dunant, saw thousands of people injured during the fights

lying around without help in Solferino, a town in Northern Italy. Therefore, he asked the

question if it would not be possible to form relief societies during peace to ensure that they

will care for wounded people in wartime. This led to the foundation of a five-member

committee in 1863, known as the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

An important concept was to give neutral

status medical services and volunteer nurses, as

they should not be affected by the fighting. Ten

resolutions were adopted which provided for

the establishment of the future Red Cross, like

the Committees have to provide medical

services in times of war and have to

communicate with their governments to be

accepted. But to make treaty rules, and

therefore binding obligations, out of these

resolutions, in 1864 a conference was held.

The idea was to create relief societies

providing medical service to wounded soldiers

as well as a legal basis obliging armies to care

for all wounded, no matter which side they

were on. This led to the signing of the Geneva

Convention for the Amelioration of the


28

Condition of Wounded of Armies in the Field. Modern international humanitarian law was

born. WWI led to a considerable expansion of the ICRC´s activities, also including

prisoners of war, civilians and the prohibition of the use of chemical weapons.

In 1919 the International Federation of Red

Cross and Red Crescent Societies was founded

by 5 member societies, namely Britain, France,

Italy, Japan and the United States, to

strengthen and unite Red Cross Societies. The

ICRC´s efforts to help the Jews and other

groups of civilians persecuted during WWII

were a failure.

After this disaster in 1949, 4 further conventions were adopted: the Convention for

Wounded and Sick military personnel on the battlefield, the Convention of wounded, sick

and shipwrecked military personnel in war at sea, the Convention of Prisoners of War and

the Convention for civilians. The fourth Convention was completely newly-introduced and

wanted to ensure general protection of civilians against consequences of war.

4.4.2 Structure of the ICRC

The ICRC is currently headed by the president Jakob Kellenberger and other two vice-

presidents Olivier Vodoz and Christine Beerli. Their tasks are mainly representing the

organisation on the international scene and ensuring a smooth functioning of the ICRC.

Apart from the presidency, also the

Assembly, the Assembly Council and

the Directorate are involved in the

decision making process. The Assembly

with its 15 to 25 elected members of

Swiss nationality, chaired by the

presidency, is the supreme governing

body which oversees all activities of the

organisation. Formulating policies,

defining objectives and institutional strategy, and approving the budget are part of its

responsibilities. The Assembly Council, composed of five elected members and chaired by

the president, prepares the activities of the Assembly and reports regularly to the

Directorate and the Assembly. The Directorate, with its five members and the current


29

Director-General Angelo Gnaedinger, is the executive body of the ICRC. Its main task is to

ensure the application of the objectives and institutional strategy.

4.4.3 Mandate and Mission of the ICRC

The mission of the ICRC is as follows: “The International Committee of the Red Cross

(ICRC) is an impartial, neutral and independent organisation whose exclusively

humanitarian mission is to protect the lives and dignity of victims of war and internal

violence and to provide them with assistance.”

The ICRC has a legal mandate from the international community, originating from the

binding 1949 Geneva Conventions and from the Statutes of International Red Cross and

Red Crescent Movement which are adopted at the International Conference of the Red

Cross and Red Crescent, taking place every four years. The Geneva Conventions, which

are applicable worldwide, tell the organisation to visit prisoners, re-unite separated families

and engage in different humanitarian activities during armed conflicts like organizing relief

operations. The Statutes of International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, having a

so-called quasi-legal or “soft-law” status, address situations of internal violence where the

Geneva Conventions do not apply.

4.4.4 Activities of the ICRC

The ICRC is engaged in different fields of activities. The most important are listed below:

Protection: in this field the ICRC tries to ensure that the international humanitarian law is

kept during times of war. But this activity is not only concerned with the protection of

civilians affected by war but also of prisoners and detainees as well as the reconnection of

families torn apart by war.

Concerning the protection of civilians there are several specific rules (1949 Geneva

Conventions and their 1977 Additional Protocols). Situations not covered by these rules

are subject to human rights law and the principles of humanitarian law. Whenever a

conflict occurs the ICRC tries to keep as much contact to the civilian population as

possible as well as to the authorities in order to ensure that humanitarian law is kept.

In order to ensure that prisoners and detainees are treated according to the international

standards, the ICRC is entitled to visit them.

Reconnection of families includes all activities that prevent the separation of families,

rebuild contact between family members and help to clear what happened to missing

members.


30

Assistance: this field covers all activities aiming to improve living conditions by providing

necessary materials and medical assistance. Major areas in this section are health,

economic security and water and habitat.

Assistance in health covers the most important activities to ensure that people affected by

war have access to the basic medical assistance at an international standard.

Economic security is concerned with basic economic needs of people and provides

assistance so that these are met.

Activities in the section of water and habitat try to secure access to clean water as well as

appropriate sanitation.

Furthermore the ICRC promotes international humanitarian law by increasing the

awareness of those who determine the fate of victims and those who are empowered to

ease the undertakings of the ICRC.

The ICRC also makes efforts to clean areas of mines and other explosive remnants of war

(ERW), uses humanitarian diplomats to make aware of problems, works together with

national societies in order to ensure fast help and cooperate with private sector companies

which conduct business in war prone zones so that humanitarian principles are promoted

and fast and qualitative help is ensured.

4.4.5 Museum of the ICRC in Geneva

At the museum the students were divided into three groups and given a guided tour around

the building.

The first explanation given by the guide was the difference between the Red Cross and the

ICRC. The Red Cross, and the Red Crescent for the Muslim and Arab world, help people

suffering from natural catastrophes like for example diseases, earthquakes, tsunamis,

flooding, hurricanes, etc. The ICRC, however, becomes active whenever people are

suffering from human acts, like for example getting imprisoned or involved in any kind of

fights. Their staffs are also visiting prisons and camps to show the imprisoned that

somebody cares for them and enable them to send messages to their families.

The museum was built approximately 20 years ago in 1988. With its construction, the

architect wanted to leave a message to the world, showing that the ICRC is fighting for the

rights of human beings.

The area of exhibition is located in the basement of the building where missing windows

shall create a suitable atmosphere for understanding why the organisation is needed. Slide


31

shows, short videos, pictures and related items are supposed to bring the topic closer to

visitors. Worth mentioning is especially the impressive archive of all prisoners of war

during the two world wars and objects given to Red Cross staff by grateful people. Another

part of the exhibition includes a detailed history of the organisation, starting with the battle

of Solferino in 1859, the work of Henry Dunant up to the signing of the four Geneva

Conventions and the creation of the ICRC.

Basically, the exhibition is divided into five modules which treat different fields of

activity. In the first station, the difficulty for the Red Cross to improve medical treatment

for people suffering from illnesses in developing countries can be seen. As people there

often do not trust charity due to bad experiences in the past, an exchange system was

introduced by the Red Cross where ill people get vaccines for bringing recyclable trash.

The second station covers all activities of the ICRC concerning imprisoned people,

including visits, creation of contact with families via letters and the increase of living

conditions. The necessity of these activities can be experienced by visitors in a rebuilt

small Iraqi prison cell which kept 17 people.

The next module shows all the items necessary to survive after natural catastrophes, where

victims have lost everything. Priority is given, in declining range, to water, shelter and

food, which is provided by the Red Cross.


32

Another impressing module is the

reestablishment of the linkage between

lost ones, in most cases children, and

their families via fototracing. By

taking photos, indicating also the

camp the person is in, it is possible to

reconnect approximately 80% of lost

people with their families.

The next field of activity is the

awareness training to prevent victims of mines. Here, injured people also get prostheses

and are taught how to use them. The films, pictures and items enable visitors of this

museum to get to know the impressive work and importance of the Red Cross for the fair

treatment of people and the increase of living standards.

4.4.6 Internship/Employment Opportunities

Concerning employment possibilities at the ICRC, one can apply for only one advertised

post via sending a mail including the CV to the Committee. Normally, during the first two

to three years working for the ICRC basic activities are done, after three years middle

management functions may be available and after several more years senior management

positions can be occupied. Important to know is that staff usually is not allowed to choose

where it wants to carry out its missions. Thus, employees have to go to the regions and

countries experiencing wars and conflicts, which are chosen by the ICRC. Furthermore, the

ICRC occasionally hires interns for specific posts that have been advertised.


33


34

4.5 World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO)


2009

Time: 03:15 pm – 04:30 pm

Topic: General overview of the history, structure and activities of the Organisation

Speaker: Ms. Cathy Jewell


After the absorbing guided tour through

the Museum of the International Red

Cross we walked to the last destination of

our first day‟s visits: The premises of the

WIPO (World Intellectual Property

Organisation). It constitutes a specialized

agency of the United Nations. WIPO‟s

mandate is to promote the protection of

intellectual property (IP) in cooperation

with its 184 member states and to work to ensure that all countries are in a position to reap

concrete benefit from the IP system. WIPO‟s activities fall into three main clusters of

activities, namely, international IP standard-setting to establish an international framework

for the protection of IP, technical assistance to support countries in strengthening their IP

systems and the provision of services which facilitate the process of obtaining IP rights in

multiple countries. Furthermore WIPO administers 24 treaties. Mrs. Cathy Jewell

introduced us to the history and scope of work of the organisation in a lively and

interesting way. Right at the beginning she raised the question of how to define intellectual

property, which was elaborated by one of our students, Markus Traxler, comprehensively

and in full detail.

4.5.1 Historical Development

WIPO counts 184 member states and

roots back to 1883. In this year, the

Paris Convention for the Protection

of Industrial Property was formed. It

was the first major international


35

treaty designed to help the people of one country obtain protection in other countries for

their intellectual creations in the form of industrial property rights, known as inventions

(patents), trademarks and industrial designs.

In 1886, the Berne Convention for the Protection of literary and artistic works laid the

foundations for copyright protection. The two small bureaux of these conventions united to

form an international organisation called the United International Bureaux for the

Protection of Intellectual Property (best known by its French acronym BIRPI: Bureaux

Internationaux Réunis pour la Protection de la Propriété Intellectuelle). It was based in

Berne, Switzerland. As the importance of intellectual property grew, the structure and form

of the organisation changed as well. In 1960, BIRPI moved from Berne to Geneva to be

closer to the United Nations and other international organisations in that city. A decade

later, following the entry into force of the Convention Establishing the World Intellectual

Property Organisation in 1970, BIRPI ceased to exist and WIPO began its operations as an

intergovernmental organization at the service of its member states. The current Director

General is Francis Gurry.

4.5.2 Core Tasks and Aims

In a nutshell, WIPO strives to promote the effective use of the IP system to promote

economic, social and cultural development. At its core, the IP system is designed to serve

the public good by promoting innovation and creativity and by contributing to market

order. It strives to balance the interests of inventors/creators with those of the general

public. The Organization‟s strategic objectives are to

Promote the balanced evolution of the international normative framework to ensure

that the development of international IP law keeps pace with rapidly evolving

technological, geo-economic, social & cultural environment;

Continue to upgrade and improve WIPO‟s services to industry and the private

sector. These include the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), the Madrid System for

the International Registration of Trademarks, the Hague System for the

International Registration of Industrial Designs and the WIPO Arbitration and

Mediation Center.

Facilitate the use of IP for Development. This reflects the Organization‟s

commitment to ensuring that all countries are able to benefit from use of IP for

development;


36

Coordination and Development of Global IP Infrastructure. This new orientation

responds to the need for greater technical standardization and work sharing

between offices and the need to facilitate greater participation by developing and

least developed countries in the global IP infrastructure and its benefits;

World Reference Source for IP Information and Analysis. This is a response to the

call for empirical analyses of the socio-economic impact of IP. Further, the

development of a portal will facilitate access to a comprehensive source of IP

information resources.

International Cooperation on Building Respect for IP. Respect of IPRs is a

principle shared by all Member States. The aim is to enhance cooperation in

building respect for IPRs by creating an enabling environment

Addressing IP in relation to Global Policy Themes. WIPO is committed to

addressing the intersection between IP and global public policy issues

WIPO is committed to upgrading effective communications at all levels with all

stakeholders and to developing a customer services culture; and

finally, the Organization is committed to streamlining the Organization‟s

administrative systems to facilitate program delivery

Another core task is to build and promote awareness to respect IP rights and prevent piracy

and counterfeiting.

Public Sector & Policy Makers

Building Awareness Intellectual Property Offices

General Public & Civil Society

WIPO undertakes a number of activities, including:

• normative activities, involving the setting of norms and standards for the

protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights through the conclusion

of international treaties;

• program activities, involving legal technical assistance to States in the field of

intellectual property;


37

• international classification and standardization activities, involving cooperation

among industrial property offices concerning patents, trademarks and industrial

design documentation; and

• delivering global IP protection services: WIPO administers fee-based services,

based on international agreements, which enable users in member countries to file

international applications for patents (PCT), and international registrations for

trademarks (Madrid System), designs (Hague System), and appellations of origin

(Lisbon System).

The WIPO Arbitration & Mediation Center offers alternative dispute resolution

services (www.wipo.int/amc/en/). It provides tailor-made dispute resolution services and

provides services under the Uniform Domain Names Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP)

which is designed to address problems of cybersquatting or the abusive registration of

trademarks as domain names. Recent cases include for example the Simpsons and

Jennifer Lopez. Standard cases cost approximately USD 1,500 and decisions are made by

independent panellists typically within two months. The WIPO Arbitration & Mediation

Centre‟s services offer a number of advantages, are cost-effective and expeditious.

The Patent Cooperation Treaty contributes approximately 76% to the WIPO budget and

15% comes from use of the Madrid System. Therefore, Member states‟ contributions

amount to no more than 7% of the Organization‟s budget.

Furthermore, WIPO has a dynamic Economic Devleopment Program administered through

various regional bureaux based in Geneva. The Organization also has various satellite

offices in, for example, Singapore, Brazil, Japan and the USA. Applicants from

Developing and Least developed countries receive a 90% reduction when using the Patent

Cooperation Treaty and the Madrid System. Chile and Peru for example, have just joined

the Patent Cooperation Treaty bringing the total number of contracting parties to that

Treaty to 141.

The most recent treaty concluded by

WIPO member states is the Singapore

Trademark Law Treaty. It was negotiated

in 2004 and entered into force in April

2009. The aim of this Treaty is to

establish a modern and dynamic

international framework for the

harmonization of trademark registration

procedures.


38

WIPO is unusual among the family of UN organisations in that it is largely self-financing.

About 90% of the organisation's budgeted expenditure comes from earnings from the

services which WIPO provides to users of the international registration systems. The

remaining 10% are made up mainly of revenue from WIPO‟s arbitration and mediation

services and sales of publications, plus contributions from member states.

4.5.3 Decision Making Bodies

All decisions governing WIPO‟s strategic direction and activities are made by the member

states (one vote each). The WIPO Secretariat coordinates formal and informal meetings of

the member state bodies throughout the year. Governing and decision making bodies

include the:

• WIPO General Assembly

• WIPO Conference

• WIPO Coordination Committee

• Standing Committee on the Law of Patents (SCP)

• Standing Committee on the Law of Trademarks, Industrial Designs and

Geographical Indications (SCT)

• Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR)

The International Classification Treaties (i.e. the Locarno, Nice, Strasbourg and Vienna

Agreements) established permanent Committees of experts with a mandate periodically to

revise and update the classification systems.


How much does a GI (Geographic Indication) and other IP protection cost?

The cost of a GI depends very much

on the region, the country and what it

is protected for. It is necessary to

contact experts directly and discuss

everything depending on the various

circumstances. Other trademark rights

can be calculated on the website

(http://www.wipo.int/madrid/en/fees).

One has to put in all the parameters and will find out about prices. A trademark

application , for example costs approximately CHF 925. The cost of obtaining a

patent is difficult to define as there are various elements that need to be calculated,


39

e.g. the number of pages of the application, the number of countries in which

protection is being sought, whether or not a search is required, etc. That said, the

PCT offers a cost-effective means for inventors seeking broad-based patent

protection. Use of the PCT has grown annually since its launch in 1978. In 2008 a

record 164,000 international applications were received under the PCT. One of the

main advantages of using the system is that it allows applicants to defer payment of

the bulk of the fees associated with patent protection in a large number for up to 18

months. The PCT currently has 141 contracting parties.

Is it true that one just has to send a postcard addressed to oneself in order to protect one’s

copyright?

One of our colleagues had heard that while copyright protection is immediate and

automatic under the terms of the Berne Convention, an individual could prove

authorship by mailing the work to themselves (by registered mail); the post mark

(date stamp) serving as an additional proof of the origin and date of creation of that

work. Cathy confirmed that people actually do use this procedure, simple as it is.


There are ad hoc internship possibilities, however, there is no formal procedure or official

program but it is always worth trying. Mrs. Jewell emphasized that it is vital to identify the

area in which one would like to work. It would be good to speak some of the six official

UN languages as well as Korean, Japanese or Portuguese respectively. Furthermore, a

summer school is available, a close cooperation and partnership programs are held with


40

universities from all over the world. More information can be found online (www.wipo.int)

and also Mrs. Jewell can (and should) be contacted at [email protected].

5 TUESDAY, MAY 5TH

2009

5.1 International Telecommunication Union (ITU)

Date: Tuesday, May 5th

2009

Time: 09:00 am – 10:45 am

Topic: History, Structure & Activities of the ITU

Speaker: Ms. Cristina Bueti, Corporate Strategy Division


Our first visit on Tuesday, May 5th

2009, brought us to the International

Telecommunication Union (ITU). We had the unique opportunity to meet Ms. Cristina

Bueti, policy analyst of the Corporate Strategy Division. Ms. Bueti presented us with the

main objective of the organisation and its fields of activity.

Subsequently to the introduction we were given an overall view

on the structure and decision making bodies of the organisation.

Ms. Bueti‟s presentation was followed by an interactive

discussion and Question & Answer session on interesting

topics, ranging from spam and roaming charges, to cyber

security and internship possibilities with the ITU.

The ITU is a specialized agency of the United Nations and a

leader in information and communication technologies.

5.1.1 Historical Background

During the 19th century the number of innovations in communication demanded the

cooperation on an international level. Hence, in 1865 the International Telegraph Union

was created and soon thereafter it was followed by the first regulations on radio

broadcasting. Its scope of activities grew due to technologic advancements and in 1932 the

organisation‟s name was changed to ITU. In 1947 it was declared a UN specialized agency

and its headquarters were moved from Bern to Geneva.


41

5.1.2 Mission & Main Activities

The ITU is a norm-setting organisation with the vision to „connect the unconnected‟, that is

to enable access to telecommunication worldwide. It aims to develop interlinked systems

through collaborative efforts of both the private and the public sectors. Its objectives

include the active integration of developing countries into the global telecommunication

network.

The work of the ITU is divided into three main sectors:

• Radio Communication (ITU-R)

The radio frequency spectrum is a limited resource and faces the challenge of

accommodating the large number of telecommunication services available. The

Radio Communication division of the ITU manages the spectrum by assigning

frequencies to defined regions. Furthermore, it is responsible for the allocation of

television and broadcasting frequencies. The registration of satellite orbital

positions and development of services also lay within the scope of the ITU-R.

• Telecommunication Standardization (ITU-T)

Within the second sector of the ITU, technical specifications for international

communication services are developed in order to facilitate operations worldwide.

Examples of standardizations provided by the ITU-T include universal telephone

codes and numbering plans.

• Development (ITU-D)

The third sector of the ITU addresses the “missing link” of developing countries.

The Development sector of the ITU was established in 1992 in order to address

the lack of inter-linkage and to promote access to telecommunication networks in

the developing world. In 2006 the ITU launched a project based on the objective

to bridge the “Digital Divide”. The Development sector of the ITU aims to

support developing nations in overcoming their lack of technical or financial

resources and offers assistance and training for capacity building.

In addition, the ITU plays an essential role in disaster management. The

organisation improves telecommunication systems to ensure communication for

disaster prevention and in case of emergencies. Furthermore, the organisation

collaborates and exchanges information with other UN agencies, such as the

International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). It organizes workshops and


42

forums on issues associated with telecommunication services. Among the topics

of discussion are safety and consumer protection in internet governance.

Finally, another major activity of the ITU is to provide information on the process

and evolution of telecommunication services. The analysis and findings are

comprised in the World Telecommunications Development Report, which is

published on an annual basis. Hence, the ITU serves as a kind of platform for the

research, analysis and exchange of data and statistics on trends in international

telecommunication services.

5.1.3 Legal Framework

The legal framework of the ITU is based on the Constitution and Convention,

Administrative Regulations, including Radio and International Telecommunication

Regulations, as well as further basic texts. While the Constitution deals with basic

provisions, the purpose, structure and responsibilities of the Union and the respective

sectors, the Convention focuses on the functioning of the bodies and additional provisions

for conferences and assemblies or telecommunication services. Regulations concerning the

radio frequency spectrum are discussed and adopted during World Radio communication

Conferences held twice a year. These regulations eventually obtain treaty status and are in

principal binding for member states. Furthermore, International Telecommunication

Regulations exist with the aim of facilitating and improving telecommunication services.

5.1.4 Membership

Membership of the ITU is split up into three different categories. On the one hand 191

governments are currently granted the status of member states. On the other hand further

571 companies, such as Microsoft and Google, join the Union as sector members. Sector

members, a unique feature within the UN system, are active in a variety of fields including

manufacturing, research and development or services and funding. In addition, companies

and organisations can participate in study groups of the respective sectors as so called

associate members. The majority thereof is part of the ITU-T and ITU-D sectors.

5.1.5 Decision Making Bodies and Process

Supreme authority lies with the Plenipotentiary Conference and thus the member states that

meet every four years to set forth the overall strategy of the Union and revise the

Constitution and Convention. Furthermore, the Plenipotentiary Conference elects the

Secretary General as well as 46 members equally distributed amongst the regions that

constitute the Council. The Council is the executive body of the ITU, implementing its

policies and regulations and coordinating activities of the three sectors. The responsibilities


43

of the Secretary General, Dr. Hamadoun I. Touré, who is supported by a Deputy Secretary

General, mainly are of administrative and financial scope. In addition, the General

Secretariat supervises the three directors, each heading a bureau of the three sectors.

Furthermore, conferences on radio communication and telecommunication development

are reviewing and possibly revising regulations laid out by the Council. Every sector has a

study group that works on a broad range of topics, formulated by the respective assemblies.

One focus is, for instance, on online child protection. The World Telecommunication

Standardization and the Radio communication Assemblies additionally are responsible for

approving ITU-T and ITU-R recommendations. The three sectors have also set up advisory

groups that provide assistance to the directors by determining priorities and strategies for

the sectors as well as guiding the study groups. An additional body attached to the radio

communication sector is the Radio Regulations Board, which approves rules of procedure

and provides recommendations.

5.1.6 Presentation and Discussion

After an introduction of the organisation and its structure, Ms. Bueti explained major fields

of activities and upcoming events of the ITU. For instance, the Telecom World is a

worldwide exhibition which is held every three years and is the major event in the

international information and communication technology (ICT) sector. This year‟s

Telecom World event takes place in Geneva and is dedicated to „Open Networks –

Connected Minds‟. Moreover, the founding date of the ITU is celebrated on May 17 as the

World Telecommunication and Information Society Day. This year‟s theme deals with the


44

child/youth online protection, a joint effort by public and private entities to increase cyber

security. Ms. Bueti emphasized the importance of the World Summit on Information

Society (WSIS), which marked a milestone event in the cooperation of different

stakeholders. The outcome of the two phases of WSIS is considered an essential tool and

its implementation is reviewed at the WSIS forum organized on an annual basis by ITU,

UNESCO, UNCTAD and UNDP.

Ms. Bueti was very open to answer any questions on the work of the ITU. Due to her

enthusiastic personality and positive attitude, the students were actively participating in the

discussion. Questions raised included, amongst others, the issue of roaming charges. A

study group of the ITU is currently working on this problem by establishing a common

tariff policy to be applied on a global scale.

The discussion continued with security issues and the ITU‟s position on spams. The

organisation highlights that it should be a minimum requirement that every user can afford

anti-virus software and therefore it tries to make agreements with different providers to

keep prices low, without breaching any rules of competition. Moreover, Ms. Bueti

mentioned that there are two different approaches to spam. The US approach is a rather

market-oriented one with an „opt-out‟ version whereas European and other countries

follow an „opt-in‟ version. With regards to „cyber bullying‟, the ITU emphasizes the need

to include regulations in national laws. Ms. Bueti stressed that the organisation‟s aim is not

to hamper freedom of expression but to ensure security.


45

Furthermore, of great interest is the ITU‟s focus on „Networks of the Future‟ as within a

few years, it will be possible to connect multiple communication devices and thereby

enabling us to turn on the oven by simply sending a text message.

Our visit to the ITU and the presentation by Ms. Bueti were highly informative, because

the topics discussed affect our daily lives. Almost everyone is a member of social

networks, such as Facebook and Skype, however, one is often not aware of the underlying

threats. Women, for instance, may be

traced in certain countries due to the

information they provide on Facebook.

Interestingly, Ms. Bueti further

mentioned that Skype was the only

means of communication used by

terrorists after 9/11 and that everyone

downloading the program in the US

will automatically be profiled.

Moreover, the search engine Google

allows one the one hand for

continuously improved research while on the other hand it evaluates user data and

transforms it into advertising banners. Given these examples, internet users have to

carefully select which data to transmit.


As a last point, Ms. Bueti mentioned the ITU‟s internship program, which is offered to

undergraduate as well as graduate students from its member states and can be applied for

online (www.itu.int/employment/stages.html). Applicants are encouraged to specify their

area of interest. As with most other UN agencies, there is no reimbursement and costs have

to be borne by the students. Nevertheless, such an internship program offers a unique

opportunity to gain valuable experience in the rapidly changing field of

telecommunications.

There would have been a lot more questions on the interesting work of the ITU, but

unfortunately time did not allow for them. Still, the ITU and Ms. Bueti‟s presentation was

one of the most memorable visits of the entire study trip.

http://www.itu.int/employment/stages.html


46

5.2 International Labour Organisation (ILO)


2009

Time: 11:30 am – 12:30 pm

Topic: Introduction to the Organisation and Activities of the ILO

Speaker: Mr. Hans von Rohland, Senior Information Officer


After the interesting lecture at the International Telecommunication Union, our trip

continued with a visit to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), where we listened to

three informative interactive speeches on different topics. First, Mr. Hans von Rohland

provided an overview of the organisation‟s activities as well as important historical aspects

relevant for it‟s coming into being. This was followed by two speeches by Ms. Caroline

O‟Reilly and Ms. Udine Gröger on fundamental rights and principles of work by

referencing on specific Conventions, and forced labour and human trafficking respectively.

5.2.1 The Organisation

The International Labour Organisation (ILO), based in the International Labour Office in

Geneva, is a specialized organisation of the United Nations accommodating 182 member

states from all continents and celebrating its 90th

anniversary this year. Main

responsibilities include the development and supervision of international labour standards.

With its unique tripartite structure, the ILO brings together governments, employers and

workers in the annual International Labour Conference to set labour standards, supervise

their implementation, raise awareness, develop policies and devise programmes. These are

realized by the establishment of Conventions, Recommendations and Codes of Practice.

According to the ILO Constitution (1919) “universal and lasting peace can be established

only if it is based upon social justice”. Besides, decent work is the key to the elimination of

poverty. Following these principles, the ILO identifies four primary strategic objectives:

• To promote and realize standards and fundamental principles and rights at work.

• To create greater opportunities for women and men to secure decent employment.

• To enhance the coverage and effectiveness of social protection for all.

• To strengthen tripartism and social dialogue.


47

5.2.2 History

The ILO was created in 1919 as part of the Treaty of

Versailles that ended World War I to reflect the belief

that universal and lasting peace can be accomplished

only if it is based on social justice. The tripartite

organisation initially originated from a decision made

by a commission composed of representatives from

nine countries: Belgium, Cuba, Czechoslovakia,

France, Italy, Japan, Poland, the United Kingdom and

the United States.

The ILO at that time was and still is the only

organisation bringing together representatives of

governments, employers and workers in its executive

bodies. Deep reasons were behind the formation of

the ILO including driving forces in a political, social

and economic sense. The most important political stimulus for the creation of the ILO was

the fear of a revolution (like the Russian Revolution in 1917) hitting the world again.

Social driving forces included the aim to abolish child labour that was recognized in

industrialized countries. Harmonized international labour legislation and the elimination of

national protectionism or decreasing competitiveness due to single-state regulations were

among the economic grounds for the creation of the ILO.

The ILO has made signal contributions to the world of work from its early days. The first

International Labour Conference held in Washington in 1919 adopted six International

Labour Conventions, which dealt with hours of work in industry, unemployment, maternity

protection, night work for women, minimum age and night work for young persons in

industry.

In the summer of 1920, the ILO was firstly located in Geneva where it is still

headquartered today. During the Great Depression of the 1920s with its resulting massive

unemployment, the ILO realized that handling labour issues also requires international

cooperation. This resulted in the United States becoming a Member of the ILO in 1934.

Later, as the Second World War became imminent, the headquarters of the ILO

temporarily moved to Montreal, Canada, in May 1940 for reasons of safety. In 1946, the

ILO became a specialized agency of the newly formed United Nations. During the post-

war years between 1948-1970 the number of Member States doubled, the Organisation

took on its universal character, industrialized countries became a minority among


48

developing countries, the budget grew five-fold and the number of officials quadrupled. In

1969 on its 50th anniversary the ILO even was granted the Nobel Peace Prize. From the

post-Cold War period on, the importance of placing social justice at the heart of

international economic and social policies was emphasized by the ILO. Also a course of

decentralization of activities and resources away from the Geneva headquarters was set

forth.

The current Director General of the ILO is Juan

Somavia of Chile who took over in March 1999. He

is considered to have brought significant changes to

the Organisation concerning its structure, activities

and ways to approach the various issues. Mr.

Somavia emphasizes the importance of making

decent work and the promotion of a fair

globalization a strategic international goal.

Moreover, he underlines work as an instrument of

poverty alleviation and the ILO‟s role in helping to

achieve the Millennium Development Goals,

including cutting world poverty by half by 2015.

5.2.3 Structure

The ILO is the world's only tripartite multilateral agency that makes employers, workers

and governments have equal voices and jointly shape policies and programmes. Each

country is represented by two government delegates and one employer and worker

delegate. These meet in the annual International Labour Conference in Geneva, where

Conventions and Recommendations are adopted by means of two-thirds majority votes to

set international standards. Through the ratification by member states, Conventions create

binding obligations to implement the provisions. Recommendations provide the country

with guidance on policy, legislation, and practical issues. The Conference also approves

the ILO work plan, the budget, which is contributed by the member states, and elects the

Governing Body.

The Governing Body, which is the executive council, meets between the sessions of the

Conference and consists of 28 government members, 14 employer members and 14 worker

members. It usually meets three times a year to draft the programme, the budget and

prepare preworks for the Conference.


49

In addition to the International Labour Office in Geneva, the ILO‟s Secretariat has field

offices in more than 40 countries. The Office is headed by the Director-General and works

under the scrutiny of the Governing Body, who appoints the head of the Office. The

Director-General is elected for a five-year renewable term.

5.2.4 Scope of Work

The ILO is the international meeting place for the world of work. Basically it fosters

economic development and progress. The ILO states that all countries should have the

same possibility to implement international labour standards in order to be efficient.

Therefore social dialogue has become a central issue for the scope of work.

“Decent work”–as defined by the ILO–is the organisation‟s slogan. Decent work is central

to the efforts to reduce poverty. Besides, it is a means to achieve sustainable development.

“Promoting decent work for all people”–has priority in the ILO.

As global unemployment has always been a concerning issue, the ILO has put employment

at the centre of economic and social policies. It helps to implement employment policies

and also promotes employment-intensive investment.

In 2002, the ILO launched the World Commission on the Social Dimension of

Globalization. The Commission explored innovative, sustainable ways of combining

economic, social and environmental objectives to make globalization work for all.

Since its foundation the ILO has been trying to improve labour conditions for working

people by building a system of international labour standards, as already mentioned above.

Until now the ILO has adopted more than 180 ILO Conventions and 190

Recommendations covering all aspects of the world of work. In 1998, the ILO adopted the

Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work. It covers four basic areas:

• Freedom of association (workers‟ and employers‟ rights to form and join

organisations of their choice)

• Elimination of forced labour (legal sanctions and vigorous prosecution against

those who exploit forced labour rights)

• Elimination of discrimination

• Elimination of child labour (children should receive proper education and training

to become productive adults in decent employment)

Furthermore, the ILO is strongly fighting against poverty since almost half of the world‟s

workers are living below the poverty line. It is working together with the UN and the

World Bank as well as with other multinational agencies in order to reduce poverty. By


50

breaking the vicious cycle of poverty, the ILO is creating new opportunities and local

wealth.


After the first part of our visit to the ILO presented by Mr. von Rohland, the floor was

opened to questions raised by the students. The first question brought up attained high

appreciation of the Officer since the ILO‟s director general was recently asked a very

similar one by a reporter. In fact the question addressed the objections of Germany to the

takeover of the car manufacturer Opel by the Italian one Fiat and if it would be

recommendable to have a tripartite meeting in order to settle the disputes and clarify on

open questions. The answer was that it does not necessarily make sense to only have a

tripartite meeting in this case but an international platform for car manufacturers, their

employees and governments could be promoted.

A second question was related to the current financial

crisis. In particular it was questioned the ILO‟s measures

concerning promote jobs during this wave of dismissals.

To answer this, Mr. von Rohland highlighted two reports

that were issued in response to the crisis. The gist of

those was that national governments should not decide

alone but involve all levels concerned, i.e. also include

employers and workers. Besides, a dialogue must be

opened also on an international level in order to prevent

from single-country-protectionism. Streamlining the

various issues would be of major importance. The ILO‟s

task in case of a crisis in fact is to promote such dialogues

and to provide social security to released people. Security systems and social dialogue

must be introduced and informal groups of laid off people (that are still present also in

industrialized countries) be eliminated.

In the end the Officer draw the students‟ attention to the very well equipped library in the

ILO building which contains high-quality publications including precious and very much

detailed historical data available to the general public. The library offers information

beyond the issues related to the ILO and has people accessing from all over the world.

More detailed information about ILO‟s library in Geneva can be found under the following

link: www.ilo.org/public/english/support/lib/.

http://www.ilo.org/public/english/support/lib/


51

5.3 Special Action Program to Combat Forced Labour


2009

Time: 12:30 pm – 1:15 pm

Topic: Forced labour and trafficking Issues

Speaker: Ms. Caroline O‟Reilly, Associate Expert

Ms. Undine Gröger, Technical Cooperation and Research


5.3.1 Forced Labour and Human Trafficking

“There is much worse than not being able to find work.

It’s about not being able to leave work.”

The ILO defines forced labour as work or service exacted from a person under threat or

penalty, which includes penal sanctions and the loss of rights and privileges, where the

person has not offered him or herself voluntarily. It happens when people are forced to

work by the state, private enterprises or individuals who have the will and power to do so.

Forced labour takes different forms including debt bondage, trafficking and other forms of

modern slavery. The most vulnerable victims are women and girls forced into prostitution,

migrants trapped in debt bondage, and sweatshop or farm workers kept there by clearly

illegal tactics and paid only little or nothing.

Practically, forced labour is a situation where a person is coerced to stay on a job by

threats, debts, or other forms of physical or psychological means. A person facing forced

labour is not free to leave his or her job. It has to be mentioned that a perpetrator is needed

in order being able to talk about forced labour. Forced labour is often closely interrelated

with human trafficking since trafficking is the main source for procurement of forced

labourers.

5.3.2 Key Figures

An estimated minimum of at least 12 million people worldwide are victims of forced

labour. Of those, 10 million are exploited by forced labour in the private economy, rather

than imposed directly by states. The ILO estimates that US$ 32 billion in annual profits are

generated by the forced labour of trafficked people. The composition of forced labourers is

the following: 32 % of people are economically exploited meaning utilized for manual


52

work in the textile sector, on construction sites, in tourism, health care or agriculture; 43 %

are facing sexual exploitation, are forced into being prostitutes; the remaining 25 % are

coerced into a mixture of both. Concerning economic exploitation the victims are men,

women and children, whereby in the commercial sexual sector the majority of victims are

women. A further striking point to mention is that forced labour is not only a phenomenon

to be faced by developing countries or least developed countries. An amount of 360,000

people at a minimum find oneself in forced labour in industrialized countries.

5.3.3 ILO’s Strategies to Combat Forced Labour

The main measures taken by the ILO to prevent forced labour are (1) data collection – in

order to get a clear understanding of the nature and scope of forced labour, being able to

compile statistics at a national level and to develop a set of national indicators of forced

labour; (2) legal framework – development of enforceable legislation in order to foster

prosecution and impose legal sanctions; (3) labour market based measures – to monitor and

regulate the activities of recruitment agencies and labour contractors, to provide alternative

local income opportunities and skills to prospective irregular migrants and rescued victims

of trafficking and being able to make workplace inspections.

A particular strength of the ILO, compared to other International Organisations, in

addressing broader issues than only sexual exploitation when it comes to forced labour, is

that it can also harness the efforts of labour institutions and social partners to support

action against all forms of trafficking. Those partners include labour inspectors and labour

prosecutors, employment agencies and employers‟ and workers‟ organisations.

An especially important step into the right direction has been the development of the ILO‟s

Special Action Programme to Combat Forced Labour, which was created in late 2001

shortly after the adoption of the “Palermo Trafficking Protocol” to the UN Convention


53

against

Transnational

Organized Crime.

Since then member

states have been

looking to the ILO

for guidance, as to

how to develop

indicators for their

police, prosecutors

and others on ways to identify forced labour situations in practice. The field of fighting

against forced labour is fairly uncharted territory, given the relative absence of

jurisprudence. However, there has been growth of forced labour prosecutions in the United

States during 2008 and the first Norwegian verdict on forced labour was passed in late

2008.

5.3.4 The Challenges Ahead

In 2005 the ILO‟s Director General, Juan Somavia, committed the organisation to leading

a global campaign against forced labour, seeking to eradicate it by 2015 as one vital

contribution to the Millennium Development Goals.

Even though there have been signs of progress, since attention to the problems has risen

and the problem of forced labour is generally more visible, there are further efforts needed

in order to achieve the set goals. By now there has been some growth in law enforcement,

on a subject which was simply hidden and underground a few years ago, and which

escaped the attention of labour inspectors and criminal justice alike. The building blocks

however are in place for an intensified global campaign against forced labour and labour

trafficking, in which the European countries are well positioned to play a prominent role.

Yet it has to be mentioned

that the grey areas

between the criminal act

of forced labour and other

morally unacceptable

forms of labour

exploitation now merit

more urgent attention after


54

the dawn of the financial crisis in late 2008.


After the second part, the presentation of Ms. O‟Reilly and Ms. Gröger, students were in

turn offered the opportunity to place questions. The first question posed was about the

activities directly executed by the ILO, i.e. the ILO‟s hands-on activities in the respective

areas besides data collection. Ms. Gröger explained that hands-on activities include the

making of recommendations for example on the training of labour inspectors or courts.

Besides, the ILO examines trends in order to develop new methods.

Another student asked if besides the activities in single countries there was a common

mechanism also on the European level to combat forced labour and human trafficking.

According to Ms. Gröger it is very difficult to introduce a common mechanism since there

are problems of standard enforcement even on national levels. Moldova was stated as an

example for such problems. Although the country is a member of the EU and should

therefore actually be a receiving country of people trafficked and forced, Romania still is a

sending country that lacks the proper enforcement of the standards and regulations.

A third question arose in the context of the ILO‟s power to enforce established standards

and prosecute their adherence, i.e. if there was a need of an executory body because a lack

of actions in certain countries. In this sense, reference was made to the OSCE

(Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe), which deals with those issues.


55


After the informative Question & Answer Sessions, Mr. Bajrektarevic raised the issue of

internship possibilities for the students. Mr. von Rohland explained that the ILO is offering

internships for students. In this concern it was advised to apply directly to the respective

departments and to state precisely the areas of one‟s interest. The duration of internships

varies from three to six months and is especially attractive due to the remuneration which

has recently been introduced. Furthermore Mr. von Rohland mentioned that the ILO

welcomes Junior Professional Officers (JPOs). A JPO is a person employed for a two to

five-year term and is paid by his or her national government. The JPO programme provides

monetary supported to young associated experts in the ILO which is granted under certain

conditions by almost all EU countries.

Concerning internship opportunities in the area of forced labour and human trafficking,

Ms. Gröger stated that applications by students are always welcomed. A possible way

would be to address her directly or to post an application on the central platform. The

applicant should however state Conventions and divisions of interest when applying for an

internship and be an outstanding candidate fitting to the Organisation and contributing to

its overall quality.

Detailed information about employment opportunities at the ILO and internships in

particular can be found on the following web site:

www.ilo.org/public/english/bureau/pers/vacancy/index.htm.


56

5.4 Austrian Mission to the International Organisations in Geneva


2009

Time: 03:15 pm – 05:30 pm

Topic: Mission Briefing

Speaker: Ms. Christina Kokkinakis, Minister Plenipotentiary, Chargé d‟Affaires a.i.

Ms. Brigitte Lüth, Attaché

Ms. Eva Schöfer, First Secretary

Ms. Julia Wimmer, Intern

Dr. Helmut Friza, Minister Plenipotentiary

Mr. Markus Weidinger, First Secretary


5.4.1 Introduction

The Permanent Mission of Austria to the United Nations and Specialized Agencies in

Geneva gave us the highly interesting opportunity to be part of a mission briefing in the

afternoon of our second day in Geneva. The briefing that took place in the premises of the

Council of the European Union (so called „Blue Box‟) was characterised by highly

interesting speeches on widely diversified topics. Ms. Christina Kokkinakis, Minister

Plenipotentiary and Chargé d‟Affaires a.i. introduced the briefing by elaborating on the

main tasks of the Austrian Mission in Geneva. Ms. Julia Wimmer, an IMC student doing

her internship at the Austrian Mission, gave us an overview on the newly emerging

influenza. This was followed by a briefing on the WTO hold by Ms. Brigitte Lüth, Attaché.

Furthermore, Ms. Eva Schöfer, First Secretary (Human Rights) and Mr. Markus

Weidinger, First Secretary (Humanitarian Affairs) gave well-structured presentations on

their respective fields of expertise.

We rapidly recognised that the Austrian delegation in Geneva was present in nearly full

members, which eventually allowed us to gain an insight into all fields the Austrian

Mission works on. We, as IMC students, are particularly grateful not only for this, but also

for the opportunity to ask more personal questions in the informal part of the meeting,

which was organised as a small reception by the Austrian Mission. This additionally eased

the already comfortable atmosphere due to which we were able to address the highly

valued hosts with questions on their educational backgrounds and life in Geneva.


57


58

5.4.2 Tasks of the Austrian Mission in Geneva

The first part of the presentation,

held by Minister Plenipotentiary,

Deputy Permanent Representative

Kokkinakis was dedicated to the

work tasks of the Austrian Mission

in Geneva. The permanent Mission

of Austria to the UN and Specialized

Agencies based in Geneva acts as an

intermediary and representative

between the Austrian government

and the institutions in Geneva.

A permanent mission generally performs multilateral relations between a state and

International Organisations or other representations as opposed to an embassy that

executes bilateral relations between two states. The importance of the communication

between the organisations and the Federal Governments in form of the Mission is crucial to

uphold constructive relationships on a multilateral basis. Ms. Kokkinakis further on

presented the division of work in the Permanent Mission with the help of an informative

organisational chart as well as the speakers and their respective fields of activities.

Major fields of concern include the UN specialized agencies – especially Health, Human

Rights, Humanitarian Affairs, Economic and Development affairs –, Disarmament, the

World Trade Organisation (WTO) as well as the European Organisation for Nuclear

Research (CERN). Main issues and responsibilities of the Austrian mission comprise

among others the maintenance of liaison between Austria and the various organisations in

Geneva, the promotion and representation of Austrian interests, active participation in

negotiation and decision making processes and finally the reporting on activities to the

Austrian Federal government.

5.4.3 Briefing on the New Influenza

Following to the very lively introduction, Ms. Julia Wimmer on behalf of Dr. Helmut

Friza, Liaison Officer WHO, started her presentation on a health issue that is currently

keeping busy vast parts of the world, the arising H1N1 influenza. She gave us an update on

the current situation, the risks and challenges, an outlook as well as prevention measures.

Furthermore, she mentioned the number of infected people in the respective countries. In


59

order to get the disease under control, the WHO is working closely and intensively

together with the US CDC (Center for Disease Control) as to develop a proper vaccine.

This is necessary as the virus is a mutation that has never been seen before. The fact that it

is transmissible from one human being to another incurs the risk of a pandemic.

However, the WHO advises that no restrictions of regular travel or closure of borders is

necessary, taking into consideration the present development of the disease. Individuals are

strongly asked to wash hands thoroughly and regularly with soap and water and to consult

a doctor immediately in case any symptoms of influenza-like illnesses occur. As the

symptoms of A/H1N1 virus are similar to those of usual seasonal flues and severe

pneumonia the disease is difficult to detect. The risk of infection from consumption of

well-cooked pork and pork products is practically eliminated.

In order to sum up the threat of this disease, the speaker highlighted that it is of vital

importance for all states to increase and enhance their surveillance and to immediately

report on unusual outbreaks of influenza-like illnesses and severe pneumonia. Whereas the

opportunity for global solidarity should be considered a major issue in this respect, close

cooperation is crucial at this very moment.

The questions and answers period was shaped by the prevailing circumstances in

combination with the emergence of the H1N1 influenza. Dr. Helmut Friza as the person in

charge of health affairs at the Austrian Mission was able to paint a picture of the

predominant situation, including an outlook and statement on the security measures being

undertaken by the competence centres in the underlying field. Our Mexican exchange

student showed particular interest in the importance of medical treatment and Dr. Friza

explained that Tamiflu should not be taken preventively, but only if a doctor prescribes it

after detecting the virus.

5.4.4 Representing Austria at the World Trade Organization

As a part of the briefing at the Permanent Mission of Austria, the World Trade

Organization (WTO) was the next point on the agenda. The WTO department at the

Permanent Mission of Austria to the UN acts as the representative of Austria at EU

Coordination meetings in Geneva and Brussels. Participation in WTO meetings is a main

responsibility, as well as reporting to and coordinating with Vienna and Brussels. The

World Trade Organisation as a whole deals, on behalf of its 153 members, with the rules of

trade between nations at a global level, mainly GATT, GATS and TRIPS. It was

established in 1995 as a result of General Agreements on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and

the outcomes of the Uruguay Round. Being the highest authority, the ministerial


60

conference takes place every two years, whereas the General Council, that acts as the

central operative body, meets three or four times a year. Since 1 October 2005, Pascal

Lamy from France is appointed director general. In September 2009, he was reelected for

the next period. Mr. Lamy works closely together with the secretariat of the WTO, which

comprises approximately 650 employees. In order to finance the operations, the WTO had

a budget of about 185 Mio. CHF at disposal in 2008. The Austrian contribution amounted

to 2.5 Mio. CHF.

The main responsibilities of the WTO are the reduction and elimination of tariffs and other

trade barriers, as well as the integration of developing countries into the multilateral

trading systems. In order to achieve the mentioned objectives, the WTO administrates

existing agreements, acts as a negotiating forum for further liberalization of current trade

rules and for new agreements, and enforces trade rules through dispute settlement. The

functioning of the WTO is based on the most-favoured nation treatment, national treatment

and legal certainty. The WTO is a member-driven organisation. This approach is pointed

out by its organisation principles. Proposals are submitted by the member states and all

decisions are taken by consensus. Thereafter, the results of a negotiation have to be ratified

by the parliaments of the member states.

After this general information of the

organisation and its main goals and tasks,

the Austrian mandate and influence became

a major point of interest. The EU with its

member states acts in broad consent at the

WTO, meaning the joint collaboration in the

common European market also implies joint

agreement on trade issues being discussed at

the World Trade Organisation („one voice,

27 votes‟). Therefore the procedure concerning the objectives of reduction and elimination

of tariffs and other trade barriers, as well as the integration of developing countries into the

multilateral trading system is achieved on a common EU basis.

Last but not least, Ms. Lüth focused on the Doha round which was launched in 2001.

Despite several setbacks in the past years, the objective is to finish the round by the end of

2009. Main issues of the current round are agriculture, NAMA (Non Agricultural Market

Access), services, and development issues. In this context, special focus is put on the needs

of developing countries in all negotiating areas, and countries enjoying special and

differential treatment will be included into existing trade agreements.


61

After her informative speech Ms. Lüth invited the students from Krems to pose questions.

Several students made use of this unique possibility and we were therefore able to gather

even more information. One of the main topics in the discussion was the Doha round and

Ms. Lüth‟s personal view and impressions of the outcomes and developments of this

round, as well as the relevant issues for Austria in the negotiations, and the spread and

treatment of biotechnical products, including genetically modified corn. In addition, she

answered upcoming questions regarding the reaction of the WTO to the new protectionism

due to the financial crisis. Another point of concern was the imposition of sanctions by the

dispute settlement body of the WTO.

5.4.5 Thematic Focus on Human Rights

Ms. Schöfer, First Secretary, started the presentation about Human Rights with a brief

introduction into the international Human Rights architecture and the activities for the

protection of Human Rights by the UN, Austria, the Council of Europe and the EU as well

as NGOs.

The main part of the presentation focused on the UN‟s activities concerning Human Rights

and the various conventional („Treaty-based‟) and extra conventional („Charter-based‟)

mechanisms within the system. Ms. Schöfer highlighted the importance and scope of work

of the Human Rights Council (HRC), which is the main organ within the UN dealing

specifically with Human Rights, and provided us with a good overview about the different

bodies and decision mechanisms. She emphasized the instruments of the Council and the

importance of independent experts and working groups that are established by the HRC.

Another focus was the Human Rights and the United Nations Office of the High

Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), which is the main UN organ in Human Rights

promotion and protection and which has its office in Palais Wilson in Geneva.

Ms. Schöfer elaborated also on the current topics concerning Human Rights and the UN.

These included the Durban Review Conference 2009 that has just finished, the 5th

session

of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), which took place from the 4th

until the 15th

of

May 2009, and the different country mandates. Moreover, she expressed the UN‟s concern

about the current new law on family rights in Afghanistan, which obliges women to have

regular sexual relation with their husbands.

The last part of Ms. Schöfer‟s presentation concerned Austria‟s thematic focus and the

country‟s representation within the international system of Human Rights. She highlighted

the importance of Human Rights within the European Union and explained the role of the

Commission in UN meetings. The topic Human Rights is part of the second pillar of the


62

EU (common foreign and security policy) and the Commission represents the 27 EU

member states in the UN Human Rights meetings. Furthermore, the role of non-

governmental organisations with regard to Human Rights was mentioned. There are

numerous NGOs present in Geneva, e.g. Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and

others. They participate as well in the UN activities, which is widely supported by Austria

and the EU.

After this very interesting presentation about Human Rights and the UN, Ms. Schöfer gave

us as well the opportunity to raise questions. As she finished her speech with some insights

into the activities of the EU concerning Human Rights and the Commission‟s role in UN

meetings, the question about the influence of a single EU member state within those

meetings arouse. Ms. Schöfer explained in more detail the importance of the European

Commission in the UN meetings. She highlighted that the single country‟s interests are

firstly discussed within the Commission itself by all commissioners of the various member

states. This common approach of the 27 member states is then represented by the

Commission at the UN meetings.

5.4.6 Humanitarian Affairs

The last speaker we had the pleasure to talk to was Mr. Markus Weidinger, the First

Secretary for Humanitarian, Migration and Financial issues. He is the person responsible

for the proper representation of Austria to many international institutions dealing with

humanitarian affairs and development plans for aid-seeking countries.

At the beginning of his speech, Mr. Weidinger introduced us to his daily work and

described how the daily-processes of his team look like. He also mentioned the complex


63

environment of working in connection with humanitarian issues. All the organisations in

Geneva that are supposed to assist in humanitarian and development affaires have different

set-ups and bodies that have different decision making processes and working patterns. He

explained that sometimes it is not easy for national representatives to provide help in a

specific matter, as there are many organisations involved that need to coordinate their

activities to react as quickly and accurately as possible to problems.

This coordination among all parties can consume a lot of time, which is rather scarce,

when humanitarian crises occur. Nevertheless, Mr. Weidinger also appreciated that there

has already been a lot of progress in the coordination of aid-organisations under a so-called

cluster approach. This approach is designed to assign specific tasks to specific

organisations in order to use the strengths of each organisation for the benefit of the

people. For example in case of an earthquake, one organisation is providing food rations

for the refugees, another is offering tents and shelter and another one is assisting in the

medical care.

After this general introduction to the work processes in connection with humanitarian

organisations, Mr. Weidinger explained briefly the most important organisations in which

he is representing Austria. Those are UNHCR, IOM, and OCHA. He also mentioned ICRC

and IFRC, but those organisations are treated in detail in another chapter.

The first organisation he explained to us was the UNHCR (United Nations High

Commission for Refugees). This affiliated organisation to the UN is responsible for

refugee affairs, but also for internally displaced people (IDP) who are quasi refugees but

never crossed the border of their home nation. Within this organisation the Human Rights

and the adequate treatment of refugees are supported, as well as the proper treatment and

integration of IDPs, returnees and stateless persons.

Another organisation Mr. Weidinger presented is particularly important for a migration

country like Austria, namely the IOM (International Organisation for Migration). This

entity was created outside the system of the UN and defines its goals to assure and promote


64

humane management and integration of migrants

and affiliated problems. Finally, we also had a

brief look into the basic activities of OCHA

(Offices for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian

Affairs). This rather small organisation is

responsible for the coordination of humanitarian

relief and coordination.

As also mentioned in the beginning, Mr.

Weidinger again stressed the importance of these organisations and their work for people

in troubles, as they mainly finance their activities by voluntary donations and the work of

volunteers. He repeated their importance for Austria and the high commitment of the

country to humanitarian affairs. Here, the special priorities of Austria are the abolishment

of mines, the support of women and children as well as of IDPs.

Unfortunately, due to the time pressure and our already noticeable delay, there was no

possibility to ask specific questions concerning the presentation and the organisations, but

fortunately we had the chance to catch up with all the burning questions at the following

fantastic reception. The only topic we were able to elaborate was the role of the European

Commission on migration issues in Austria. Mr. Weidinger was able to explain the

underlying situation in Austria and he was capable of discussing this sensitive issue in a

way that Austria is in the challenging situation requiring high devotion of policymakers to

meet the demands of all parties involved.


Due to the well-established relations of the IMC, and here particularly Professor

Bajrektarevic, with the Austrian Mission in Geneva, there is a regular intake of IMC

interns (with Austrian nationality) within the representation. Unfortunately, the interns at

the mission do not receive any monetary compensation for their work, but they can benefit

from an exclusive insight into the daily work of the mission and have the opportunity to

become a full member of the team in representation of their home nation.

Ms. Kokkinakis also mentioned the under-representation of Austrians in many UN

organisations (WHO, WIPO, UNHCR) and others (IOM) and encouraged us to participate

in the applications for positions in those organisations. To work for those organisations,

there are two possibilities: either you apply directly to the organisations and go through

their recruitment procedures, or you participate in a program by the Austrian Ministry for

European Relations and International Affairs. You have to take and exam and if you pass


65

this and are selected as a candidate, you are privileged to participate in a maximal two

years work programme in an UN organisation.

The profile of the ideal candidate working for the Austrian Mission or any UN organisation

would be:

• Flexibility: prove for the flexibility, maybe through work in or travelling through

Africa or Asia

• Languages: especially eastern European languages as well as Chinese

• Field experience: at best under any UN volunteers programme

To sum up the requirements for a potential career in the Austrian Mission or any

International Organisation, Dr. Friza recommended the students to gather experience in

field work, whether in association with a UN institution or a NGO. He told us „better to do

something meaningful without monetary compensation instead of doing nothing and waste

the time.‟

5.4.8 Reception

The formal part of the briefing at the Austrian

Mission was concluded by a reception including

intense discussions with the speakers. Some

students used this perfect opportunity to speak

about internship possibilities within the Austrian

Mission. The comfortable and inviting

atmosphere created by the reception also enabled

the students to collect some opinions and hints

regarding the life in Geneva as well as the educational background needed to start working

at the Austrian Mission. It was interesting to hear some more details about the typical

working days of the representatives, which was discussed informally among the students

and the speakers. In this context it should be pointed out that

the possibility to gain a theoretical but highly interesting

inside view of the work and scope of the Austrian Mission in

combination with the highly appreciated reception that was

offered by the distinguished persons, should be credited high

gratefulness. Hence, we would like to deeply thank the

speakers and mission staff that took part in the briefing as well

as helped to prepare this event for their time devoted. On

behalf of the whole group, we would like to especially thank


66

all members of the Mission, who dedicated their valuable time and efforts even for the

inofficial part, in form of the reception, after the speeches.


67

6 WEDNESDAY, MAY 6TH

2009

6.1 Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development

(OECD)

Date: Wednesday, May 6th

2009

Time: 03:00 pm – 03:10 pm

Topic: Welcome OECD

Speaker: by H.E. Dr. Franz Fischler, former Minister and the EU Commissioner for

Agriculture

Time: 03:10 pm – 04:15 pm

Topic: History, Structure, Scope of Work and Membership

Speaker: Mr. Christoph Mayer, Attaché Austrian Delegation to the OECD


The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), based in Paris, is

one of the world‟s major and most reliable providers of comparable statistics and economic

and social data. Due to numerous researches in the field of economics and public policy,

the OECD is one of the world‟s leading publishers of reports and forecasts in that area. Mr.

Christoph Mayer, Attaché of the Austrian Delegation to the OECD, gave us a brief insight

into the organisation‟s mission, goals, structure, members, areas of work and

achievements, followed by an overview of the role of the Austrian Delegation and a

discussion at the end.


68

6.1.1 History

Historically, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

developed out of the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation (OEEC) that was

set up in 1948 to assist the European Economy to recover from the disturbances and

impacts of World War II.

Its primary purpose was to execute the “European Recovery Programme”, also known as

the “Marshall Plan by distributing about 13 billion USD which had been provided by the

United States under the presidency of Harry Truman.

In September 1961, the OECD became the official

successor of the OEEC with 19 foundation

members, among them, the United States and

Canada as non-European members.

With the scope of work becoming more global,

several countries, such as Finland, Japan, Australia

and New Zealand joined the organisation between

1964 and 1970. This expansion was followed by Mexico, the Czech Republic, Hungary,

Poland, Korea and the Slovak Republic.

Today, the OECD consists of 30 member countries (namely: Australia, Austria, Belgium,

Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland,

Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand,

Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United

Kingdom, United States), over has close work relations with more than 70 countries as

well as co-operations with major international partners such as the World Trade

Organisation (WTO) and the European Union (EU). Just recently the OECD invited Chile,

Estonia, Israel, Russia and Slovenia to join as full members and offered enhanced

engagement, with a view to possible membership, to Brazil, China, India, Indonesia and

South Africa.

6.1.2 General Overview

As mentioned above, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

(OECD) was officially founded in 1960, and came into force on 30th

of September 1961 as

an intergovernmental economic organisation composed of currently thirty member

countries. The Head quarter of the OECD is situated in Paris, at the Châteu de la Muette.


69

The OECD‟s credo is to stand for democracy and market economy. Further areas of

activity include providing information and guidance on the topics of trade and structural

adjustment, as well as reducing poverty in developing countries.

One way to achieve its goals is to help governments to respond quickly to new

developments, by providing a forum for the exchange of experiences and methods of

resolution, including the coordination of domestic and international policies.

Another field of activity is the allocation of data concerning more than one hundred

developing countries and emerging market economies like China, South Africa, India,

Brazil and Mexico.

6.1.3 Aims

The OECD has defined its core principles in the “Convention on the Organisation for

Economic Co-operation and Development”, which has been signed by every member

state. They include the intent to:

• Maintain financial stability

• Raise living standards

• Contribute to growth in world trade

• Support governments to sustainable economic growth

• Boost employment

• Assist other countries‟ economic development

6.1.4 Organisation

6.1.4.1 The Council

The decision making power lies within the OECD Council. It is made up of one

representative per member country, plus a representative of the European Commission.

These decisions are achieved via regular council meetings at the level of permanent

representatives to the OECD and are taken by consensus. The Council meets at a

ministerial level once a year to discuss key issues and set priorities for OECD work.

6.1.4.2 Committees

In order to progress ideas and cooperate on areas, such as economics, trade, science,

employment, education or financial markets the comities provide a forum for discussion

and co-operation.

There are about 200 committees, working groups and expert groups, equipped with a total

of 40,000 senior officials. These officials are dispatched by the national administrations.


70

6.1.4.3 The Secretariat

The Secretariat in Paris is made up of about 2,500 staff members, who support the

activities of the committees. These employees, which include economists, lawyers,

scientists and other professionals, carry out the work in response to priorities decided by

the OECD Council.

Currently the OECD Secretariat is headed by Mr. Angel Gurría, who is assisted by one or

more Deputy Secretaries-General.


The presentation was followed by a lively discussion. The focus of the questions raised

was primarily on issues concerning the OECD itself. Mr. Mayer answered questions

regarding the OECD‟s relation to the BRIC-countries and its interest in incorporating these

into the organisation. Another issue that arose in the discussion was the OECD‟s role in

helping the countries, which are heavily affected by the current financial and economic

crisis, namely Hungary and Iceland.


At the end, our professor Dr. Anis

Bajrektarevic raised a question regarding

employment and internship possibilities

at the OECD. Although Austria is

underrepresented in the OECD, as Mr.

Mayer told us, it is currently very hard to

obtain a position within the organisation.

An employment requires excellent

economic knowledge since very much

expert work is done. Current job offers

can be found under www.oecd.org/hrm/vacancies. Furthermore, in the career section of the

organisation‟s website (www.oecd.org/hrm) one can apply for an internship by directly

contacting the department of interest. Internships at the OECD vary in duration and

payment, however, the usual duration of internships is six months but can be extended to

up to 18 months. In this context it is to note that applicants only qualify for an internship

position if they are citizens of one of the OECD countries.


71

6.2 Permanent Delegation of Austria to the OECD


2009

Time: 03:00 pm – 04:00 pm

Topic: Role and Function of the Austrian Delegation

Speaker: Mr. Christoph Mayer, Attaché Austrian Delegation to the OECD


The general overview of the OECD was

followed by a definition of the role of the

Permanent Delegation of Austria to the

OECD (hereafter referred to as Austrian

Mission). In his presentation, Mr.

Christoph Mayer outlined the structure

and the role of the Austrian Mission.

6.2.1 Role and Responsibilities of

the Austrian Mission

Each of the 30 OECD-member states is represented at the organisation in Paris by several

representatives and delegates. The fundamental role of the Austrian Mission is to act as a

linkage between the OECD Secretariat and national authorities.

Furthermore, the Austrian Mission promotes Austria‟s national interests in multilateral

negotiations. It basically aims at ensuring a good fit between the OECD´s work and their

country‟s interests. As a further point, it informs about current developments of the OECD-

programmes of work.

The Austrian Mission is composed of one ambassador and several diplomats. At present,

Mr. Wolfgang Petritsch is Austria‟s ambassador. He was appointed by the Austrian Federal

Chancellery on March 4, 2008. Mr. Petritsch, in consultation with his peers, has the

responsibility to agree on the programme of work, validate strategic work and establish the

volume of the annual budget.


At the beginning of the discussion round, Mr. Mayer explained how the Austrian Mission

is composed. In concrete terms, the Delegation consists of 14 diplomatic staff, which are


72

mostly specialists from a variety of ministries such as the Ministry for Finance, the

Ministry for Agriculture, the Ministry for Economy, Family and Youth and, of course, the

Federal Chancellery itself.

A question that was raised in this context concerned the Austrian competences within the

OECD. According to Mr. Mayer, Austria‟s major competences within the OECD focus on

agriculture, renewable energies and investments.

For further information about the Austrian Mission, Mr. Mayer recommended us the

following links: www.oecd.org, www.oecd.org/Austria, www.bka.gv.at/oecd.


With regards to the Austrian Mission, Mr. Mayer talked about employment possibilities

directly at the Permanent Delegation of Austria to the OECD. The Austrian Mission offers

traineeships, which are generally unpaid. Applications for traineeships, starting earliest by

July 2010, can be forwarded directly to Mr. Mayer ([email protected]). Another

important fact to mention is that one has to hold the citizenship of one of the OECD-

Members in order to be considered for an internship position.


73

6.3 International Energy Agency (IEA)


2009

Time: 04:15 pm – 05:30 pm

Topic: IEA – An Overview (incl. Question & Answer Period)

Speaker: Ms. Rebecca Gaghen, Head, Communication and Information Office (IEA)


6.3.1 General Information

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has been facing challenges since more than 30

years, or in other words, since the break-up of the Soviet Union, China‟s emergence as a

major world power as well as the danger of nowadays‟ terrorism. Broadly speaking, there

is hardly another good, which changes swifter than energy such as crude oil and natural

gas.

The foundation of the IEA was initiated because of the first global oil shock in 1973 due to

the war in the Middle East region. As a result the oil price was doubled by the OPEC

member states, furthermore, there was an embargo announced on the United States of

America (USA) and The Netherlands due to their support of Israel during the conflicts.

Hence, the former national security adviser of US President Richard Nixon, Henry A.

Kissinger – who was supported by two Belgium economists, created the idea of the IEA

and put much effort into the project in order to turn the idea into reality.

On November 15, 1974 the OECD Council adopted the idea of the IEA and agreed

mutually on the establishment of the IEA which has been seen as “Energy NATO”.

Consequently, 16 member countries entered into a binding Agreement on an International

Energy Program – the IEA‟s treaty. Ulf Lantzke, a senior German official, was the first

Executive Director of the IEA and guided the organisation through its first decade until

1984.

The core mission of the IEA is the maintenance of energy security in order to prevent an

oil crisis; a tool for guaranteeing the object are strategic oil stocks mandatorily maintained

by Member countries being constantly monitored and refilled. Stocks have been released in

1991, under Lantzke‟s German successor, Helga Steeg, during the first Gulf War and again

in 2006 during two hurricanes in the United States, Katrina and Rita. In total, the IEA


74

counts 28 industrialised Member states, including Austria; however, the IEA has ongoing

dialogues with non-Member countries such as China and India on many energy issues,

including global warming and climate change. Renewable energy plus efficient use of

energy is seen to be vital to protect the environment as an essential component to secure

energy security, energy protection, and economic growth.

The IEA is an autonomous agency based in Paris and linked with the Organisation for

Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The IEA budget, independently voted

on by its Governing Board, is a separate part of the OECD budget. Only OECD member

countries can become Member countries of the IEA, but the IEA is working together with

non-OECD member states and also is closely cooperating with the G-8. The main focus of

the joint IEA G-8 Programme is on climate change, clean energy and sustainable

development.

During the presentation of Ms.

Nancy Turck, she stressed that it is

important not to confuse the IEA

with the IAEA, the International

Atomic Energy Agency, which is a

UN organisation based in Vienna

that works on nuclear proliferation

and security issues.

Furthermore, Ms. Turck spoke

about the IEA treaty, which is the

Agreement on an International

Energy Program (I.E.P.Agreement).

The IEA Member countries‟ commitments include: to maintain emergency oil reserves

equivalent to at least 90 days of the prior year‟s net oil imports, to make stocks available if

necessary and if all Member countries agree on a coordinated stock draw; to have ready a

programme of demand restraint measures; and to participate in an oil allocation in a severe

supply disruption (as defined in the treaty) through IEP emergency measures. When the

IEA was first created, it represented the key energy consuming nations. This is no longer

the case – especially as 80% of growth in energy demand over the next two decades is

expected to take place outside of the OECD. All of the above mentioned issues are to help

the IEA Member countries achieve their energy policy objectives, which are set out in

what is called their Shared Goals.


75

6.3.2 Key Areas of Work

• Emergency Preparedness is part of the I.E.P. Agreement, which enables

coordinated and collective action by requiring IEA countries to hold oil stocks

equivalent to at least 90 days of their respective prior year‟s net oil imports and to

release stocks, restrain demand, switch to other fuels, increase domestic

production and, if necessary, share available oil in a timely and coordinated

manner in the event of a significant oil supply disruption;

• Oil Markets are constantly being analyzed and monitored. Additionally, the IEA

makes current market assessments, covering the following issues: oil exploration

and production developments; supply, demand, price and refining trends; OECD

stocks; and international trade in crude and products;

• The IEA has initiated an annual Natural Gas Market Review which examines

developments and projects trends in international gas markets;

• Policy Analysis (every four years the policies of individual member countries are

reviewed in-depth by their peers) and Co-operation among IEA Member States;

• The annual World Energy Outlook (WEO) is a leading source for medium- to

long-term energy market projections, extensive statistics, analysis and advice for

both governments and the energy business;

• Global Energy Dialogue with non-member countries and International

Organisations;

• Fostering Energy Technology Innovation;

• Energy Technology Network is made up of 41 implementing agreements, which

form the framework for the international co-ordination on key areas of energy

technology;

• Energy Efficiency offers a powerful and cost-effective tool for achieving a

sustainable energy future;

• Energy and Environment: main focus on climate change;

• The IEA is the world‟s leading source of energy statistics.

6.3.3 Future Trends

In the most recent WEO – an analysis of global energy trends to 2030 – the world´s

primary energy demand in the Reference Scenario (RS) (in which government policies are

assumed to remain unchanged from mid-2007) is projected to grow by 55% between 2005

and 2030 (average annual rate of 1.8%). Demand reaches 17.7 billion tones of oil

equivalent, compared with 11.4 billion tones in 2005.


76

The pace of demand growth slackens progressively over the projection period, from 2.3%

per year in 2005-2015 to 1.4% per year in 2015-2030. Demand grew by 1.8% per year in

1980-2005. Fossil fuels – oil, gas and coal – remain the dominant sources of primary

energy worldwide.

The RS takes account of those government policies and measures that were enacted or

adopted up to mid-2008, but not new ones, providing a baseline against which the extent to

which we need to change course can be quantified. World primary energy demand

projected in RS grows by 45% from 2006 to 2030, average annual increase of 1.6% per

year – driven by rising population and GDP. Demand reaches 17 billion tones in 2030 from

11.7 billion tonnes in 2006.

Demand grows at a slower rate than projected in WEO-2007, mainly due to higher energy

prices and slightly slower economic growth – as well as new government policies to curb

demand and emissions growth.

By 2030, oil-import dependence will increase in China, OECD Europe, European Union

and India, but will decrease in OECD North America, the United States, and OECD

Pacific. The situation with gas demand will also change considerably: it will increase in the

Middle East, Asia, OECD North America, Latin America, and slightly in Africa, but will

diminish in Eastern Europe and Eurasia, OECD Europe and OECD Pacific.

Furthermore, most of the increase in the use of renewable energy sources is for generating

electricity. The share of renewable energy in total electricity generation worldwide rises

from 18% in 2006 to almost 23% in 2030 in the RS, with renewables overtaking gas to


77

become the second-largest source of power generation. Hydropower remains the biggest

source of renewables-based power, while the contribution of other types of renewables –

essentially wind and solar power – increases substantially (from 2% in 2006 to 9% in

2030).

For over 20 years, energy experts from around the world have been participating in the

IEA Energy Technology Collaboration Program, advancing the research, development,

demonstration and deployment of energy technologies. Currently, more than 5,000

scientists, engineers, policy-makers and industry experts from governments, research

institutes, universities, and energy technology companies are involved in the 40 voluntary,

jointly funded research groups.


After the presentation of Ms. Turck the floor was open for various questions from the

students‟ side. The first question raised concerned the role of the IEA during the gas

conflict between Russia and the Ukraine.

The IEA in general assumed a minor role during the gas conflict as the institution by its

means is only responsible for the regulation of oil related issues. It could ease the overall

oil supply in the market by referring to the

safety stocks of each of its member countries.

The IEA therefore had no reason or no

instrument to intervene in the conflict and

could only assist the European Union in

giving advice. The situation would have been

different if the gas would have been supplied


78

in liquid form because this would fall under the responsibilities of the IEA. As a future

perspective the IEA considers to enlarge their range of duties to the gas market to prevent

such issues in the near future and to further harmonize the market.

Another question was raised why China has not been a

member of the IEA yet and what were actually the

motivating benefits for China to become a member of

the IEA? According to Ms. Turck one cannot just see the

OPEC as the party of the oil provider and the IEA as the

party for the oil consumer, because she pointed out the

there are various mutual projects together with OPEC,

furthermore, the oil producing companies (such as Shell,

BP, etc.) have their origins in IEA countries. With

reference to China and India, which will demand most

oil in future, there is a special interest to gather them as

new members; however, both countries have not applied

yet. If China was a full member of the IEA, then it would also enjoy oil security for at least

90 days. Although, China owns crude oil, it imports much of OPEC oil due to the better

quality. Therefore, oil security is an important issue also for oil producing countries such

as China and Norway etc. Moreover, the IEA supports member countries in investment

projects plus environmental issues which increases the production efficiency. Ultimately,

IEA countries have the most know-how and experience in oil drilling.

The last question was raised by the Prof. Bajrektarevic. He approached Ms. Turck on her

opinion about the de-carbonization. According to Ms. Turck, it is going to take quite a long

time and there is a strong need for more research in this area. She stressed that a lot of

work in this area is supported by voluntary contributions and is dependent on the grants.


Concerning internships the IEA encourages motivated students with backgrounds related to

IEA work to participate and submit their CVs to the institution.

This can be done over a formal way set by the IEA itself. The IEA manages the internships

itself although the appointment letter comes from the OECD. For further consultation the

respective links and information will be provided on the IEA´s homepage. The following

link will be attached to make the application process faster. The link

www.iea.org/about/job.htm will lead the applicant to the job section of the IEA.


79

7 THURSDAY, MAY 7TH

2009

7.1 International Chamber of Commerce (ICC)

Date: Thursday, May 7th

2009

Time: 10:00 am – 12:30 pm

Topic: History and scope of work of ICC, ADR, DOCDEX, Expertise, Dispute Board, role

of the Court and the ICC arbitration rules

Speakers: Emily O‟Connor, Loïc Coutelier

Mathilde Vital-Durand

Katharine Bernet

Jérôme Auchère


The ICC was created in October 1919 at the International Trade Conference in Atlantic

City, New Jersey, by a group of industrialists, financiers and traders. According to the

Preamble of the Constitution of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) the

organisation defines its major objective as it is “to further the development of an open

world economy with the firm conviction that international commercial exchanges are

conducive to both greater global prosperity and peace among nations”. In the light of this

purpose the following principle aims can be seen:

Firstly “the promotion of international trade services and investment” targets the

elimination of obstacles to global business like tariffs or import quotas. Secondly the

“promotion of a market economy” aims to enforce the principle of free and faire

competition among business entities. Finally the ICC works on the fostering of the

“economic growth of developed and developing countries” by an enhanced integration of


80

all countries in the world economy.

The ICC currently claims a membership of over 7000 companies and business associations

in more than 130 countries worldwide. The member companies stem from all different

kinds of industries comprise everything from SMEs to multinational corporations.

The ICC headquarter is located in Paris, where about 130 staff members are working on

daily issues. The organisation‟s turnover makes up some 21 million Euros a year.

Revenues are obtained by contributions of the National Committees, publications and

business seminars.

On our last day of visiting organisations in Paris, we had the great opportunity to hear

presentations by ICC staff members in order to get insight knowledge of the organisation.

Ms. Emily O´Connor gave us a brief overview of the history, the role, the members of the

ICC as well as the most important achievements of the ICC- Department of Policy and

Business Practice. Mr. Coutelier closely elaborated on issues related to the ICC-

Arbitration and the according rules. Ms. Vital-Durand followed by presenting the ADR,

Expertise and Dispute Boards. Ms. Katharine Bernet presented the ICC Events department

and the ICC Institute of World Business Law. Mr. Auchère concluded our visit with a

presentation of the World Chambers Federation.

7.1.1 ICC and the Department of Policy and Business Practice

After giving a brief overview of the history, the role

and the members if the ICC, Ms. O‟Connor informally

spoke about the most important achievements of the

ICC- Department of Policy and Business Practice to

which she is personally committed.

The aim of the ICC rule setting is to provide guidance

by issuing example contracts for international business

operations. UCP 600, or UCP 700 in its revised form,

is a highly important basis for bank guarantees like

letters of credit, which are established to ensure

payment under an export contract.

Ms. O‟Connor elaborated in great detail on the

probably most important publication of the ICC – the

INCOTERMS. This set of example provisions offer clear guidelines for export contracts of

sales of goods. It was emphasised, that sales of goods is the only purpose of the


81

INCOTERMS. Nevertheless they are also frequently used for other export contracts, which

is a clear misinterpretation. According to Ms. O‟Connor the ICC faces the challenge, how

to facilitate the application of the INCOTERMS, as they are often used in an inaccurate

way.

ICC rules are generally revised periodically, which has also been the case with the

INCOTERMS. However revisions of such widely used publications also impose a certain

disruption on users, as they have to adapt to the changes. As a result revisions should now

be kept to a minimum and only important amendments shall be done.

Another challenge for the ICC is seen in fighting counterfeit goods. Product piracy has

already reached all kinds of industrial and consumer goods including medicines, fertilizers

and other chemical products. As a result these goods might have much more serious

consequences than “usual” counterfeits like luxury designer goods. As penalties are

internationally very low, the ICC tries to target consumers in order to build consciousness.

As a basic matter of research the ICC employs focus groups all around the world, to

identify motives and the level of information of consumers of counterfeit goods.

In the following the group had the possibilities to raise questions:

The first question asked about the personal educational background of Ms. O‟Connor and

the requirements for her job. Ms. O‟Connor is licensed lawyer with international expertise

but following a common public interest, which is the most important requisite for a job in

any International Organisation.

Following a question about internship opportunities, Ms. O‟Connor mentioned that at least

in the Paris headquarters interns are taken on a frequent basis, but are only paid low

compensation. Nevertheless in this respect all national committees are independent.

Another question addressed the ICC‟s strategy how to raise consciousness for counterfeit

goods and their negative impact. Ms. O‟Connor explained that simple messages or ads are

most effective. For example billboards on airports should raise awareness.

Finally it was asked how users of the INCOTERMS can be encouraged to apply the

revised version, once it was published. Ms. O‟Connor explained that generally it has to be

stated in export contracts, which version of INCOTERMS are used. By this means

misunderstandings are limited. Nevertheless the ICC strongly recommends using always

the latest version.


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7.1.1.1 Question & Answer Session

During the Question & Answer session, the students raised issues of common interest such

as how the cautions concerning faked goods could be raised among the customers.

Answering this question, Ms. O‟Connor highlighted the importance of making the public

aware of this issue and which harm the trade of faked goods could create. Furthermore,

students were interested in the educational background of the very speaker, who offered

her services as lawyer in New York, which also meant the gaining of important

international experience, before joining the ICC in Geneva.

7.1.2 ICC International Court of Arbitration, Secretariat and Arbitration Rules

Mr. Coutelier closely elaborated on issues related to the ICC- Arbitration and the according

rules. In general the ICC Arbitration was founded in 1923 by the French minister and deals

with business related dispute issues which the parties wish to clarify. However, any issues

related to political decisions, such as war, are strictly excluded from ICC-Arbitration.

Currently the number of cases which are dealt with by the concerning institution amount to

1,400 p.a., however this figure is likely to increase during the upcoming periods as its

popularity raises steadily.

The prime reason why numerous business issues are decided to be dealt with under ICC-

Arbitration is, according to Mr.

Coutelier, the easy enforceability of

decisions in numerous countries.

Certainly, the implementation of the

very decisions is of high advantage

especially in member countries to the

ICC however also in other parts of

the world Arbitration decisions are

widely acknowledged. Consequently,

it has to be mentioned that the ICC is

extremely international and therefore the above mentioned advantage receives even more

attention and importance.

However, as already indicated, a further major advantage of ICC Arbitration presents the

speed with which decisions are concluded and therefore available for the disputing parties.

Usually Arbitration decisions are concluded within a couple of weeks, especially in

member counties, whereas local courts in the different countries may need up to several

years in order to present adequate solutions. Moreover, Arbitration is also available to

small and medium sized businesses as the costs remain quite low compared to sums which


83

need to be calculated if disputes are settled with national courts. The final sum necessary

depends primarily on the amount in dispute which mostly remains affordable for the

parties.

Furthermore, Mr. Coutelier referred to the duties and responsibilities of the ICC

Arbitration Court and its Secretariat. It has to be clearly mentioned that the ICC Arbitration

court does not take decisions itself, but this duty is left to independent arbitrators.

However, the Court is highly engaged it securing the enforceability of decisions with

national courts. Moreover, the Secretariat can be seen as the linkage between the court, the

arbitrators and the involved parties and is responsible for the smooth process of decisions

making. Although the Secretariat is placed in Paris, it is very international as for example a

new office was opened lately in Hong Kong. The court in general consists of over 100

members and is appointed by the world council for a period of three years. A weekly

meeting of the court ensures the information flow within the organisation.

Finally, Mr. Coutelier elaborated closer on the process of an Arbitration and clearly

mentioned that the work of the ICC Arbitration starts with the file for arbitration and the

establishment of the terms and references of the case which have to be signed by the

involved parties.

7.1.3 ADR, Expertise and Dispute Boards

Ms. Vital Durand presented the ADR (Amicable

Dispute Resolution), Expertise and Dispute

Boards services. First she explained the functions

of the ADR, which set of Rules came into force

on 1st July 2001. The ADR settles disputes

amicably in a rather inexpensive and quick way.

Furthermore, the set of rules are all constructed on

the same basis than the Arbitration, Expertise and

Dispute Board Rules.

Ms. Vital Durand goes on with the different articles, which state how ADR is started.

Article 1 covers the “Scope of Rules”, which explains that those rules are only applicable

to business, as well as domestic and international disputes. Article 2 explains two

alternative methods – there is either no prior agreement to submit the dispute to ICCADR,

or there is an agreement to refer to the ICCADR Rules. In Article 3 the “Selection of the

Neutral” is explained, which provides information about the qualifications a Neutral third

party should have, such as language, background, location, expertise. “Fees and Costs” are


84

discussed in Article 4, which indicates that there is no general rule about the length of the

procedure.

Nevertheless, both parties have to pay a registration fee of 1,500 USD, which is not

refundable. Moreover, further administrative fees are never more than 10,000 USD and

never less than the registration fee. All costs have to be borne by both parties as well.

Article 5 covers the “Conduct of the ADR Procedure”, which gives information about the

different types ADR, such as Mediation, Neutral evaluation, Mini-trial, or any other

technique including a combination of techniques. The parties should decide with the

neutral party which technique to apply to their dispute. “Termination of ADR Proceeding”

is covered in Article 6, which shows that sometimes mediation failed but occasionally

parties want to make a new deal. This means that mediation does not give a 100%

assurance for being successful. The success highly depends on the parties involved.

Furthermore, the Neutral can also say that mediation will be inefficient and therefore has

the possibility to terminate the whole procedure. Article 7 “Confidentiality”, probably one

of the most important ones states that all documents, suggestions, views, communications,

agreements are confidential. Nevertheless, there are two exceptions – when disclosure is

required by applicable law, and when disclosure is agreed by both parties.

Ms. Vital Durand also mentioned that there is a certain link between ICC ADR and

Arbitration, but there is strict confidentiality necessary between the services. Everything

should be kept secret, thus it is not allowed to give information to the ICC Court of

Arbitration. If parties think arbitration takes too long and is too intensive, they have the

possibility to go to ADR.


Concerning the third presentation, students raised questions which primarily concerned the

work of the ICC ADR Service also referring to the number of cases dealt with by the ICC

ADR Service per year. The speaker informed the students that about 17 cases where dealt

with in 2008, however, the first months of 2009 already show an increase of 25% in this

activity. Furthermore the question related to which of the parties has to bear the costs for

an ADR procedure file was raised, which Ms. Vital Durand clearly answered by indicating

that the party who brings in the file needs to bear the registration fee which is later credited

to its credit for costs. Furthermore, additional charges are divided between the respective

parties. Additionally, one major advantage of the ADR Service was discussed during the

Question & Answer session, being the faster decision making process. For small and

medium sized companies, files which might take years to be decided on with national


85

courts can be extremely harmful, whereas the quick decision making of the ADR Service

presents a clear advantage.

7.1.4 ICC Events Department and ICC Institute of World Business Law

First of all, Ms. Katharine Bernet

presented the ICC services and

events briefly and stressed the role

of the ICC as official training

centre. In general, around 20-25

events are organized every year.

Commonly the working language of

these events is English, but there are

several occasions where also other

languages are utilized (e.g. Spanish,

Portuguese). The ICC Events Department has a range of international clients, in particular

the ICC Dispute Resolution Services, ICC Institute of World Business Law and the ICC

Policy Commissions.

The ICC Dispute Resolution Services holds conferences on specific topics, like the

ICC/FIDIC conference on Dispute Resolution in Construction Matter on 15th

and 16th

October in Istanbul. Furthermore, conferences with a regional focus are organized, e.g.

International Commercial Arbitration in Latin America: The ICC Perspective from 1st to

3rd

November in Miami.

The ICC Institute of World Business Law serves as a think-tank on world business law and

offers trainings in arbitration and conferences on world business law, e.g. the Annual

meeting of the ICC Institute of World Business Law “Arbitration and Multiparty

Contracts” – which commemorates the 30th

anniversary this year.

The ICC Policy Commissions mainly organises conferences of a global scope and offers

training on the (application of) the INCOTERMS and the principals of the UCP 600. In

Paris the event “Applying the principles of UCP 600 in today‟s turbulent environment”

will be held from 18th

to 19th

June.

Finally, Ms. Bernet made reference to the ICC Young Arbitrators Forum (YAF).

7.1.5 World Chambers Federation (WCF)

The last presentation elaborated on the World Chambers Federation, which is a specialized

division of the ICC. The ICC WCF comprises more than 14,000 chambers from 140


86

countries. The mission of the WCF is to strengthen the capacity of the individual chambers

and to improve the capacity of the members. Mr. Auchère referred to it as the Facebook for

chambers of commerce.

In addition, the structure and

chairmanship of the WCF was

explained briefly. This was followed

by the introduction of the ATA

Carnet, which can be seen as a

passport for goods and for world

trade. Technically speaking it is an

international customs document that

permits the duty-free temporary

import of goods (up to one year). In

general, ATA Carnets cover commercial samples, professional equipment and goods for

representation or trade fair and exhibition usage.

Furthermore, the role of the WCF regarding Certificates of Origin (CO`s) was addressed.

The WCF not only helps in the translation of such documents into other languages (e.g.

Russian, Chinese, and Arabic) but also offers training in the usage of CO`s.

In addition, the speaker drew the attention to the 6th

World Chambers Congress in Kuala

Lumpur, Malaysia from 3rd

to 5th

June what can be seen as an interesting forum for the

chambers in sharing experiences and information.

The speaker also promoted the World Chambers Competition. This awards program

provides a unique opportunity for the chambers demonstrate originality and determination

to strengthen SMEs and improve the services for their members.

Moreover, the aspects of the World Chamber Network (WCN) were outlined. WCN

promotes the working together at on Internet location of the WCF‟s chamber community.

Services offered by the WCN comprise trade and investment information, the Global

Business Exchange (a database of the chamber‟s member‟s business opportunities) and a

comprehensive chamber directory.

Finally, the speakers addressed the Chamber Trust, which gives indication to the chambers

regarding the actual existence and/or reliability of their business partners


87


The respective Question & Answer session referred to the new INCOTERMS 3000 which

are to be implemented in 2010 and highlighted the challenge of making businesses aware

of the new terms as well as encouraging those companies to use the new clauses.

Furthermore the important issue of the standing of member countries to the ICC was raised

referring to the equality of the members which was approved by the speaker.


The speakers highlighted the acceptance of interns in the various departments of the

organisations. Furthermore the important issue of prior experience was discusses and it

was confirmed that no law studies are required in order to apply for an internship with the

ICC however students need to be officially enrolled in an university. The duration of the

respective internships is quite flexible lasting from 3 to 6 months. In comparison to various

other organisations, internships are paid within the ICC however this payment shall more

be seen as a compensation, according to the speakers.

Interested students are invited to express their wish to join the ICC for an internship by

sending an e-mail to kbt@iccwbo,org. The respective message should also include a closer

definition of the desired department of interest and a reference to the very speakers is

advisable.

Find more information under the respective website: www.iccwbo.org/

http://www.iccwbo.org/


88

7.2 United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation

(UNESCO)

Date: Friday, May 9th

2009

Time: 02:30 pm – 04:00 pm

Topic: Scope and Work of UNESCO & tour, Role of the Austrian Organisation

Speaker: Dr. Alexander Schischlik

H.E. Amb. Helene Steinhäusl, Ambassador


„Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men the defenses of peace

must be constructed.“

On the fourth day of our study trip we had the

pleasure to pay a visit to the UNESCO Headquarters

in Paris. We received a very warm welcome by Dr.

Alexander Schischlik and H.E. Ambassador Helene

Steinhäusl, after we had finally passed the security

checks. Right at the beginning Dr. Schischlik gave us

an overview on the specialized agency of the United

Nations. This explanation was followed by a short

historic overview, and a summary of the

responsibilities of the organisation, including the

Millennium Development Goals. Additionally, Her

Excellency Steinhäusl provided a short overview of

the governing bodies of the UNESCO and the budgeting of the organisation. H.E. Ambo.

Steinhäusl also introduced our group to the tasks of the Permanent Delegation of Austria to

the UNESCO.

The Austrian Delegation represents the Austrian government at the UNESCO

Headquarters and is a permanent link for Austria in the framework of the different forums

and Bodies of the UNESCO. Concerning the administration it is linked to the Austrian

Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs.


89

The presentation was concluded with a short

Question & Answer session. The questions

addressed topics like how an ordinary

working day looks like at the UNESCO and

the work of the UNESCO concerning

sustainable water management in

cooperation with the UNEP. In addition, we

had the possibility to watch two short movies

about the organisation and its tasks, and had

a guided tour through the headquarters‟ very own Zen-garden.

7.2.1 History

In 1942, during the Second World War, the governments of the European countries, which

were confronting Nazi Germany and its allies, met in the United Kingdom for the

Conference of Allied Ministers of Education (CAME). At this conference it was decided to

establish an educational and cultural organisation, which should prevent another world war

and to maintain peace and security by promoting international collaboration through

education, science and culture. The organisation should work according to the rules of the

United Nations Charter. Therefore, the new organisation‟s name was United Nations

Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). It was founded by 37

countries on 16 November 1945 and was ratified on 4 November 1946 by 20 countries,

namely Australia, Brazil,

Canada, China,

Czechoslovakia,

Denmark, Dominican

Republic, Egypt, France,

Greece, India, Lebanon,

Mexico, New Zealand,

Norway, Saudi Arabia,

South Africa, Turkey,

United Kingdom and

United States of

America.

7.2.2 Fields of Activities

The scope of work of the UNESCO is divided into 5 disciplines: education, natural

sciences, social and human sciences, culture, as well as communication and information.


90

7.2.2.1 Education

The main area of work is the improvement of education internationally by giving technical

advice, setting recognized standards, establishing new and innovative projects and

networking. The educational priorities are to provide, first of all, basic education.

Furthermore, secondary and higher education should be enhanced and the quality of

education in general be promoted.

7.2.2.2 Natural Sciences

The main focuses lie on assessing and managing global resources and on supporting

developing countries in the areas of sciences, engineering and technology. Also, the fields

of water, oceans, sustainable development and renewable sources of energy are priority

issues.

7.2.2.3 Social and Human Sciences

The main task of this working area is to help in understanding and interpreting the social,

cultural and economic environment. This includes the provision of research, identification

and analysis of trends, proposals for future actions and the promotion of human rights.

7.2.2.4 Culture

Cultural priorities lie in the preservation of culture in general, the promotion of cultural

diversity emphasising on tangible and intangible heritage, and the promotion of cultural

dialogue and understanding.

7.2.2.5 Communication and Information

As the organisation is required to promote the free flow of ideas by word and image, it

established several communication and information programmes. Their main aims are to

share knowledge by integrating socio-cultural and ethical dimensions of sustainable

development, emphasise the freedom of expression, and to promote the development of

communication.

7.2.3 The Millennium Development Goals and Water

In the 2000 Millennium Declaration of the UN, the organisation sets eight goals for

development, named the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). These eight goals shall

improve human conditions worldwide by 2015.

• Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger and reduce poverty by half the

proportion of people living on less than a dollar a day and suffer from hunger.


91

• Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education to ensure that all boys and girls

complete a full course of primary schooling.

• Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women to eliminate gender

disparity in primary and secondary education preferably by 2005, and at all levels

by 2015.

• Goal 4: Reduce child mortality by two thirds among children under five.

• Goal 5: Improve maternal health and reduce the maternal mortality rate by three

quarters.

• Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases.

• Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability by integrating the principles of

sustainable development into country policies and programs.

• Goal 8: Develop a global partnership to enhance open trading and a financial

system that is rule-based, predictable and non-discriminatory.

7.2.4 Governing Bodies

7.2.4.1 General Conference

The General Conference is the UNESCO‟s main body for

program and budgetary issues and is meeting on a two-year

basis. It is formed by representatives of the States Members

of the Organisation. The meetings of the General

Conference are attended by the Member States and

Associate Members, as well as observers for non-Member-

States, intergovernmental organisations and non-

governmental organisations. Furthermore, the General

Conference elects the members of the Executive Board, the

UNESCO‟s second main governing body. Additionally, it is

responsible for the appointment of the Director-General.

7.2.4.2 The Executive Board

The Executive Board also can be referred to as management board of the UNESCO. It

usually prepares the work of the General Conference and functions as control institution

for the decision making processes of the General Conference. Currently the Executive

Board consists of 58 members, who are elected by the General Conference. Whereupon the

election of the members is determined by the desire to maintain a cultural and ethnic

equilibrium in the management of the UNESCO. Meetings of the Executive Board are held

twice a year and take place at the UNESCO‟s headquarters in Paris.


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H.E. Ambo. Steinhäusl also informed us about regulatory and extra-budgetary funding.

Due to its low regular budget UNESCO is highly dependent on extra-budgetary funding

from its member states but also from private donors. With this extra-budgetary funding the

UNESCO supports research in comparative education, provides expertise and fosters

partnerships to strengthen national educational

leadership and the capacity of countries to offer

quality education for all.

The overall budget of UNESCO amounts to USD

631 million for two years. Compared with the

budget of other specialized agencies of the UN this

is a relatively low amount. Austria‟s contribution to

this budget amounts to USD 1.2 million per year.

Important to mention is that the total budget of USD 631 million is used only for financing

the main functions of UNESCO.

7.2.5 Permanent Delegation of Austria to the UNESCO

The task of the Permanent Delegation is the representation of Austria as a Member State of

the Organisation. The delegation participates in the consultation process to develop the

UNESCO Program and Strategy, as well as the development of International Standards and

Instruments of International Law.

7.2.6 Austria’s Presence in UNESCO Bodies

• Intergovernmental Committee – Convention on Cultural Diversity (2007-2009)

• Intergovernmental Coordinating Council Man and the Biosphere (MAB)

Programme (2005-2009)

• Intergovernmental Council Information for All Programme (2007-2011)

• Intergovernmental Committee – Protection of Cultural Property in Armed

Conflict (2005-2009)

• Intergovernmental Committee on Physical Education and Sport (CIGEPS, 2007-

2011)

• Intergovernmental Committee Int. Bureau of Education (IBE) in Geneva (2005-

2009)

Unfortunately, due to the tight schedule, there was no

time left to have a longer Question & Answer session

with Her Excellency Steinhäusl. Instead she offered


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us to continue the discussion at the reception at the Austrian Embassy in the evening.

At the Austrian Embassy every one of us had the great possibility to talk to H.E.

Ambassador Steinhäusl as well as Dr. Schischlik.

Some of us had a pretty long discussion with Her Excellency Steinhäusl about her personal

background and the career path of a diplomat in general. She explained that after finishing

her studies of languages, she decided to realign her personal career towards international

relations and worked for several years in Brussels before moving to Paris.

Furthermore, she talked about everyday life in the embassy and her work, which is quite

stressful and challenging. H.E. Steinhäusl answered frankly that she was not denying the

rather high level of bureaucracy most IO's are dominated by. Additionally, H.E.

Ambassador Steinhäusl was referring to the fact that by being employed at International

Organisations it is common to take over projects from other people while handing over

own work when changing positions. As a matter of fact, it often happens that one does not

experience the results of one's own efforts but this does not mean that these results are not

given. It is indeed possible to exert influence on and change things by working for IO's but

this is a question of commitment and lot of patience.

With this study report we want to express our deep gratefulness towards H.E. Ambassador

Steinhäusl and Dr. Schischlik for the time they spent with us, although they have to stick to

a tight schedule. Furthermore we were very

impressed about the great reception Her Excellency

gave for us at the wonderful premises of the Austrian

Embassy in Paris.

It was an inimitable experience we would definitely

not want to miss.


At the end of our discussion Prof. Bajrektarevic raised the question concerning internship

possibilities at UNESCO and the Permanent Delegation respectively. H.E. Ambo.

Steinhäusl frankly spoke about the career possibilities and informed us that an internship in

general is possible and the Permanent Delegation usually employees one intern. Hence

there is a given possibility to apply at the Austrian Federal Ministry for European and

International Affairs.


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Nevertheless at the moment due to this year‟s General Conference at the UNESCO in

October there will not be a possibility to work as an intern at the Permanent Delegation in

the current year. Additionally, H.E. Ambo. Steinhäusl stated that if applying for an

internship one has to bear in mind that it has to be financed by one‟s own and is not

remunerated by the UNESCO or Austrian state.


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8 FRIDAY, MAY 8TH

2009

ORGANIZATIONS PLANNED BUT NOT VISITED

It has to be stated that due to the fact that the 8th

of May is a National Holiday in France,

we were not able to proceed with the originally planned study program to visit the World

Bank and “La Francophonie”. Nevertheless, an overview of these two organisations will be

provided in the following section.

8.1 The World Bank Group (WB)

The World Bank Group was founded in July 1944 at the Bretton Woods Conference in

New Hampshire, by 43 participating countries.

Its original purpose was to finance the reconstruction of war-torn Europe. Nowadays the

World Bank Group has become the primary financier of development projects in the third

world having its headquarters in Washington D.C. It is not a bank in the common sense,

but more a specialized agency of the United Nations with 185 member countries helping

emerging countries to escape poverty by building an investment friendly environment,

creating jobs and fostering sustainable growth.

As it is the world‟s leading development agency, it provides help to rebuild economies that

were heavily devastated through wars and social and economic crisis. The World Bank

Group also promotes international economic cooperation. All its operations are conducted

under the so called Millennium Development Goals which refer to the elimination of

poverty and hunger, universal primary education for each and everybody, the promotion of

gender equality, the reduction of child mortality, the improvement of maternal health, the

fight against HIV/Aids, malaria and other diseases, environmental sustainability and the

development of a global partnership for development.

In order to achieve these objectives, the developing countries determine themselves that

they have to build the capacity and the infrastructure to grow, to develop a robust financial

system and to combat corruption.

8.1.1 The Structure of the World Bank Group

The World Bank, which only is a part of one big network of the Bretton Woods

institutions, is often the name that refers to the International Bank for Reconstruction and

Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA). In addition


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there are other affiliated institutions that can be linked to the World Bank Group: the

International Finance Corporation (IFC); the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency

(MIGA); and the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).

8.1.2 Organisation

The World Bank Group employs around 10,000 people and is therefore the third largest

employer in Washington. It is a public institution that is owned by its 185 member

countries. These countries can be described as the shareholders of the institution, each

having a different amount of shares that is linked to their respective economic power and

influence. The USA is the largest shareholder with 17% voting shares, followed by Japan,

Germany, the UK and other countries.

8.1.3 Millennium Development Goals1 (to be achieved by 2015)

8.1.4 Decision Making Authority

8.1.4.1 President of the World Bank

The current president of the World Bank Group is Robert Zoellick, who is also the

chairman of the board of the Executive Directors (ED). The president is not elected

democratically, but rather appointed by the US for a period of five years. He is in charge of

the overall management of the Bank. The directors have no rights to intervene in the

selection. They can only give some suggestions. Besides the president, there are nine vice

presidents in charge of regions, sectors, networks and functions.

1 Source: http://www.undp.org/mdg/


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8.1.4.2 Board of Executive Directors

The board of the Executive Directors consists out of the representatives of each member

country, amounting for 24 in total. There are two different types of votes within the

decision making body, the basic votes and the additional ones that are based on their

financial contribution. The basic votes are in general votes that are allocated equally to

each member state.

The Executive Directors‟ responsibilities and duties are to decide on IBRD loans and IDA

credits as well as to decide on policies that are linked to the Bank‟s general operations‟. In

addition they have to present to the board of governors an audit of accounts, an

administrative budget and an annual report on the Bank‟s operations and policies at every

annual meeting. They are furthermore responsible for the day-to-day operations and

revising operations evaluations and development rends, having normally a meeting twice a

week.

8.1.4.3 Board of Governors

Each member country has to appoint one governor as its representative, which normally is

directed to the finance minister of the respective country. Their key responsibilities and

duties are to make key decisions regarding strategic directions, membership questions,

capital stock, budgets and distribution of income.

8.1.5 Roles

The World Bank in general can be assumed as the largest public development institution,

annually lending a sum of approximately 25 billion dollars to their member states.

Providing help for the reconstruction and development of territories of member states by

facilitating the investment of capital for productive purposes is equally a role the World

Bank assumes as is the promotion of the balanced growth of international trade and the

maintenance of equilibrium in balances of payments by encouraging international

investment. A further objective of the World Bank is to assist in raising the productivity,

the standard of living and conditions of labour in their territories.

8.1.5.1 The World Bank as a Lender

The World Bank lends its money to middle and low-income governments to facilitate

policy reforms and to promote investment projects. In certain cases the bank´s facilities can

provide financial aid to private businesses and to non-profit organisations through special

bank guarantees. Money that will support the improvement of institutional, economic and

other policy reforms is known as “structural adjustments or development policy” lending.


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The World Bank requests guarantees in advance or sets up certain “conditions” before

approving a loan or a grant. Such conditions can for example be the guarantee of the

borrowing country to privatize some of their state-owned companies or to lower trade

tariffs.

8.1.5.2 The World Bank as a Knowledge Broker

The World Bank also enriches the market with knowledge about development issues.

Especially publications and research findings are of special interest. Every country can use

these in the absence of alternative sources. Therefore the World Bank founded its own

training and research group known as the World Bank Institute to directly participate in the

training of government officials such as parliamentarians and civil society representatives.

8.1.5.3 The World Bank as a Gatekeeper to Development Finance

Last but not least the World Bank assumes one final role regarding the capital market.

Through their research work and the assessment of a respective country the World Bank

acts as a source for other institutions. With the World Bank‟s Country Policy and

Institutional Assessments (CPIA) and Investment Climate Assessments (ICA) countries

can obtain a rating taking their economic policies and friendliness to foreign investment

into account.

8.1.6 Lending instruments

The World Bank has two main lending instruments basically known as investment and

adjustment loans. Investment loans have a long-term focus (5-10 years) and are used for

financing goods and services in support of economic and social development projects in a

broad range of sectors. Adjustment loans on the other side have a short-term focus (1-3

years) and are providing external financing to support institutional and policy reforms.

Frequently both types are joined in hybrid operations due to their flexible usage.

8.1.6.1 Investment Loans

Investment loans can be used for a wide range of different projects normally providing

funds for physical and social infrastructure. These funds are only supplied against specific

foreign or local expenditures related to the project such as equipment, studies, technical or

consulting services or materials. To ensure a satisfactory performance these terms are

normally settled before in a loan agreement. Investment loans are generally tailored to the

specific needs of the borrower.


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8.1.6.2 Adjustment Lending and other Non-Project Lending

Adjustment lending programmes provide quick financing solutions and assistance for

countries to support structural reforms in a sector or in the economy as a whole. They are

building up structures to foster political and institutional changes to create an environment

for sustainable growth. Like investment loans, adjustment loans also changed their nature

over the years due to changing needs by the borrowing countries. Adjustment loans were

originally created for macroeconomic reforms, including trade policies and agricultural

reforms. Now their focus changed and moved towards the structural and financial sector

aiming at improving public resource management and promoting competitive market

structures.

8.1.7 World Bank Guarantees

Loans are normally used as public financing instruments whereas bank guarantees issued

by the World Bank are directed to the private sector helping the borrowers to cover risks

that they normally could not absorb without help. The Bank‟s project based guarantees try

to foster private sector financing.

8.1.8 The Structure of the World Bank Group

The World Bank Group can mainly be divided into two institutions, namely the

International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International

Development Association (IDA). Furthermore the International Finance Corporation (IFC),

the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) and the International Centre for

Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) form parts of the Group. (Bretton Woods

Project (2006), n.p.a)

In principal the IBRD and IDA share the same goals and objectives called Millennium

Development Goals which refer to the elimination of poverty and hunger, universal

primary education for each and everybody, the promotion of gender equality, the reduction

of child mortality, the improvement of maternal health, the fight against HIV/Aids, malaria

and other diseases, environmental sustainability and the development of a global

partnership for development. Nevertheless the IBRD and the IDA are two financially

independent legal entities, although they are administered by the same staff and share the

same headquarter in Washington DC.

8.1.8.1 International Bank for Reconstruction and Development

The IBRD was originally established to provide financial support for the reconstruction of

nations devastated by World War II. Nowadays its mission has expanded to fight poverty


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in developing states all over the world. Thereby the IBRD provides assistance under three

main headings: Strategy and coordination services, financial services including loans and

development assistance to middle and low-income countries with a stated aim of reducing

poverty, and knowledge services. Loans generally have a five-year grace period and must

be repaid over a period of 15-20 years.

In large part the IBRD is financed by selling bonds to private investors. Besides it can also

count on the help of its member governments. Their loans are always given to member

states and if it comes to a failure of repayment of a specific country the IBRD can freeze

the capital streams immediately.

8.1.8.2 International Development Association

Created in 1960 the IDA offers assistance to the poorest countries, providing them with

interest-free loans (primarily aimed at basic social services provision and increasingly

direct budget support), technical assistance and policy advice. The IDA is funded by

wealthier nations, lending only to those countries that have a per capita income of less than

$1,095 and lack the financial ability to borrow from the IBRD. At present, 78 countries are

eligible to borrow from the IDA. IDA credits have a 20, 35 or 40 year repayment period.

To survive the IDA is funded through three different sources: First of all be the re-flows

from previous loans, secondly by transfers from IBRD net income and last but not least

from IDA donors.

8.1.9 International Finance Corporation (IFC)

The IFC is a legally and financially independent body of the World Bank Group. The

institution is owned by the member states which also provide the authorized share capital

and fix the policies. Its guiding principle is „Reducing Poverty, Improving Lives‟ and it

was established in 1956. Today, the IFC supports developing countries in terms of

sustainable economic growth by providing capital for the private sector, encouraging

investment into poor countries and advising businesses and governments. Therefore the

IFC mainly works in developing regions in Sub-Saharan Africa, East Asia & the Pacific,

South Asia, Europe & Central Asia, Latin America & the Caribbean, and Middle East &

North Africa.

The two IFC core tasks are to provide advisory and investment services, include loans and

intermediary services, equity (IFC holds shares in several companies from poor countries),

special structured finance products, risk management products (like hedging foreign

exchange spending), and others. In 2008 new investments made up a total of $16.2 billion.

Compared to the previous year, this is a 34 percent increase.


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8.1.10 Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA)

The MIGA, founded in 1988, has the aim to increase foreign direct investment into

countries of the developing world. Foreign Direct investment (FDI) is a critical issue for

those countries when it comes to reduce poverty, including availability of clean water,

electricity and above all work. With the help of money from abroad, they can invest in the

private sector and increase economic wellbeing and the wellbeing of individuals.

Thereby is important to note that MIGA is an insurer and not a lender itself. (Multilateral

Investment Guarantee Agency (n.d.a.), n.p.a) Obviously, most investors tend to invest in

secure countries because they fear political risk in poor countries. Therefore, MIGA is

providing the following three important services. Firstly, they insure investors against

political risk for foreign investments in developing countries. Secondly, they provide

technical assistance in order to further develop investment climates and promote

investment opportunities. Thirdly, they try to remove possible obstacles to future

investment. MIGA mainly tries to attract investment for the area of infrastructure and this

is especially a challenge in case of countries with very high risks combined with low

income and those which are victims of wars and other conflicts.

Over the last decades the relationship between the World Bank and MIGA has been

reduced. Nowadays, it is only a minimized organisational link. Furthermore the

Independent Evaluation Group for MIGA (IEG-MIGA) is evaluating the effectiveness of

the whole organisation and its operating on a regular basis since July 2002.

8.1.11 International Centre for Settlement for Investment Disputes (ICSID)

ICSID is an international institution that provides facilities to settle international

investment problems. The centre has been formed by the Executive Directors of the

International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (the World Bank) and came into

being in 1966. Its main purpose is to interfere in case there are any legal disputes that are

of non-commercial nature. Nowadays, ICSID is a main player when it comes to

international investment and economic development. (International Centre for Settlement

of Investment Disputes (n.d.a), n.p.a)


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8.1.12 Project Cycle


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8.2 L’Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie

Due to public holidays in France on the 8th

of May, we were unfortunately not able to pay a

visit to the headquarters of la Francophonie in Paris. Since our timetable was very tight, it

was not possible to reschedule the appointment.

Therefore, the authors are not able to provide the readers with first-hand information about

employment- and internship possibilities with the organisation. However, attention is to be

drawn to the internship division of the official website

(www.francophonie.org/oif/recrutements/postes.cfm) which provides pretty detailed

information about recruiting procedures and requirements. For those, who are looking for

an internship or traineeship in a truly international and challenging environment it is for

sure worth a try sending their application.

8.2.1 History and Member Countries

Originally, the “Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie”, with its headquarters in

Paris, France, had the aim to unify all French speaking countries and to promote their

common values. Nowadays, the OIF counts 56 permanent member states, 14 observer

states and three associate members from all around the world. Together, the member states

account for a population of more than 800 million people from which 200 million people

have French as mother tongue.

Furthermore, it represents close to one third of all United Nations member states. Austria

joined the OIF in 2004 as an observer states. Since its creation in 1970, the scope of the

organisation has shifted dramatically. The formerly small club of French-speaking

countries has developed into a globally acting organisation which operates in the fields of

culture, science, economy, justice and peace.

8.2.2 Scope of Work

Generally, the OIF has the aim to help emerging nations to acquire the necessary means to

manage their economic and social development in a sustainable and equitable way. In

order to achieve this objective, it provides political support to its member states and guides

multilateral cooperation. Hence, the organisation shares fundamental goals and objectives

with the United Nations as they are both founded on the principles of diversity, dialogue

and multilateralism. Furthermore, it has the aim to bring nations together, to prevent

conflicts and to pave the way for democracy and development.


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The roadmap of the OIF for the upcoming ten years which states the core strategies and

priorities of its multilateral actions was created in November 2004 and includes the key

missions:

• The promotion of the French language as well as cultural and linguistic diversity

• The promotion of peace, democracy and human rights

• The support of education, training, higher education and research

• The promotion of cooperation to ensure sustainable development and solidarity

Furthermore, special attention is paid to young people and women as well as to access to

information and communication technologies.

Currently, numerous member states of the OIF are affected by war which adds prominence

to the work of the organisation. Many African countries in particular are shaken by

political conflicts and economic instability. The OIF is thus working to restore the

constitutional order, to strengthen the rule of law and to prepare the ground for a stable

political system and fair elections. By the means of encouraging cooperation among its

member states and close cooperation with the United Nations, La Francophonie puts high

efforts in resolving these conflicts.

8.2.3 Decision Making Process and Organisation

Decision making in the International Organisation of the Francophonie is done by three

different authorities on different political levels.

8.2.3.1 Francophone Summit

The highest authority is the Francophone Summit which is held every two years and is

basically a gathering of heads of state and government of member countries of the OIF. In

the course of this Summit, the heads of state of all member states sit together to develop

strategies and goals for the organisation.

Furthermore, the areas of focus of La Francophonie are defined, the resolutions necessary

for the effective functioning of the organisation are adopted, the secretary general is

elected and the admission rules of new full members, associate members and observer

members are developed.

8.2.3.2 Ministerial Conference

The second instance of decision making is the ministerial conference which sits together

between the Summits on a regular basis. Every member state is represented by its Minister

of Foreign Affairs who monitor the execution of decisions made by the Summit.


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Furthermore, they recommend new member states and associate member states to the

Summit.

8.2.3.3 Permanent Council

The Permanent Council, which is the last decision making body of the OIF is chaired by

the Secretary General and consists of representatives appointed by the heads of states.

They meet whenever necessary and are in charge of the planning of future Summits and

the implementation of Summit decisions on a day-to-day basis. Furthermore, the

Permanent Council monitors the execution of decisions taken by the ministerial

conference.

8.2.3.4 Secretary General and Administrator

Since 2002, Abdou Diouf, former president of the republic of Senegal, is the Secretary

General of the OIF. In 2006, in the course of the 11th

Summit of OIF in Bucarest, he was

re-elected as for another 4-year term. The Secretary General has key position in the

organisational structure of the OIF. He guides the international political actions of the

organisation and is the spokesman and official representative on an international level.

Furthermore, he has the function to promote multilateral cooperation and chairs the

cooperation council.

Moreover, he nominates the Administrator which serves a four years term. Currently, this

position is held by the Canadian Clément Duhaime. The duties of the Administrator consist

of the facilitation of multilateral cooperation and the management of administrative and

financial affairs.

8.2.3.5 Admission Criteria

In order to join La Francophonie, potential member states have to officially file for

admission to the OIF. The Francophone Summit then has to decide unanimously whether

the country can join the organisation or not.

French as an official language is not anymore a precondition for joining the organisation.

However, the status of the French language held in the candidate country is a determining

criterion for the admission.


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9 DIARIES

9.1 Saturday, May 02nd

2009 & Sunday, May 03rd

2009


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At 10:00 pm on the first Saturday in May 2009 the expectative study trip, which would

give us (in total 71 Austrian and International students, including several exchange

students and one student from our partner university in Kiev) the chance to experience the

world well-known organisations in Geneva and Paris, finally started. As we were

discussing the exciting journey lying ahead of us, the double-decker bus with a huge funny

Deix Caricature of the company Reiseparadies Kastler picked us up in front of the train

station in Krems.

The drive from Krems (Austria) to Geneva (Switzerland) took us approximately 13 hours

and turned out to be quite strenuous in terms of sleeping in an upright position on a bus

chair. However, we enjoyed the time by discussing various topics, playing cards, reading

books and watching movies. Special thanks to our sponsors Ströck and ÖAMTC, who

offered us delicious pastries and energy drinks (Yellow Angel). The supplied food was

warmly welcomed by all our hungry students.

Sunday morning we arrived around 11:30 at the ETAP Hotel in Geneva, which

accommodated us for two nights in functional three-bed rooms. As we have been a large

group, we only got every second room at that time, which created a bit of a problem at the

check-in. however, the hotel personal tried its best to provide us with all the rooms as fast

as possible. At the end, we decided consequently to split in smaller groups and stored our

luggage in the rooms we already got. Afterward, most of us headed out in order to explore

the city of Geneva instead of waiting in hotel, because the weather was remarkably nice

and sunny.

Geneva has many picturesque places, varying

from architecture monuments, historical buildings

and works of art to the natural sights, like the

breathtaking Lake Léman (also known as Lake

Geneva), surrounded by the Alps. Thanked to the

ticket for all means of public transport of the city

which we received for free, we could benefit not

only by taking a bus to the centre, but also

enjoying a boat trip to the other side of the lake.

Most of us students started the sightseeing with

the ten-minutes-walk from the main train station

to the Lake. The lack is the second largest lake in

central Europe and is located partially in


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Switzerland and partially in France. One of the biggest attractions of Lake Geneva is the

Jet d‟Eau, the enormous fountain that spouts the water 140 m in the air, making it become

the tallest fountain in the world. When we continued our walk along the quay we saw the

Statue of Elisabeth of Bavaria, the “Memorial of Elisabeth Amalie Eugenie, Duchess in

Bavaria, Princess of Bavaria, Empress of Austria, aka Sissi”, who was murdered exactly on

this place in 1898.

We were also impressed by the beautiful park beside the Lake, but unfortunately the

unexpected rain reduced our time for enjoying the city. However, many of us decided to

have lunch and afterwards, when the conditions improved a little bit, moved to the Old

Town. This part of the city turned out to be a maze of sloping streets and alleyways with

various cafés, boutiques and historical architecture on every turn.

We especially liked the Bourg-de-Four, the oldest city‟s square, which used to be a Roman

marketplace and is surrounded by entertainment spots, like bars, bistros and beautiful

terraces. Even though all of us were already quite tired, we decided to climb the narrow

cobblestone streets to visit Saint Peter’s Cathedral, which towers over the Old Town and is

also perfectly visible from the Lake’s quay. This architectural treasure had been

constructed over 400 years, starting from 12th

century, and because of its location it offers

an amazing panoramic view over the city, which we did not want to miss out.

Not many students decided to go out this very first evening of the trip due to our tiredness,

nevertheless some of us decided to spend a little while in a cosy Brazilian bar, also located

in the Old Town. After having one of the delicious drinks they offered, we went back to

the hotel, exhausted but happy, and had a rest to be ready for the tightly scheduled

Monday.


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9.2 Monday, May 4th

2009

06:00 in the morning, the alarm woke us up. As

we were still caving in our hypnopompic actions,

we realized the fact: “That‟s not going to be a

holiday trip to Switzerland and France!” After

having a more or less relaxing night in our

crowded hotel rooms, which nevertheless served

their purpose, the first early birds managed to

appear at the breakfast buffet at half past six. A

variety of different cereals, yoghurt, fruits, and of course baguette awaited us and we even

prepared some additional sandwiches for using afterwards, as we received the advice of

our Professor Anis: eat as much as we could.

As all students sat in bus, we landed on our first destination – UN headquarters in Geneva.

Moreover, we want to thank to our great bus driver “Ronny” for the great job he had done.

At the UN we – 71 students were heavily controlled by the security personal as we all

experienced once in airports.

While we finally entered the room IX on the third floor, for enjoying three hours of highly

interesting presentations about the UNCTAD, the UNOG and the UNECE, we were

impressed by receiving several good information materials provided by the organization.

Unfortunately we had to rush through the speeches due to the tight timetable and the

scheduled guided tour through the UN building.


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After having the presentations at the United

Nations Headquarter, we switched ourselves to

the Red-Cross-Museum, where we could also

enjoy a well-deserved lunch including Lasagne

Bolognese or Vegetarian Lasagne. Fortunately,

the organization committee and our professor

had arranged us the lunch menu before the trip

getting started. Otherwise, due to our intense

schedule and the high living standard of the

city, we would continue our visiting with an empty stomach.

When we entered into the Red-Cross-Museum

we still had a great mood, because of the great

weather, the beautiful foreign city, our nice

colleges and so on. But after the guided tour, our

emotions have changed dramatically, being

confronted with affecting topics, such as torture

and landmines. On the way down from the Red-

cross-museum to the “Place de la Nation” where

we met to take one of our popular “Family-Photos” all together, we were trying to

assimilate what we have heard and seen. The last official point on that day-agenda was a

meeting at the WIPO, not far away from the Red-Cross and the United Nations. Again we

experienced the security check, but much to our surprise we sadly found out that only 40

out of our 72 students were allowed to enter the WIPO due to organisational matters.


111

Hence several volunteers decided to have a free afternoon at 03:15 pm and enjoyed the

picturesque Geneva; the rest of the students used their unique possibility to attend to a

lively presentation about the WIPO. The end of the presentation was also the end of our

formal part of the second day. After that, everyone was enjoying the rest of the day in

Geneva by shopping, drinking coffee or some other relaxing activities.

In the evening, due to the absolute exhaustion, we needed to change our plan for exploring

the night life in Geneva. All of us were ready for a cold shower and our beds. Because we

had to still remember our alarm time: 6 o‟clock in the morning - again.


112

9.3 Tuesday, May 5th

2009


113

After a pretty recreational night in our cosy hotel room of the ETAP Hotel in Geneva we

started our third day with a nourishing breakfast at 07:00 am. Once having checked out,

stored our entire luggage in the bus and checked whether this time really everybody got

onto the bus we made our way to the ITU (International Telecommunication Union), or as

French-speaking people would call it UTI (Union Internationale des Télécommunications).

We were warmly welcomed by one of the staff members who guided us to a conference

room in the ITU tower building where we enjoyed an interesting presentation about the

organisation and got involved in a highly topical discussion about cyber security.

At approximately 12:00 am our loyal bus

driver picked us up and took us directly to

the doorway of the ILO (International

Labour Organisation), just in time for our

next presentation. Before entering each and

every one of us was astonished and

impressed by the huge premises of the

organisation. The presentations about the

activities, forced labour and trafficking

issues were followed by rather exceptional lunch – at least for those who enjoyed a 20

CHF mixed salad – in the organisation‟s canteen.


114

After a filling meal and an invigorating cup of coffee, 71 students, both regular and

international ones, squeezed into a bus of Geneva‟s public transport system that took us

somewhere near to the so-called “Blue Box”.

Unfortunately, “somewhere near”

was still too far away to

immediately find the EC Mission.

After a couple of minutes of

straying around, we finally arrived

at the Permanent Mission;

however, the adventure was still

not over for every one of us.

While most of the students were

already listening to the mission

briefing a number of others – obviously too many – were stuck in the elevator for almost

half an hour. Nevertheless, everybody made it sooner or later to the fifth floor where we

were invited to a small reception with a delicious buffet after the presentations. Besides

enjoying the tasty finger-food many of us appreciated the unique possibility to talk to the

EC Mission staff and to establish valuable connections.

This was the official end of our program in Geneva and we took once more the chance to

do some sightseeing in this marvellous but rather expensive city. Some groups went for

dinner and drinks; others strolled around the lakeside and the old town watching a car


115

bursting after an accident, but basically every one of us enjoyed the last evening in Geneva

before boarding the bus at 10:00 pm – happily looking forward to just another long and

exhausting bus ride to Paris, the city of love.

9.4 Wednesday, May 6th

2009


116

Midnight, somewhere on the road between Geneva and Paris: people were sleeping,

playing cards, watching DVD‟s – creating a cosy, almost family like atmosphere but there

were also people jeopardizing this perfect harmony by singing, drinking and shouting a

little bit too much. However these minor tensions at the latest disappeared, at the time we

had to spend three hours sleeping in the bus at a rest stop near Paris, in order to avoid the

traffic jam in the morning as well as too early arrival at the hotel.

Finally continuing our journey, at roughly ten o‟clock a

cheerful “Ooohhh” was making its way through the bus as

we could catch a first glimpse of the Eiffel Tower. At the

time of our arrival, the working day in the French capital

has just started, and so did the next day of our study trip.

People got dressed for business already in the bus, with the

growing apprehension of not being able to check-in at the

hotel before 03:00 pm. In this respect, after our arrival at

the hotel, the toilets as well as the luggage room served as

dressing and bath rooms (side note: this was especially true

for the girls).

The next institutions on our stuffed agenda were the OECD as well as the IEA, which are

located near the Metro station “La Muette” in the west of Paris. As we decided to meet

there at 02:15 pm, we still had some 3 hours left to grasp the first impressions of the city.

Everyone of us used this differently, by either visiting some famous sights, tasting

traditional French Crêpes, or by simply trying to make the way from the hotel to the final

meeting point (side note: two colleagues unfortunately got lost in the confusing and never

ending metro system of Paris and were thus replaced by two Korean girls who

coincidentally turned up in front of the OECD building).

Besides the highly interesting presentations

of Mr. Christoph Mayer from the OECD

and of Ms. Nancy Turck from the IEA, we

could also record unexpected moments such

as the networking with an Egyptian

Delegate, and the surprising visit of the

former EU Commissioner for Agriculture,

Rural Development and Fisheries Mr. Franz

Fischler. As luck would have it, our


117

professor Dr. Anis Bajrektarevic and Mr. Fischler bumped into each other on the corridor

and Anis immediately used the chance to introduce him to us. The former commissioner

warmly welcomed all of us, telling that he is an old friend (side note: and speaker at the

IMC), wished us a fruitful study trip and though being under time pressure he was willing

to join for a spontaneous family picture.

Leaving the OECD premises, being the world‟s globalization hub, we were keen on

exploring Paris, being the world‟s fashion hub. But before hitting the road, we returned to

our hotel to finally check-in and get a much desired and well-deserved shower. At the end

of the day, the evening activities of the students were much diversified, ranging from

watching football in a bar (side note: this was very gender specific), over people starting

their photo-safaris to some enjoying the nightlife of Paris and to others simply going to bed

resorting to the land of dreams.


118

9.5 Thursday, May 7TH

2009


119

After a very long journey to Paris and an interesting

afternoon at the OECD most of the students

actually preferred to stay in the hotel to get some

sleep after the past stressful days. However,

Thursday morning started out with a nice French

breakfast at the hotel. Anyhow, after the breakfast

the whole group met again at the lobby of the hotel

at 09:00 am to go to the ICC, which was the first

organisation scheduled for Thursday.

Against our expectation the weather was in our

favour and with the sun in our faces we walked

approximately 15 min to the metro line which took

us directly to the ICC headquarters. The ICC is

located in a beautiful part of Paris close to the Eifel

tower and provides a stunning view at the Seine

and the tower itself. At the ICC we had a tight

program full of interesting information as well as Question & Answer sessions including

future employment opportunities and possible training positions.

Around 12:30 pm our visit to the ICC came

to an end and most of the students took the

chance to walk from the ICC office directly

to the UNESCO headquarters. Within the

90 minutes break many students found the

time to sit down in a restaurant and enjoy

drinks and a typical French lunch.

At 02:15 pm our group met again at the

entrance of the UNESCO which is located

right behind the Military Academy which counts back to the time of Napoleon. Our group

got the chance to listen to some very informative speeches about the organisation itself and

their fields of operation as well as their future goals. Beside our two interesting speakers

the presentation also included two short movies about the UNESCO. Furthermore did we

get a tour through the organisations´ building and even had the chance to take a family

picture in the large conference hall were normally all the delegates are making their

decisions.


120

In the afternoon at 04:30 pm the official

part of our trip was over and H.E. Ms.

Helene Steinhäusl invited us for reception

to the Austrian embassy. Before we joined

Ms. Steinhäusl we actually took a last

family picture in front of the gates of the

military academy with the academy and the

Eifel tower as beautiful final backgrounds.

At the embassy we had a very warm

welcome and enjoyed typical Austrian food

and drinks. Na, one of our Chinese

exchange students also gave a small piano

concert and the gentlemen of our group

even sang a little Austrian “song” as a

thank you to our host.

A funny moment was when Prof. Dr. Anis

Bajrektarevic was presented with a Mickey

Mouse doll and a French wine which should help him through the lonely days in Paris. The

reception ended with a lot of smiling faces and was an awesome final act of our official

visit to Paris.

In the evening a group of students went to a café which became famous through the movie

“Amelie” in Montmartre for dinning and as it turned out, this café was an excellent

opportunity for the current students to meet the Export Alumnis.


121

9.6 Friday May 8th

2009


122

After having had some highly interesting and exhausting days in Geneva and in Paris,

where we spent a lot of time in the distinctive organisations and travelling by bus, we

definitely deserved a day off. Moreover, as most of us went out the night before, it was

rather favourable to sleep late on this day´s morning. However, still many of us were

highly motivated to explore the impressive city of Paris and therefore, enjoyed the

delicious breakfast in the hotel already in the early morning. So after having had an

extensive breakfast, we started out to spend the whole day with sightseeing in the city.

When referring to May 8th

in France, one has to bear in mind that it is a public holiday in

France, i.e. “Fête de la Victoire 1945”. This special day is celebrated every year, as in the

Second World War, the Germans surrendered in Reims on May 7th

1945. However, the

victory of the Allies was officially announced on May 8th

1945 by the French General de

Gaule via radio. For that reason, the French celebrate their victory over the “Axis” on May

8th

. Nonetheless, for us foreign students, this public holiday had the consequence to not

being able to go shopping extensively, as some of the shops were closed on this day.

Therefore, most of us based their schedule on sightseeing.

As Paris offers a lot of buildings

and monuments worth being seen,

the majority of us decided to

determine on a number of sights

being visited this day and the rest

was postponed to the day after.

Since “la Tour Eiffel” is the global

icon of Paris, many of us decided in

favour of the 325 meters high iron

tower constructed between 1887 and

1889, to go to first of all. After having made use of the strenuous and rather

unconventional way to visit the core value of the iron tower, we were rewarded with the

marvellous view all over Paris.

Another memorable sight was “la Basilique du Sacré-Cœur” dedicated to the sacred heart

of Jesus and “Montmartre”, the district of artists, inter alia, including Salvador Dalí, Pablo

Picasso and Vincent van Gogh working there in their lifetime. Besides the impressive

ambience within the white basilica, a musician was playing the guitar and singing in front

of it, which made this visit even more imposing and unique.


123

After having bought a few souvenirs from Paris, some of us decided to go to see the

“Champs-Élysées”, which´s luxury shops and cafés made it to one of the most famous

streets in the world, and the “Arc de Triomphe” created by Napoleon and dedicated to the

soldiers who have fought for France during the Napoleonic Wars. Unfortunately, as the 8

May is an official holiday, huge numbers of people had the intention to enjoy this day by

going sightseeing and consequently, we were not able to visit all the sights planned

according to our tight schedule for this day. This fact concerned the Arc, as well, and for

that reason we solely viewed it from afar.

After having seen some very old sights, some of us also decided to explore the rather

modern parts of the city. To those sights the “Centre Pompidou” definitely belongs, which

is a very impressive building of modern architecture. Interestingly, the architects planned

to install moving staircases, supply of electricity, water and also the ventilation on the

facade of the building. The Centre Pompidou is a cultural centre including a big public

library inside, which is a centre for music and acoustic research as well as a museum.

Finally, many students decided to spend their evening in the “Louvre” in order to complete

an astonishing day in Paris with its most famous museum and initial fortress next to the


124

Seine. We intended to see the famous paintings and sculptures and above all the painting of

Leonardo da Vinci´s “Mona Lisa”. However, the museum was already closed at this time

of the day and most of us returned to the hotel afterwards.

In the night, many again intended to explore what Paris´ nightlife would offer and as there

were a huge number of bars next to the hotel, we were able to choose either to stay there or

go to the centre of Paris. All in all, after having spent the whole day with sightseeing and

after having taken the pleasure in going out in the evening, we arrived at the hotel

exhausted, but contented.


125

9.7 Saturday, May 9th

2009


126

On Saturday morning we had to recognize that an exhausting, but undisputedly fantastic

and remarkable week was coming closer to an end. After the majority of our group had

gone out to explore Paris‟ exciting night life the day before, some were particularly

grateful for the late check out and breakfast until 12:00 am. Others, despite their obvious

tiredness, were eager to continue their sightseeing or shopping tours already in the morning

as they wanted to take advantage of the last possibility to enjoy the unique flair of the city

of Paris.

As the journey back to Krems was only scheduled for 06:00 pm, we still had sufficient

time to walk through Paris‟ romantic alleyways, discover the city‟s historic and modern

sites, stroll along the Seine or search for the most suitable souvenirs for family and friends;

meanwhile all luggages were stored in a seminar room of the hotel. Whether it was a visit

to the historically important church “Sacré Coeur”, to the impressive Château de

Versailles, the Louvre or the numerous other monuments, all students were fascinated by

the diversity of the French capital. Interestingly, the individual groups met one another at

different places of interest by chance, which allowed for socializing and the exchange of

experiences.

In the morning the weather seemed to be fine, giving us hope for a sunny last day in Paris.

Unfortunately, our wishes did not come true and it started raining in the afternoon. This,

however, could not spoil our mood as Paris also offers plenty of alternatives for rainy


127

weather, ranging from church or museum visits to the many fair and beautiful typical

French restaurants and cafés.

When the time of departure approached we rushed to the supermarkets where we stocked

up on food, cookies and drinks in order to be well equipped for the upcoming 15-hours bus

journey back to Austria. Before meeting in the hotel lobby at 05:30 pm we changed to our

not so trendy, but more comfortable clothes. Thereafter the luggage was stored into the bus

and the group of students finally left Paris at 05:50 pm. This time a few were lucky to have

two seats on their own because some of the colleagues had decided to avoid another long

bus ride and instead went home by plane.

On the way out of Paris we could one last time enjoy the beauty of the city and look back

on an incredible week full of new experiences and impressions. By the time that the bus

driver, who had accompanied us throughout the whole week, was changed, most of us had

already fallen asleep and were dreaming of the wonderful time we had spent together. At

around 09.00 am the next day we ultimately arrived at the bus station in Krems.


128

10 CONCLUSION

Without a doubt, our study trip to Geneva and Paris was a once in a lifetime experience

that we are both proud and grateful for. Visiting various international organizations and

learning about their scope of work and activities made us feel very uniquely. Since this

study trip fit perfectly into the curriculum of our International Law and Global Political

Studies Chair, it definitely inspired many of us to get informed about employment

opportunities at the various organizations. Therefore, establishing important personal and

professional contacts regarding internship opportunities and diploma theses was an integral

part at each visit.

Regardless of the organization, we were always welcomed very warmly and due to the

commitment and competency of their individual members, the visits were not only highly

informative but also very pleasant and made us almost forget our exhausting nights on the

bus. Thanks to the hours of bus ride and time spent together in Geneva and Paris, we got

the opportunity to get to know our fellow students outside the university and on a more

interpersonal level, which undoubtedly strengthened our sense of community and made the

stressful final weeks of our last semester back home more bearable for all of us.

Moreover, we got to know our exchange students from China, Mexico and Spain better,

and they enjoyed the unique opportunity to visit two great cities and to learn more about

the European culture. Thanks to the efforts of our organizational team and several other

students that helped raising funds for our study trip tirelessly, we were all able to travel on

a tight student‟s budget. The final settlement resulted in a positive balance, allowing us to

support one student to travel for free next year.

In the end, each and every one of us could take along a lot of experiences for our personal

as well as professional future, and being part of this unique study trip doubtlessly

broadened our horizon in intellectual, personal as well as cultural terms.


129

11 PERSONAL COMMENTS

Dear Anis,

I would like to thank you once again for the wonderful trip, time and experience! It is

really an unforgettable event in my life and I am very happy that I made this far. So thank

you very much, because without people like you such undertakings were almost

impossible. What is more – everything that I hoped to gain from this trip really exceeded

my expectations. We have been present at extremely interesting presentations, conferences

and briefings, the ones I‟ve liked the most were at UNCTAD,

ITU and IEA and of course the Museum of Red Cross was

simply amazing. Secondly, I am really grateful that you raised

the subject of internships at the end of each meeting, asking

not only for opportunities for Austrian students, but also for

those from outside the EU. Last, but not least – it was a real

pleasure to meet new people – students from IMC University

of Applied Sciences Krems as well as international students

that were interesting and enjoyable company. Therefore I wish

to also thank them separately!

All the best to you from Ukraine,

Oleksandr Polubotko

Ukrainian-Austrian Export-Oriented Management Program

KROK University, Kyiv, Ukraine

First of all, I should start giving thanks to Prof. Anis Bajrektarevic. It has been an

unforgettable experience that I could have never imagined if I never decided to come here

to the IMC. Going to Geneva and Paris to visit organizations such as the UNCTAD, ITU or

OECD and having an overview from the inside it is a thing that you can't do unless you are

a diplomatic. In the social side, it has been a great journey with great people; going to have

some beers in the pub area next to La Bastille, or in front of Sacre Coeur with the view of

Paris at night or having a dinner in the Amélie restarurant next to the Moulin Rouge are

things to remember for a long time. So, once again, many thanks to Prof. Bajrektarevic

since this trip could not have been possible without him.

Antoni Guiu Terreu

Student Economics and Business Management 8th

Semester

Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona, Spain


130

Dear Prof. Bajrektarevic,

I hope you remember the two koreans you have invited to your visit to OECD in Paris on

May 6. Ms. Aidan kindly let me know of your email address so that I could send you a

personal thank-you email. Your explanations and interpretations after each presentation

had helped me understand a great deal about the role of transnational organization. Thank

you very much for your invitation and hope you a great summer!

Again, thank you for your support, Prof. Bajrektarevic.

Sincerely,

Jung Sun Yoon from South Korea

The Study Trip to Geneva and Paris, initiated and organized by Prof. Dr. Anis

Bajrektarevic (with the help of our wonderful organization team), was an experience I

would never want to miss. Although the bus ride was quite strenuous, the experiences we

made and the organizations we visited were totally worth it. It was not only a long row of

organizations but rather a good mix of professional visits and personal experiences.

Certainly not all organizations were of the same interest to all of us but I am convinced that

each and every student learned interesting facts about different IOs and was able to expand

his or her horizon. Due to the perfectly selected time frame and the well planned schedule

we were also able to experience the visited cities of Geneva and Paris.

The IOs visited were a perfect mix of regional and international organizations and the

lectures held for us were well selected and interesting. It is a once in a lifetime experience

offered by Prof. Bajrektarevic and I am impressed by the number and rank of lecturers he

was able to get to speak in front of us. The discussions after the lectures were actively used

and the speakers took them seriously and extensively answered them.

The trip was not only professionally speaking a success. It was also a great bonding

experience through which I believe we got to know each other a bit better – the only

downside is that it happened in our last semester, shortly before the ways of most of us will

part.

Magdalena Böck

Student Export-Oriented Management 6th

Semester

IMC University of Applied Sciences Krems


131

Dear Anis,

Concerning the study trip, I want to tell you how grateful I am for giving us this

opportunity. First of all, I want to say that I think visiting so many different institutions that

are engaged in so many different fields of work is a wonderful idea and it gives us students

a deeper insight in the actual work that does organizations undertake. I like the variety of

institutions that we visited, starting from humanitarian organizations, economical as well

as organizations with technical background.

I personally enjoyed the presentations of all the speakers and institutions although I have to

say that I did pick some favourites which is the visit to the Red Cross Geneva, due to the

many interesting and new facts that were presented to us, because with these kind of

subjects we have not dealt so far; the ITU, because also with this organization only few

people have had experiences with and the topic that was presented to us of security in the

internet for the users, the data and the children was very interesting and up to date;

UNESCO because the topic of education and culture is generally important to international

students and the discussion with Ms. Steinhäusl and Mr. Schischlik was very interesting as

was the guided tour through the building.

In general I want to add, that many of my colleagues have picked up the idea during this

trip of working for one or the other organization and this clearly shows, that the program

the IMC offers is not only designed for us to work in the private sector, but also showing

us that we have the knowledge and the ability to engage ourselves in the work of profit and

non-profit organizations.

I also believe that this study trip also gave us the opportunity to come closer as a group to

get to know people better with whom we did not have close relationships with. We all had

fun together despite eventual “group memberships” of people which was probably one of

the best experiences of the study trip. We all were exploring two great cities, namely Paris

and Geneva which I have not visited before. Therefore I also like to thank those people of

the class who acted as tourist guide and provided us with useful information on restaurants,

bars and sights in the cities.

All in all there is just one thing left to say, I enjoyed it very much and had a great time.

THANK YOU!

Sincerely,

Pia Jetzinger


Semester



132

Dear Anis, dear Organizational Team!

Having settled in Krems again after being on the 'road' for almost two weeks, I would like

to take the opportunity to thank you, Anis, for giving us the opportunity to gain all these

impressive insights and impressions of the different institutions we visited during the last

week. I very much appreciated experiencing those two cities from a completely different

perspective. Additionally I would like to thank our organizational group for asserting a

smooth trip in terms of scheduling issues. I had the impression everything worked out very

well.

This trip for sure can be seen as a long-term benefit for all of us.

Kind regards,

Christoph Lachmair


Semester


Dear Anis,

Thank you very much for your email and thank you very much for enabling us to go to

Geneva and Paris. I have never been in these cities before and such important institutions

respectively. Truely, I will keep this memories a life time long. Such events distinguish us

export students from others and this is only due to you.

Warm regards,

Mario Maziborsky


Semester



133

12 CONTACT INFORMATION

Austrian Mission to the International

Organizations in Geneva

www.mfa.at/geneva

Ms Christina Kokkinakis

Ms Brigitte Lüth

Ms Eva Schöfer

Ms Julia Wimmer

Dr. Helmut Friza

Mr. Markus Weidinger

International Chamber of Commerce (ICC)

www.iccwbo.org

Ms. Emily O‟Connor

[email protected]

Mr. Loïc Coutelier

[email protected]

Ms. Mathilde Vital-Durand

[email protected]

Ms. Katharine Bernet

[email protected]

Mr. Jérôme Auchère

[email protected]

International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)

www.icrc.org

International Energy Agency (IEA)

www.iea.org

Ms. Nancy Turck

[email protected]

International Labor Organization (ILO)

www.ilo.org

Mr. Hans von Rohland

[email protected]

Ms Caroline O‟Reilly

[email protected]

Ms Udine Gröger

[email protected]

International Telecommunication Union (ITU)

www.itu.int

Ms Cristina Bueti

[email protected]

Organization for Economic Cooperation and

Development (OECD)

www.oecd.org

Mr. Christoph Mayer

[email protected]

Permanent Delegation of Austria to the OECD

United Nations Conference on Trade and

Development (UNCTAD)

www.unctad.org

Ms. Edna Dos Santos

[email protected]

United Nations Economic Commission for Europe

(UNECE)

www.unece.org

Mr. Jean Rodriguez

[email protected]

http://www.mfa.at/geneva

http://www.iccwbo.org/






http://www.icrc.org/

http://www.iea.org/


http://www.ilo.org/




http://www.itu.int/


http://www.oecd.org/


http://www.unctad.org/

http://www.unece.org/



134

United Nations Educational and Scientific

Organization (UNESCO)

www.unesco.org

Dr. Alexander Schischlik

[email protected]

H.E. Amb. Helene Steinhäusl,

Ambassador

[email protected]

United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG)

www.unog.org

World Bank Europe

www.worldbank.org/europe

World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)

www.wipo.int

Ms. Cathy Jewell

[email protected]

http://www.unesco.org/



http://www.unog.org/

http://www.worldbank.org/europe

http://www.wipo.int/



135

13 TIMETABLE OF FORMER STUDY TRIPS


Monday, 14th

April 2008 (Geneva)

10:15-11:30

UNCTAD (United

Nations Conference

on Trade and

Development)

Introduction to

UNCTAD

Mr. Ramoul

Kheireddine, Expert on

accession to WTO

11:30-12:15

UNOG (United

Nations Office at

Geneva)

Guided tour through

the facilities

01:00-01:30

ICRC (Museum of

International Red

Cross)

Tour through the

museum

03:15-04:30

WIPO (World


Organization)


and the Wold


Organization

Ms. Tamara

Nanayakkara,

Counsellor SMEs

Division

Tuesday, 15th

April 2008 (Geneva)

09:30-11:00

ITU (International

Telecommunication

Union)


activities of the

Organization

Ms. Cristina Bueti,

Corporate Strategy

Division

11:30-12:30

ILO (International

Labour

Organization)

Introduction to the

Organization and

activities of ILO

Mr. Hans von Rohland,

Senior Information

Officer

12:35-01:00

ILO Special Action

Program to combat

Forced Labour

Forced Labour and

Human Trafficking Ms. Anne Pawletta

03:15-05:30

Austrian Mission to

the International

Organizations in

Geneva

Mission Briefing Ms. Christina

Kokkinakis, Minister

Plen., Ch. d’Affaires;


136

Ms. Elisabeth

Brandstetter, Attaché;

Dr. Helmut Friza,

Minister Plen.;

Mr. Michael Schoiswohl,

Attaché;

Mr. Georg Zehetner,

First Secretary;

Mr. Markus Weidinger,

First Sec.

05:30-07:00

Austrian Mission to

the International

Organizations in

Geneva

Reception

Ms. Christina

Kokkinakis, Minister

Plenipotentiary, Charché

d’Affaires

Wednesday, 16th

April 2008 (Paris)

03:00-03:45

OECD

(Organization for

Economic

Cooperation and

Development)

The OECD: History,

Structure and

Accessing Documents

Mr. Jochen Picht,

Manager Existing

Business and Renewals,

Public Affairs and

Communication

Directorate

03:45-04:30

Permanent

Delegation of

Austria to the

OECD

The Role of the

Austrian Delegation

at the OECD

Mr. Tobias Gamper,

Member of the

Permanent Mission of

Austria to the OECD


Energy Agency)

Energy Efficiency,

Climate Change, IEA

policy, renewable

energies

Ms. Samantha Ölz,

Policy Analyst at the

Renewable Energy Unit

06:00-07:30

Residence of H.E.

Ambassador Dr.

Wolfgang Petritsch Reception

H.E. Ambassador Dr.

Wolfgang Petritsch

Thursday, 17th

April 2008 (Paris)


137

10:00-12:00 World Bank Europe World Bank Europe –

Scope and Work

Ms. Valérie Chevalier,

External Affairs WB

02:30-03:30

UNESCO (United

Nations Educational

Scientific and

Cultural

Organization)

Scope and Work of

UNESCO; the role of

the Austrian

Delegation to the

UNESCO

Dr. Alexander

Schischlik, Chief of

Executive Office;

Mag. Helene Steinhäusl,

Minister and Deputy

Permanent Delegate of

the Permanent

Delegation of Austria to

UNESCO

Friday, 18th

April 2008 (Paris)

10:00-11:30

ICC (International

Chamber of

Commerce)

History and scope of

work of ICC, ADR,

DOCDEX, Expertise,

Dispute Board

Mr. Julian Kassum;

Ms. Bozena Nawrot

11:30-12:30 ICC Arbitration

Role of the court and

the ICC arbitration

rules

Ms. Tessa Manuello


138


Monday, 16th

April 2007 (Geneva)

09:30-10:30

UNCTAD (United

Nations Conference on

Trade and

Development)

Mandate, role and

activities of the

Organization &

Creative Industries

Ms. Lisanne Losier,

President of the

Sectoral Assembly of

UNCTAD;

Ms. Edna dos Santos,

Senior Economic

Affairs Officer

10:30-11:30

UNECE (United

Nations Economic

Commission for

Europe)

Scope of work Mr. Jean Michel

Jakobowicz, Public

Information Officer

11:30-12:45 UNOG (United Nations

Office at Geneva)

Guided tour through

the facilities

01:45-02:45

ICRC (Museum of

International Red

Cross)

Tour through the

museum

03:15-04:30

WIPO (World


Organization)

General overview of

the history, structure

and activities of the

Organisation

Ms. Cathy Jewell,

Senior Information

Officer/Media

Relations & Public

Affairs Section

Tuesday, 17th

April 2007 (Geneva)

09:30-11:00

ITU (International

Telecommunication

Union)


activities of the

Organization

Mr. Venen Paratian,

Chief of Protocol

11:30-01:45 ILO (International

Labour Organization)

Presentations on the

activities


Senior Information

Officer;

Ms. R. van

Snellenberg, Training


139

and Technical

Cooperation Librarian;

Ms. L. Pecherina,

Information Resources

Specialist

03:00-06:15

Austrian Mission to the

International

Organizations in

Geneva

WTO – The art of

multilateral

negotiations rounds

Dr. P. Jankowitsch,

Former Austrian

Foreign Minister;

H.E. Amb. Wolfgang

Petritsch, Chief of

Mission;

Dr. Helmut Friza,

Attaché for Public

Health;

Ms. M. Reich-Rohrwig,

Deputy Head of

Mission;

Dr. Michael

Schoiswohl, Junior

Professional Officer at

UNDP;

Mr. Markus Weidinger,

Attaché for

Humanitarian Affairs;

Ms. E. Marschang,

Counsellor of the

Mission

Wednesday, 18th

April 2007 (Paris)

03:00-04:00

OECD (Organization

for Economic

Cooperation and

Development)

The OECD: History,

Structure and

Accessing

Documents

Mr. Jochen Picht,

Public Affairs and

Communication

Directorate

04:00-04:45 Permanent Delegation

of Austria to the OECD

The Role of the

Austrian Delegation Ms. Sandra Scheffel,

Counsellor for Public


140

at the OECD Governance


Energy Agency)

Energy Efficiency

and Climate

Change: Course of

Action

Ms. Barbara Buchner,

Energy and

Environment

Analyst/Energy

Efficiency and

Environment Division

Thursday, 19th

April 2007 (Paris)

10:30-12:30 World Bank Europe World Bank Europe

– Scope and Work Ms. Catherine Doody,

External Affairs WB

03:00-04:00

UNESCO (United

Nations Educational

Scientific and Cultural

Organization)

Scope and Work Dr. Alexander

Schischlik, Chief of

Executive Office

04:00-05:00 Austrian Mission to the

UNESCO Mission Briefing H.E. Ambassador

Harald Wiesner

Friday, 20th

April 2007 (Paris)

10:00-11:30

ICC (International

Chamber of

Commerce)

History and scope of

work of ICC, ADR,

DOCDEX,

Expertise, Dispute

Board

Mr. Julian Kassum;

Ms. Mélanie Meilhac

11:30-12:30 ICC Arbitration

Role of the court

and the ICC

arbitration rules

Ms. Géraldine

Scarfoglière


141


Monday, 24th

April 2006 (Geneva)

09:00-10:15

UNECE (United

Nations Economic

Commission for

Europe)

Briefing Mr. Jean Michel

Jakobowicz, Public

Information Officer

11:45-02:00 UNOG (United Nations

Office at Geneva)

Guided tour through

the facilities

02:30-04:00

ICRC (Museum of

International Red

Cross)

Guided tour through

the museum

Tuesday, 25th

April 2006 (Geneva)

09:30-01:00 ILO (International

Labour Organization)

Presentations on the

activities


Senior Information

Officer

01:15-04:00

UNCTAD (United

Nations Conference on

Trade and

Development)

Presentation

Thursday, 26th

April 2006 (Paris)

03:00-03:45

OECD (Organization

for Economic Co-

operation and

Development

The OECD: History,

Structure and

Accessing

Documents

Mr. Jochen Picht,

Public Affairs and

Communication

Directorate

03:45-04:30 Permanent Delegation

of Austria to the OECD

The Role of the

Austrian Delegation

at the OECD

Ms. Sandra Scheffel,

Counsellor for Public

Governance


Energy Agency) Presentation Ms. Philipine de

T‟Sercalaes

Friday, 27th

April 2006 (Paris)

01:00-03:00 DEXIA Presentations


142

14 CREDITS

Technical Report Plewa, Traxler, Werner

Comparison Technical Reports Pasalic

Photos Amon, Fleck, Schächinger, Schmalzl

UNCTAD Caruceriu, Wohlesser

UNECE Grandl, Kager

UNOG Jursitzky, Lenzbauer

ICRC Emhofer, Haas, Knoll

WIPO Grill, Schörghuber

ITU Greisberger, Hochreiter

ILO Buchmayr, Nagl, Vucur

Austrian Mission to Int. Org. in Geneva Artmüller, Floh, Fuchs, List, Pichler

OECD Eder, Hell, Schön

IEA Kriszmann, Maziborsky, Sukhotinova

ICC + ICC Arbitration Freiler, Pfeifer, Philipp, Saulich

UNESCO Brauchart, Lachmair, Obersberger

World Bank Europe Böck, Kopplenek, Poxleitner

Francophonie Huttar, Parzer

Diary – Sunday, 10.05. Engl, Suszek

Diary – Monday, 11.05. Orthofer, Weber

Diary – Tuesday, 12.05. Benak, Nussbaumer

Diary – Wednesday, 13.05. Robinig, Stögerer

Diary – Thursday, 14.05. Gartner, Winkler

Diary – Friday, 15.05. Eckl, Staufer

Diary – Saturday, 16.05. Dunzinger, Forstinger

Final Draft of the report Gitau, Jetzinger, Neudorfer, Satzinger,

Terreu, Ullmann, Yang, Zhang


143

Study Trip 2009

Export 2006