Exclusive-Historic UN building in Geneva could be abandoned as Trump cuts loom

The Star

6 hours ago

View of the Palais Wilson, base of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the former headquarters of the League of Nations, in Geneva, Switzerland, June 17, 2025. REUTERS/Emma Farge
GENEVA (Reuters) -The U.N. building that was once the headquarters of the first modern global organisation dedicated to peace and international cooperation could soon be abandoned by the United Nations due to a funding crisis triggered partly by the Trump administration.
Named after former U.S. President Woodrow Wilson, the opulent 225-room Palais Wilson in Geneva was the first headquarters of the forerunner of the U.N., the League of Nations, and today is home to the U.N. human rights arm.
Now, with the Trump administration making cuts to foreign aid, hitting U.N. agencies, and also owing the U.N. nearly $1.5 billion in arrears and for this year, the body is trying to cut its budget by up to 20%, according to a memo.
The U.N. Geneva office last week made a formal proposal to vacate Palais Wilson from mid-2026, according to two sources familiar with the situation and confirmed by the United Nations.
That the U.N. is considering abandoning one of the most historic buildings in the annals of international cooperation underlines how the U.S. retreat from multilateralism has shaken the body to its foundations.
In all, about 75 agencies and departments faced a June 13 deadline to propose budget cuts. Member states have the final say on the budget. Many have been supportive of financial retrenchment.
Wilson, who died in 1924, was one of the architects of the League of Nations after World War One though the United States never formally joined.
The U.N. in Geneva (UNOG) leases the 19th century Palais on behalf of the Office for the High Commissioner for Human Rights from a Swiss foundation under a nearly 30-year lease worth around 36 million Swiss francs ($44.25 million), U.N. documents show.
"As part of UNOG's revised budget submission for 2026, and in line with guidance from headquarters to reduce the costs of lease payments, UNOG is indeed proposing in its submission for revised budget estimates that the end of the lease of Palais Wilson be brought forward," Alessandra Vellucci, director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, said.
The lease had been due to expire in 2027.
OHCHR spokesperson Jeremy Laurence said: "The U.N. is looking at all options to decrease costs, including a proposal to rehouse our headquarters in Geneva away from Palais Wilson, the symbolic home of human rights."
He added that the impact of the financial crisis went far beyond this one proposal and that funding cuts by the United States and others were already affecting its work.
The Trump administration has repeatedly defended the foreign aid cuts, saying they are focused on wasted funds.
Trump said in February that the United Nations had "great potential and ... we'll continue to go along with it, but they got to get their act together".
The U.N. cuts are part of a major review called "UN80" that the body launched in March to make it more efficient.
The U.N. Controller will analyse proposed cuts and submit recommendations to Secretary General Antonio Guterres by early July, officials said.
($1 = 0.8135 Swiss francs)
(Reporting by Emma Farge in Geneva; Additional reporting by John Shiffman in New York; Editing by Dave Graham and Alison Williams)