Welcoming remarks by Raymond Sommereyns,
Director of the Outreach Division
Department of Public Information
Holocaust Awareness and the Prevention of Genocide (12 May 2006)
Excellencies,
Distinguished Panelists,
Friends and Colleagues,
I am Raymond Sommereyns, Director of the Outreach Division of the Department of Public Information. I would like to welcome you to today’s briefing on Holocaust Awareness and the Prevention of Genocide.
On the 1st of November last year, the 191 Member States of the United Nations General Assembly adopted the historic resolution 60/7 on Holocaust remembrance. The resolution designates 27 January as an annual International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust. Many of you had the opportunity to take part in the memorial ceremony that attracted 2,000 participants to United Nations Headquarters in January. Even more persons worldwide viewed the ceremony via webcast.
For the Department of Public Information, Holocaust Remembrance Day on 27 January marked the first major step in a programme of outreach on the subject of the Holocaust and the United Nations. During this briefing, you will hear more about organizing annual Holocaust commemoration days. To assist you in your efforts, we have made available copies of guidelines drafted by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and Yad Vashem.
With today’s briefing, the Department of Public Information takes two important steps towards achieving the objectives of its outreach programme:
1. By facilitating the development of educational curricula on the lessons of the Holocaust and,
2. By providing Member States and civil society with an introduction to successful public information activities on Holocaust education and remembrance, which can be replicated around the globe.
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Other elements of the Holocaust and the United Nations outreach programme are outlined on the information card that you have at your seat. Besides the annual commemoration and briefing, I would like to draw your attention to the following:
- A series of discussion papers on the Holocaust and genocide prevention drafted by leading scholars that will be posted on the UN Holocaust remembrance website.
- A film series with the New York Tolerance Center.
- And the partnership with the Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance, and Research (ITF).
You will notice that our outreach goes beyond New York and also involves our worldwide network of United Nations Information Centres. These UN offices will be supplied with information and educational materials on the Holocaust and genocide prevention for sharing with local civil society partners.
I would now like to invite our distinguished speakers, some of whom have flown in from overseas, to give us a primer on successful public information activities as well as to demonstrate resources made available by leading institutions on Holocaust remembrance and education.
Let me first introduce our speakers.
Sitting to my right is Ambassador Gabor Bródi, Permanent Representative of Hungary to the United Nations.
To his right is Dr. Jerry Fowler who is the Staff Director of the Committee on Conscience at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum who will speak on The Holocaust and Genocide Prevention.
And sitting on the far right is Ms. Shulamit Imber who is the Director of Pedagogy at the International School for Holocaust Studies at Yad Vashem who will speak on Available Resources for Holocaust Education.
To my left is Dr. Kathrin Meyer who is the Advisor on anti-Semitism Issues in the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. She will speak on Tolerance and Non-Discrimination Outreach Activities.
And sitting next to Dr. Meyer is Dr. Helén Lööw who is the Director of the Living History Forum in Sweden. She will speak on National Holocaust Awareness Programmes.
I would like to take this opportunity to also welcome our distinguished guests who have flown in all the way from overseas for today’s briefing:
Dr. Motti Shalem who is the Director of the International School for Holocaust Studies at Yad Vashem in Israel, and Mr. Hampus Brynolf who is the Communications Officer at the Living History Forum in Sweden.