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.

1. 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 secretariat to 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 assistance needs to mark the respective field in the
Conference Registration Form and 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.

2. 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 Programs and their personal assistants, if and
once accredited, may access the Palais des Nations using the pedestrian’s entrance at Place des
Nations.

3. Visitors of guided tours:

Persons with 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, visitors need to ensure that they can
move around in a safe manner, either independently or with a personal assistant accompanying
them.

4. 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.

5. 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.