An occasion not to be missed for the Geneva public, this new edition of the Geneva Lecture Series will feature an open debate with the participation of Dominique Strauss-Kahn and Pascal Lamy - Principals of two international organizations at the cornerstone of the global economic governance architecture. The 6th edition of the Series will take place on 8 December, 16.30-18.30, at a usual meeting point - Assembly Hall of the Palais des Nations. The event will also be broadcast live on www.un.org/webcast.

General public from Geneva and beyond is invited to an event that will feature Mr. Strauss-Kahn, IMF Managing Director, and Pascal Lamy, WTO Director-General, and will be entitled “The impact of the financial crisis on global economic governance”. The financial crisis that erupted in 2007 brought about growing realization of the need to reshape the system of international regulation and governance in order to adjust current strategies to stable and sustainable growth requirements, and reportedly accelerated the pace of reforms of international financial and economic institutions created in the aftermath of World War II.

Lectures by Mr. Strauss-Kahn and Mr. Lamy will be followed by a debate open to the public and moderated by a well-known journalist. The audience will have an opportunity to engage into discussion and to get some insights on the topic from two preeminent personalities whose wealth of expertise gained in their capacities as policy-makers and scholars will be of undeniable value to the discussion.

Currently Managing Director of the IMF, Mr. Strauss-Kahn served as Minister of Economy, Finance and Industry of France during the launch of the Euro, as well as Minister of Industry and International Trade, during the Uruguay Round of trade negotiations. He was several times elected to the National Assembly, taught economics at the Paris Institute of Political Studies and Stanford University, and worked as personal advisor to the Secretary General of the OECD. In 2006, Mr. Strauss-Kahn ran for the Socialist Party's nomination for the French presidential election.

Prior to his appointment as WTO Director-General in 2005, Mr. Lamy served as Commissioner for Trade at the European Commission under Romano Prodi. In addition, Mr. Lamy had been CEO of the Credit Lyonnais before the privatization of the bank, and served as associate Professor at the Paris Institute of Political Studies and as advisor to Mr. Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, President of the European Socialist Party.

This is the 6th edition in a series jointly organized by the United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG) and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) and inaugurated by the United Nations Secretary-General BAN Ki-moon. By bringing prominent leaders from the world of politics, business as well as civil society, and intellectual circles, the Geneva Lecture Series aims to promote a process of reflection on what can and should be done to address pressing issues of global significance. The previous editions included as speakers Nobel Prize Laureates Shirin Ebadi, Wole Soyinka and Mikhail Gorbachev, UN Messenger of Peace Jane Goodall, Secretary-General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu and covered such global challenges as Millennium Development Goals, human rights, nuclear disarmament, environmental challenges, and intercultural dialogue.

More information on the event is available on www.unitar.org/gls. The registration to participate in this event is mandatory (please register at www.unog.ch/gls).