GUIDANCE NOTE ON ACCESSIBILITY AT THE PALAIS DES NATIONS
TO BE DISTRIBUTED WITH UNOG CONFERENCE REGISTRATION FORM
All persons seeking access to the United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG), Palais des Nations and/or its Annexes need to be duly authorized by a Secretariat entity and by the Security and Safety Section (SSS).
Access to the United Nations premises in general and to the Palais des Nations in particular will be granted only once a Ground Pass / Security badge/ Accreditation has been issued by UNOG Security Identification Unit. The Security Identification Unit is responsible for issuing of accreditation and is open from Monday to Friday between 8 am and 5 pm.
The Accreditation Unit is situated in building F at the Pregny gate, 14 Avenue de la Paix, opposite the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) building. This entrance is equipped to receive persons with specific accessibility requirements.
- Participants to Conferences:
All persons participating in a Conference need to complete the Conference Registration Form prior to the Conference and forward it to the Host secretariatto confirm participation.
The Host secretariat needs to receive the completed and scanned Form via e-mail no later than three working days prior to the Conference. The participant is also requested to bring the original Form upon arrival at the Pregny gate.
A meeting participant requiring assistanceneeds to mark the respective field in the Conference Registration Formand report, in Annex 1 of the Form, the type of assistance required. This information is very important so that the Secretariat can inform all services concerned, including the UNOG Security Identification Unit, of the accommodation required.
When arriving at the Pregny gate security control area, the person needs to address a Security Officer and request assistance. During security control and accreditation, priority will be given to persons with disabilities.
In order to ensure priority to persons with disabilities, the Security ID Unit has reserved a duly signalled badge issuing station upstairs in building F. After completed security control, they will be directed to a corresponding ID unit desk for accreditation.
A map with information on orientation and accessibility within the Palais des Nations is available at the accreditation desk.
- Personal assistants of meeting participants with disabilities:
In cases where a meeting participant with a disability is accompanied by a personal assistant or her or his own sign language interpreter, this should be stated in Annex 1 of the Conference Registration Form. In addition, the personal assistant should fill in a separate Conference Registration Form and both forms should be sent together to the Host Secretariat.
Once the Host Secretariat of a Conference is informed of the arrival of a personal assistant, the United Nations Office at Geneva will facilitate access of the assistant.The assistant will be attended together with the meeting participant by an accreditation Officer and guided accordingly.
Accredited Official Delegates, United Nations Staff, NGO (ECOSOC) and Staff members of the UN Secretariat, Specialized Agencies, Funds and Programsand their personal assistants, if and once accredited,may access the Palais des Nations using the pedestrian’s entrance at Place des Nations.
- Visitors of guided tours:
Personswith disabilities visiting UNOG for guided tours will be given priority at the security controls as well as at the ID Unit issuing station (as above). The Security and Safety Service may not be able to escort the person during the visit. Therefore, visitorsneedto ensure that they can move around in a safe manner, either independently or with a personal assistant accompanying them.
- Special vehicle authorization:
All meeting participants and visitors with disabilities who require special vehicle authorization shall specify this in Annex 1 of the Conference Registration Form. If the concerned person is a holder of an official government “Disability” tag/vignette, a UN vignette will be issued which is valid for the duration of the accreditation. Other meeting participants and visitors with disabilities who require special vehicle authorization will be contacted by the Secretariat upon receipt of the Conference Registration Form.
In cases where a person is dependent of a certain type of transport and special transport is rented, UN Security ID Unit will issue a T1 HAN vehicle pass which will allow the vehicle to drop and pick up the client. The driver will be issued an “Other” badge, with no access to meeting rooms.
- Taxi access:
All meeting participants and visitors who require door-to-door taxi access shall specify this in Annex 1 of the Conference Registration Form. Taxi access vignettes will be issued upon request, allowing the person in question access to the Palais des Nations area by taxi. When leaving, the persons can approach any uniformed Security officer and request that s/he call a taxi for departure.
It should be noted that all vehicles accessing and/or leaving the Palais des Nations as well as passengers travelling in them can be subject to searches by UNOG Security and Safety Officers.