Human rights at Geneva’s Book Fair
The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) is using the occasion of Geneva’s International Book Fair, to be held from 30 April to 4 May, to celebrate and inform the fair’s visitors about the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and to promote the work of the United Nations.
“Described as the largest cultural event in Switzerland, the Book Fair attracts more than 100,000 visitors on average. This year’s edition brings together some 550 exhibitors, many of them publishers, from 15 countries.
Volunteers will inform the public attending the fair and will distribute public information materials in stand number B.01, where all international organizations are located.
OHCHR, together with other international organizations like the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (HCR), have joined forces to speak with one voice and draw the public’s attention to the rights enshrined in the Declaration.
A year-long United Nations system-wide campaign was launched in December 2007 to mark the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration. UN agencies, departments and funds, and their international and local partners are advocating specific areas of human rights that are most pertinent to their work under the overarching message: “Dignity and Justice for All of Us”.
The guest country of the 22nd edition of Geneva’s International Book Fair is Egypt, while the guest region is Italy’s Aosta Valley, and the guest Swiss canton is Saint-Gall.
The President of the Swiss Confederation, Pascal Couchepin, inaugurated the event on 30 April, with Swiss federal, cantonal and local authorities as well as Egyptian representatives.
PALEXPO, Geneva’s international exhibition complex, is also featuring four parallel exhibitions with the Book Fair, devoted to African culture and publications, students and training, and art, as well as a special exhibition on ‘pharaohs and their treasuries.’
April 2008