If Geneva is the “Sleeping Beauty”, New York is the “Lion King”

New York or Geneva?

Mika Tapio, OIOS

So what is so great about New York? And who would ever want to settle in Geneva? Read about the pros and cons.

“New York is too crowded, noisy and expensive, and I don’t want to commute two hours every day”.

“Geneva is boring, boring, and even more boring”.

These are some of the arguments that you often hear against the two biggest UN duty stations. Still, they both have their supporters. There are quite a number of people at the UN who would not want to leave either of the cities for any price. What is the truth? Which one is the better place? My answer is: “both”!

I belong to the “lucky few” who have experienced UN life both in Geneva and in New York, and although I have so far been in New York for only seven months, I can already draw some conclusions. (I am a Programme Officer in the Office of the Under-Secretary-General, OIOS).

Geneva offers a lifestyle, which is difficult to beat. Although it is an expensive city, UN expatriates generally live well there, with spacious housing and a nice car (or two). Something you can only dream about in New York. Geneva offers natural beauty, which is breathtaking. The Lake Geneva, the Alps, the Jura and Saleve mountains, are all part of the city “skyline”. The New York skyline, as impressive as it is, shows mainly concrete. And the Palais des Nations, UN Geneva Headquarters, offers the inner calmness, architectural beauty and green surroundings, which the Secretariat Building in New York can scarcely challenge.

New York, on the other hand, is a real CITY. New York offers a high quality of life less in terms of material wealth and natural beauty, but more in terms of abundance of activities, leisure and services. Cultural supply, entertainment, night life, eating out, arts, sports, shopping, educational facilities, you name it, New York has it all. And when it comes to UN, it is hard to describe the excitingly vibrant atmosphere of the UN Secretariat, where so many important people meet and so many important decisions are made. Whereas Geneva is indeed the “Sleeping Beauty”, New York is the “Lion King”.

Where do I stand with this? I like them both. I miss Geneva for the good and easy life I had there for three years, and I’m enjoying all the excitement of New York.

In the end, it is what you make out of it that counts. Your satisfaction in living in either Geneva or New York depends on your attitude and perceptions, as well as, of course, your personal life situation (family, friends, hobbies, etc.).

But that is not really what it is all about when you dedicate your professional career to the UN. After all, I am a UN Staff member, and I went to Geneva in the first place, and then to New York, for the main reason that I wanted to work in the United Nations universe. In my opinion, it is the duty and privilege of every UN professional to try to see different aspects of the UN, including experiencing different duty stations. New York, the centre of the UN world, with all its high-profile decision-making and politics, should form part of every UN professional’s career path. Geneva, the European Headquarters, with a large number of specialized agencies, UN funds and programmes, UN research institutes, NGOs, international conferences, etc., provides an insight into a different kind of multilingual, multi-disciplinary and multicultural UN environment.

For me, the move from OIOS/UNHCR Audit Service in Geneva to the OIOS/Office of the Under-Secretary- General in New York was a fresh challenge, and a new career exposure. In my new function, I have been given the opportunity to deal with a variety of new tasks and work with a large number of new people, both within and outside of OIOS. I consider myself a very lucky person having had the opportunity to work in both duty stations during my short UN career of less than four years.

But now, I start making plans for my busy weekend schedule here in New York. It will involve going to the movies in East Village, visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art, going for a long walk in Central Park, having a Sunday brunch in Greenwich Vil-age and playing indoor soccer at Chelsea Piers. If time permits, I will also go to see a musical on Broadway on Sunday evening. I would not be able to do all of that in Geneva, but then again, over there I used to keep myself busy with other interesting free-time activities, like skiing in Chamonix, hiking in the Jura, or swimming in Lake Geneva. Doesn’t sound too bad either, eh?