ÉDITORIAL
Enfin
INTERVIEW
Des femmes qui font entendre leur voix!
PERSONNEL
Broken chair : un destin brisé?
FICSA says no to broad banding and pay for performance
Bazaar 2004: Assisting children in need
Economie et progrès social : Quel rôle pour les Nations Unies?
Le questionnement de la solution
Ask the right questions, Probe the answers ror insight
WHO: 10th Annual
Solidarity Fair
La 10e Fête de solidarité à l’OMS
GLOBE
Women are the main water carriers
SERVICES
Tips to preserve
our heritage
Astuces pour conserver notre patrimoine
Un nouveau site web pour l’ONU
La sécurité
du Palais, un vaste chantier
Security at the Palais, a major undertaking
LOISIRS
Le Lac du Creux,
la Valserine
Lac du Creux, on the Valserine River
LAST MINUTE
60 ans d’ONU
– 500 Regards d’enfants
The UN at 60 – How 500 kids see it
The GIAN and the UN System:
Expanding the Network
Rahul Combernous, GIAN
In September 2004, the Geneva International Academic Network (RUIG-GIAN) completed its annual «Call for Project Proposals», with the approval of seven new research projects. Thus, the GIAN has for the fourth consecutive year, maintained and consolidated its mission to encourage collaboration among academic institutions and international organisations - both governmental and nongovernmental - in the service of peace and justice. It continues to support action-oriented research projects in the fields of sustainable development; social equity; globalisation and international commerce; intercultural relations and dialogue; and humanitarian law and human rights.
Since the beginning of operations in 2001, the GIAN, created by the University of Geneva, the Graduate Institute of International Studies (GIIS), and the Graduate Institute of Development Studies (GIDS), in collaboration with the United Nations Office at Geneva and several international organisations, has adopted a unique method of supporting multidisciplinary research projects, approved after a stringent approval process. To date, the GIAN has approved some thirty- five projects for a total of over SFr 7.5 million.
In all projects an international organisation, generally a UN agency, collaborates actively with the university community. In 2004, UN entities include the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), UNESCO, UN-HABITAT, The World Health Organization (WHO), the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the Office of the Special Advisor to the Secretary-General on Sport for Development and Peace.
The projects cover a wide spectrum of themes. For instance, one project approved in 2004 concerns the development of a strategy designed to help researchers in developing countries own and exploit the results of their research in the health and pharmaceutical sector. It brings together the WIPO with two Geneva-based institutes (the GIIS and the University of Geneva’s Hautes Etudes Commerciales), the Swiss Tropical Institute in Basel, the Lausanne-based Institute for Management Development (IMD), and the Council for Health Research and Education. The project focuses on six countries in Central Africa and Colombia.
The GIAN is currently launching its 2005 «Call for Project Proposals», for which approximately SFr 2 million will be available. The GIAN also proposes funding of up to SFr 50,000 per project under its «Small Grants» programme. With several «Small Grants» already finished, and a number of larger-scale projects nearing completion, the GIAN is gaining increasing recognition as a valuable intermediary between international organisations and the academic community in Geneva and beyond.
The deadline for submission of projects for the next round of funding is set for 6 April 2005. A full description of the conditions and procedures for participation can be found on the GIAN’s web site: http://www.ruig-gian.org.