The Palais Wilson (Wilson Palace) in

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

, Switzerland, is the current headquarters of the

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) is a department of the United Nations Secretariat that works to promote and protect human rights that are guaranteed under international law and stipulated in the Univers ...

. It was also the headquarters of the

League of Nations The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...

from 1 November 1920 until that body moved its premises to the

Palais des Nations Palais () may refer to: * Dance hall, popularly a ''palais de danse'', in the 1950s and 1960s in the UK * ''Palais'', French for palace **Grand Palais, the Grand Palais des Champs-Elysées **Petit Palais, an art museum in Paris * Palais River in t ...

on 17 February 1936, which was constructed between 1929 and 1938, also in Geneva. In 1924, the building was named after

U.S. president The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was the 28th president of the United States, serving from 1913 to 1921. He was the only History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat to serve as president during the Prog ...

, who was instrumental to the foundation of the League of Nations. The treaty bodies also hold their sessions in the Palais Wilson. In 1932, a glass annex was built to host the 1932

Conference on Disarmament The Conference on Disarmament (CD) is a multilateral disarmament forum established by the international community to negotiate arms control and disarmament agreements based at the Palais des Nations in Geneva. The Conference meets annually in ...

. The Secretariat of the

International Bureau of Education The International Bureau of Education (IBE-UNESCO) is a UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations ...

occupied the building from 1937 to 1984. The annex was destroyed in a fire in 1987. The building, located on the western side of

Lake Geneva Lake Geneva is a deep lake on the north side of the Alps, shared between Switzerland and France. It is one of the List of largest lakes of Europe, largest lakes in Western Europe and the largest on the course of the Rhône. Sixty percent () ...

, is one of the most prominent on the waterfront. The five-story and 225-room building by Lake Geneva was originally constructed between 1873 and 1875 for use by the Hôtel National. When Switzerland joined the then newly created League of Nations in 1920, the premises became the world body's headquarters.Headquarters
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights

References

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights - Headquarters
{{coord, 46.2149, N, 6.1510, E, type:landmark_region:CH-GE, display=title Buildings and structures in Geneva United Nations properties Headquarters of the United Nations Woodrow Wilson Buildings and structures completed in 1920 Second Empire architecture 1920 establishments in Switzerland Switzerland and the United Nations Monuments and memorials to presidents of the United States League of Nations 20th-century architecture in Switzerland