An attractive time zone

With more than 1,000 staff in six UN organisations, Copenhagen is the world’s sixth largest UN city. In 2012 a new building will be completed, where all the UN organisations will be brought together at the same address in the Danish capital

By Anna Mogensen

An amazing sea view and easy access to The Little Mermaid will greet staff and visitors as they step out of the door of the new UN city, a construction that will be completed on Copenhagen’s waterfront in 2012.

But a nice view and a national icon pale in comparison with one of Copenhagen’s main attractions for a modern, international workplace: a good location in relation to time zones.

It is rare that Denmark is promoted on something as apparently mundane as this. But for the international UN organisations that operate on all continents, Copenhagen is attractive because the city by and large shares the same time zone as the rest of Europe, Africa and large parts of the Middle East.

The United Nations Office for Project Services, UNOPS, recently moved its headquarters from New York to Copenhagen, and has noticed how the time zones has increased flexibility.

“Because of the time difference in New York, it have been difficult to cover Asia and Africa, where we traditionally have most of our activities. It means a lot to us that we are now in the same time zone as Africa,” says Karsten Bloch, a Dane who is director of the global service centre in UNOPS.

Karsten Bloch points to other specific advantages of Copenhagen, such as its efficient international airport and the high level of education.

“The cost level in relation to salaries is high in Copenhagen, but it should be seen in the context of the educational level being correspondingly high,” he explains.

New knowledge across organisations
More than 1,000 staff in six UN organisations make Copenhagen the world’s sixth largest UN city.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark is the host of the UN in Denmark and is financing the establishment of the new UN city, which has been designed by the Danish architects firm 3XNielsen. The objective is that the UN city, which will bring together all the organisations at one shared address in 2012, both generates financial benefits and fertile synergies between the UN organisations.

“The UN organisations would like to exploit the benefits of collaborating with other UN organisations. UNOPS has moved its headquarters from New York and its regional office from Dubai to Copenhagen. UNICEF has a very large supply division in the city. A sizeable number of colleagues and the opportunity to collaborate across offices help you to think that it makes sense to work from Copenhagen,” says Susanne Hækkerup, who heads the Danish UN office at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark.

UNOPS hopes that these kinds of organisational benefit are exactly what will be achieved by establishing the new UN city.

“You gain some synergies by being in the same building where you can make use of each other’s knowledge in the various practice areas such as HR or finance,” says Karsten Bloch and continues:

“In addition, we have an opportunity to gain a financial benefit. Currently the UN is located in three separate office facilities, each with its own reception, chauffeurs and administrative functions. We can pool these functions in the new UN city and thereby make a range of savings.”

UN in Denmark

UN health organisation WHO: Regional Office for Europe established in Copenhagen in 1957
UN children’s fund UNICEF: Global Supply Division established in Copenhagen in 1963
Nordic office of the UN world food programme WFP: Nordic office in Copenhagen from 2000
UN development organisation UNDP: Nordic office established in Copenhagen in 2001 (administration for junior advisors) and 2003 (country office administration)
UN population fund UNFPA: Nordic office in Copenhagen from 2004/05
UN global office for project services UNOPS: Moved its headquarters from New York to Copenhagen in 2006 (merged with the UNDP inter-agency procurement service office IAPSO in 2008)