DPI/NGO ACTIVITIES

Holocaust Remembrance Day (29 January):

The International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust (29 January) will be observed at UNHQ with a week-long programme, including a ceremony in the General Assembly Hall (see list of activities below). In light of the 2006 Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the observance will also focus on persons with disabilities as one of the many victim groups of the Nazi regime. DPI will launch a new outreach tool containing survivor testimony and resources for Member States, educators and UNICs called, Electronic Notes for Speakers, created for the UN by Yad Vashem, the Shoah Foundation Institute for Visual History and Education and the Memorial de la Shoah. It will be available at http://www.un.org/holocaustremembrance. The week-long observance is organized by DPI’s Advocacy Unit, Outreach Division.

• Activities

29 January (10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. General Assembly Hall and Conference Room 2): Ceremony and “Remembrance and Beyond” lecture. It will include a keynote address by Madame Simone Veil, President of the Fondation pour la Mémoire de la Shoah and a Holocaust survivor, and address by a university student on the importance of learning about the Holocaust. HaZamir, the International Jewish High School Chamber Choir, will perform.

Contact: specialprojects2@un.org, or call Marc 917-367-5841.

30 January (6:00 p.m.): Exhibits opening, “The Holocaust Against the Sinti and Roma and Present Day Racism in Europe” and Holocaust survivor art. (By invitation only: wichmann@un.org)

31 January (6:00 p.m. DHL Auditorium): Screening of Volevo solo Vivere (I Only Wanted to Live), directed by Mimmo Calopresti (Limited seating: sura@un.org)

1 February (6:00 p.m. DHL Auditorium): Screening of Nazvy svoie im'ia (Spell Your Name), directed by Serhiy Bukovsky (Limited seating: sura@un.org)

2 February: Publication of the third Holocaust and Genocide discussion paper titled, “Hitler, Pol Pot and Hutu Power: Distinguishing Themes of Genocidal Ideology”, by Professor Ben Kiernan, Director, Genocide Studies Programme, Yale University.

EXHIBITS at UNHQ
29 January - 22 February (Main Gallery): "A two-part exhibition in observance of the International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust: "The Holocaust Against the Roma and Sinti and present day racism in Europe, and "Remembrance and Beyond: Art of the Survivors" -- an exhibit featuring artwork by Holocaust survivors Joseph Bau, Henny de Brito, David Friedman and Hanka Kornfeld-Marder. Sponsored by the Documentation and Cultural Centre of German Sinti and Roma and DPI.

Currently on display through
31 January (North East Gallery): "Weltanschauung: Visions of the World" - An anthology by international artists, philosophers, Literature Nobel Laureates, statesmen and spiritual leaders presented by the Goethe-Institut Palermo, in cooperation with the Department of Public Information.

18 January - 16 February (South Gallery): (North East Gallery): "Burundi: from Conflict to Peacebuilding" - A photographic exhibition highlighting the achievements of the United Nations Operation in Burundi (ONUB), sponsored by DPKO and DPI.

Contact: arnesen@un.org

CONFERENCES, MEETINGS AND SPECIAL EVENTS

Thirty-seventh session of CEDAW: The Development Section will be covering the Committee for the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), which holds its 37th session at UNHQ from 17 January - 2 February. During its three-week session, the Committee will spend two weeks in open meetings engaging in “constructive dialogue” with 15 reporting countries, followed by one week of closed meetings to formulate its “concluding comments”, which will be given to each State individually sometime after the close of the session. A DPI advance press release was issued on 12 January. Please visit:
http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/csw/51sess.htm or Contact: mcguffie@un.org

ECOSOC election:

The incoming president of the Economic and Social Council will be elected on 17 January. The Development Section will assist the president's introduction to the UN press corps as a guest at the 18 January noon briefing of the Spokesperson of the General Assembly, and provide press materials.

LAUNCHES




The Development Section is assisting the UN's Non-Governmental Liaison service with a press release launching a new UN sales publication, Debating NGO accountability. The 19 January launch will be marked by a panel discussion, involving author Jem Bendell by videolink. How and why NGOs should be taken seriously as authoritative, sufficiently transparent organizations, and what they can do to facilitate this acceptance, are among the themes explored.

Contact: wallt@un.org