The sixtieth anniversary of the United Nations will be celebrated until June 2006.
A/RES/59/145 - Resolution
GA/10320 - Press release

By resolution 58/211, the General Assembly designated 2006 as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. The Assembly is deeply concerned by the exacerbation of desertification, particularly in Africa, and its far-reaching implications for the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals, in particular on the goal on poverty eradication.

2006 marks the end of the First United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty which was proclaimed by the General Assembly by resolution 50/107 of 20 December 1995. In December 1996, the theme for the Decade "Eradicating poverty is an ethical, social, political and economic imperative of humankind" was outlined by the General Assembly in resolution 51/178.
A review of the Decade will be carried out at the 44th session of the Commission for Social Development, 8 - 17 February 2006.

Eradicate Hunger and Extreme Poverty - Millennium Development Goal 1

The report of the Secretary-General to the 60th session of the General Assembly on the centrality of employment to poverty eradication (A/60/314) examines the relationship between growth, employment and poverty, arguing that employment is the missing link in the growth and poverty reduction equation.

1 November 2005 - Early 2007 Exhibition "Uniting Painting" by Ranan Lurie. This work of art is a large international exhibit spanning continents. One of its missions is to connect the world by art and goodwill. UN Visitors' Lobby.

December 2005 - 6 January Exhibition "Walking the World" - a photographic exhibition featuring photographs taken in Bangladesh, China, India, Kenya, Mongolia, Peru, Philippines and Sri Lanka by Polish photographers T. Gudzowaty, J. Berekai and W. Eksner. Sponsored by the Permanent Mission of the Poland to the UN and Yours Gallery. UN Visitors' Lobby.

20 December 2005 - 15 March Exhibition Spirit of the East - Joint exhibit of artworks by Kaii Higashiyama, Japanese painter and Wang Wusheng, Chinese photographic artist in commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the United Nations. Sponsored by UNESCO. UN Visitors' Lobby

9 - 20 January
Preparatory Committee for the United Nations Conference to Review Progress Made in the Implementation of the Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects, New York.
A/CONF.192/2006/PC/L.1- Provisional agenda
GA/DIS/3269 - Press Release

19 January
NGO Briefing
Topic: Peacebuilding Commission
Dag Hammarskjöld Library Auditorium from
10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

24 January
Exhibition
"No child’s play – Remembrance and Beyond" from Yad Vashem Holocaust History Museum. Opening statements will be made by USG for Communications and Public Information Shashi Tharoor, Ms. Yehudit Inbar, Curator of Exhibits, Yad Vashem Holocaust History Museum and Mr. Melvin Bukiet, Professor, Sarah Lawrence College. Ms. Mischa Baker, a student at the UN International School, will read the poem “Dream”, written in the Lodz ghetto by 13 year old Avramek Koplowitz.
UN Visitors’ Lobby.
12:00 - 12:30 p.m.

24 January
Book Signing
"A Voice for Human Rights: Mary Robinson" by Kevin Boyle (editor).
UN Bookshop
1:00 - 3:00p.m.

24 - 25 January
Film Screening
Screening of the movie “Fateless” by Lajos Koltai, based on the novel with the same name by Nobel Literature Laureate Imre Kertesz.The story follows a 14-year Jewish boy from Budapest to the Buchenwald concentration camp.
Dag Hammarskjöld Library Auditorium.
6:00 – 8:00 p.m.

26 January
NGO Briefing
Topic: Observance of the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust (observed 27 January 2006). Featured speakers: Ambassador Dan Gillerman, Permanent Representative of Israel to the UN and Judea Pearl of the Daniel Pearl Foundation.
Dag Hammarskjöld Library Auditorium
10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

26 January
Event
Solemn candlelight vigil. USG for Communications and Public Information Shashi Tharoor will open the ceremony. Statements will be made by Acting President of the General Assembly, Ambassador Ronaldo Mota Sardenberg, Permanent Representative of Brazil to the UN and Ambassador John R. Bolton, Permanent United States Representative to the UN. Excerpts from the UN Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights will be read by Holocaust survivors: Ms. Lyubov Abramovich, Mr. Roman Kent, Ms. Johanna Liebman, Mr. David Mermelstein, Mr. Jack Polak, and Rabbi Arthur Schneier. An excerpt from “The Diary of Anne Frank” will be read by Ms. Jennifer Williams, a student at the UN International School.
UN Visitors’ Lobby.
6:00 - 7:00 p.m.

27 January
Observance
A memorial ceremony and lecture to mark International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust. USG for Communications and Public Information Shashi Tharoor will introduce a programme that will begin with a message from Secretary-General Kofi Annan. A statement by the President of the Sixtieth Session of the General Assembly will be read by the Acting President, Ambassador Ronaldo Mota Sardenberg, Permanent Representative of Brazil to the UN. The event will also include a statement by Ambassador Dan Gillerman, Permanent Representative of Israel to the UN. The ceremony will feature Holocaust survivor Mrs. Gerda Klein, introduced by Mr. Roman Kent, Chairman of the American Gathering of Holocaust Survivors, a performance by the Zamir Chorale of Boston and a keynote address titled “Remembrance and Beyond” by Professor Yehuda Bauer, Advisor to the Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education Remembrance and Research.
General Assembly Hall.
10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

27 January
Observance
The Dag Hammarskjöld Library marks:
International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust
GA/10413 -Press Release