The House of Parliaments, the new IPU Headquarters, will be officially inaugurated by the President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), Senator Sergio Páez, on Friday 3rd October 2003 at 6.30 p.m. This event will take place in the presence of the President of the Swiss National Council, Mr. Yves ChrisChristen, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Switzerland, Mrs. Micheline Calmy-Rey, the President of the State Council of the Republic and Canton of Geneva, Mr. Laurent Moutinot, and other dignitaries. The 800 MPs attending the 109th IPU Assembly will also be present.

A press conference will take place on Monday 29th September 2003 at 1 p.m. at The House of Parliaments, located at 5, ch. du Pommier (Grand-Saconnex, Geneva), in the presence of the IPU President, Senator Sergio Páez, and the IPU Secretary General, Mr. Anders B. Johnsson. A guided visit will take place in French, English and Spanish.

On 20 December 2000, the Swiss Federal Council approved a loan to the FIPOI of SF 9.5 million for the renovation and enlargement of a building destined to become the new headquarters of the Inter-Parliamentary Union. The decision was endorsed by the Swiss Parliament under the first supplement to the 2001 budget. The loan has been used to renovate the former Villa Gardiol, which became The House of Parliaments, and to build an annex. The new building has public areas and reception rooms, two conference halls, a cafeteria, a library and some fifty offices. Land has been provided by the Canton of Geneva.

The former Villa Gardiol was built by Marc Camoletti in 1908. It was apparently the last work of this architect who also built the Mont-Blanc central post office and Victoria Hall, both in Geneva.

The project which the jury for the IPU architectural competition chose on 13 June 2000 was the work of the Brauen and Wälchli firm in Lausanne.

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Established in 1889 and with its Headquarters in Geneva, the IPU, the oldest multilateral organisation, currently has 145 affiliated national parliaments and five regional assemblies as associate members. The organisation of the world's parliaments also has an office as Permanent Observer with the United Nations in New York.
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Thank you for confirming your presence and the language you prefer for the visit. Phone +4122 919 41 50/27, e-mail postbox@mail.ipu.org

Contact for additional information or interviews:

Mrs. Luisa Ballin, IPU Information Officer 5, ch. du Pommier, CH - 1218 Le Grand-Saconnex / Geneva Tel. +4122 919 41 16/27 Fax: +4122 919 41 60, 919 41 97 E-mail: lb@mail.ipu.org