April 1998, Vol 1. No. 2

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GENEVA ON A SHOESTRING

In summertime, Geneva is one of the most popular European tourist destinations. Busloads of visitors from around the world come to stroll on the lakeside, admire the flowerbeds and the Jet d'eau, and the Alps towering in the distance. Geneva also has the reputation of being one of the world's most expensive places to visit. This reputation is partially justified. The Swiss enjoy a very high standard of living and consequently the cost of living may seem exorbitant for people, especially from resource-poor areas.

Here are some tips to get by during your stay in Geneva without having to spend excessive amounts of money.

The currency in Switzerland is the Swiss franc. At the time of publication, one Swiss franc was worth 1.45 US dollars. Exchange offices (Bureaux de change) are widely available throughout town, especially around the Cornavin train station and may offer more interesting rates than banks. Off-hour exchange is available in the Geneva Airport train station and Geneva Main Station.

FOOD

Restaurants can be prohibitively expensive, even if many of them offer lunchtime deals of complete meals for ca. 15 francs. Fast-food chains will serve meals around 12 francs. The cost of food in supermarkets and shops can also be surprisingly high, but the quality of produce is usually excellent and Switzerland is well known for its dairy products and chocolate. Conference delegates might find it more economical to buy bread and cheeses, sandwiches, yogurts, fruit, and pack lunches for Palexpo. There will be no lunch hour break in the Conference programme. A range of catering services will be available throughout the day at Palexpo and plans are being made to inform Conference delegates, on arrival, of economical alternatives to restaurants in the evenings.

TRANSIT

The Geneva public transport system (TPG) of distinctive orange trams, trolleys and buses is very well developed. A 60-minute ticket on the urban zones will cost 2.20 francs (at bus stops) and strip cards (at TPG agencies or newsagents) offer a slightly cheaper alternative. Registration fees will include a transportation pass from Sunday, June 28th to Friday, July 3rd. Travel to cities around Geneva is fast and efficient. A train station serves the Conference site.

ACCOMMODATION

One of the prides of Geneva is its number of quality hotels. Many of these are in the luxury class, but a range of prices is available for different standards. A cheap hotel can cost between 80 and 150 francs a night. We encourage Community participants who have not asked for accommodation to book hotel rooms as soon as possible: space will be at a premium when the Conferences 10'000 delegates arrive in Geneva and many of the hotels are booking up fast. Please let the Secretariat know if your efforts to find accomodation in Geneva are unsuccessful.

LEISURE

Aside from Geneva's traditional tourist activities, there will be a variety of opportunities for delegates to enjoy the Conference's Cultural Programme, off- and on-site. Performance, video, art, music, sport (especially the World Cup soccer matches), drama and dance are all planned as elements of this free access programme. A lakeside site is being planned as a space for fresh air and relaxation in one of Geneva's loveliest parks. Geneva also boasts many cinemas and theatres (the average price of a cinema ticket being 15 francs), public indoor and outdoor swimming pools and sports facilities: If the weather is up to its usual summer standard, one can enjoy a swim in the clean, cool waters of Lake Geneva, at any of its several public beaches.

THE SCHOLARSHIP TEAM

One of the most important aspects of implementing the Geneva principle is to ensure that the 12th World AIDS Conference is accessible to delegates coming from resource-poor environments. At the Geneva Secretariat, the Scholarship Department's job is to receive and process scholarship applications from around the world and to evaluate them according to rigorous criteria established by a Scholarship Working Group. These criteria take into consideration both individual specificities and candidates' potential to participate in the Geneva 98 experience and carry it back to their community and their work.

3653 scholarship applications were received by the deadline. They will all be processed and evaluated before final selection is made in early April. A quick snapshot of the applicant pool follows:

6 regions and 147 countries are represented
1096 applicants (30.4%) from Africa
761 applicants (21.1%) from Asia/Pacific
657 applicants (18.2%) from Latin America/Caribbean
169 applicants (4.6%) from Eastern Europe
224 applicants (6.2%) from Western Europe
746 applicants (20.7%) from Australia/New Zealand/Japan/Canada/USA

Of the total applicant pool, 46% are women, 54% are men

Of the 3653 applicants,

25% indicated they were HIV+
39% indicated they were HIV-
18% did not know their status
18% did not respond

Despite the size of the Scholarship Fund, the demand for scholarships is overwhelming. The Conference will be able to assist less than a third of the approximately 3600 applicants. The Scholarship Programme will be allocating 1000 registrations and will supplement approximately 700 of these with full or partial funding to cover travel, accommodation, and per diems. Successful applicants will be notified in April. If you are not granted a Scholarship, or if you have not applied for one from the Scholarship Fund, please remember that you may also explore other ways of funding your trip to Geneva, either with local or international agencies.

Ida GIORDANO is the Co-ordinator the Scholarship Programme. She held the same position at the Vancouver Conference and joined the Geneva Secretariat in August 1997. Ida is responsible for overseeing the entire programme and its organisation. She acquired her experience in Programme Management in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, and in her native Canada where she managed Human Resource Development projects for a large international NGO, World University Service of Canada. Ida's job is one of the most demanding ones on the Conference staff but she is an example of good humour, tenacity and resourcefulness in the midst of what often appears to be complete chaos.

Fred McMULLEN, Scholarship Programme Assistant, helps her in her work. Fred came to Geneva via Philadelphia and New York, where he acquired a solid background in project management for the advertising industry. In Geneva, Fred began working with a local ASO and joined the Scholarship team in October 1997. His duties involve both helping Ida with administration of the thousands of scholarship applications, and communication with scholarship candidates world-wide.

Receiving a Scholarship means that many candidates will benefit from travel to and from Geneva and lodging while they attend the Conference. Thomas SCHAFFER is the Scholarship Programme Assistant who is in charge of organising the logistics of this complex task. Thomas is a Swiss national and joined the staff in November 1997. He previously served the International Committee of the Red Cross, as an international travel specialist, and is now working hard to ensure safe flights and adequate accommodation for Community delegates.

A team of hard-working and enthusiastic volunteers from the Geneva area are helping the Scholarship team with the huge numbers of Scholarship applications that have poured in.

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