Partaking in negotiations at the UN means that one becomes part of a long – and sometimes heavy – history. It also means that for diplomats and delegates, their relative role and weight suffers some level of disproportion in comparison with that of the institutions that preside over their dealings.

This happens to be particularly true in the case of the Conference on Disarmament (CD), which has been deadlocked for decades, to such an extent that some describe it as Geneva’s “Sleeping Beauty”. This photograph, taken in the Council Chamber, shows part of the murals that were painted by José María Sert and offered to the League of Nations by the Government of Spain in 1936. This particular painting depicts the abolition of slavery.