United
Nations  A Time for Renewal | Media
Advisory
United Nations 60th anniversary |
United Nations celebrates 60th anniversary on UN Day, 24 October
Birthday surprise at official ceremony
The United Nations will celebrate the Organization's 60 th anniversary with a full day of activities at UN Headquarters for the UN community and the public. The programme includes an official ceremony, a choral performance, a book launch, a lecture and a film screening. The day's celebratory events will close with a concert by the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra in the General Assembly Hall.
Award Winning Finnish Choir to launch the day's activities
Time: 9:00 - 9:15 a.m.
Venue: Visitors Lobby
In celebration of the UN's 60th anniversary and the 50th anniversary of Finland 's membership in the Organization, the award-winning Finnish YL Male Voice Choir will perform in the Visitors Lobby at UN Headquarters. The choir, conducted by
Dr. Matti Hyökki's, will render the music of Finnish composers Jean Sibelius and Einojuhani Rautavaara, among others.
The internationally acclaimed YL Male Voice Choir is the oldest Finnish-language choir and a pioneer in Finnish choral music. Many notable Finnish composers have dedicated their works to the YL Male Voice Choir which has toured extensively and has received innumerable awards for its recordings of Sibelius, and of contemporary music.
For more information, contact the Permanent Mission of Finland to the United Nations: Tel: 212-355-2100 or visit the Choir's home page at www.yl.fi/soundofsibelius
UN Secretary-General to participate in official UN60 ceremony
Time: 9:30 - 10:00 a.m.
Venue: Visitors Lobby (north).
The programme for the official ceremony will include:
• Wreath-laying ceremony by the Secretary-General to honour fallen colleagues.
• Procession to the Meditation Room for a moment of reflection, led by the Secretary-General who will be accompanied by the Presidents of the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Trusteeship Council and the Economic and Social Council as well as the Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information.
• Statements by the Secretary-General and the President of the General Assembly.
• Presentation of a resolution ("H.Con.Res192") introduced in the US House of Representatives to mark the 60 th anniversary of the United Nations. Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney will make the presentation to the Secretary-General.
• Reading of birthday card greetings to the Secretary-General and the President of the General Assembly by two students from the United Nations International School (UNIS).
• Ringing of the "Harmony Bell " by the Secretary-General and the General Assembly President. The bell will be on loan for the day from the World Harmony Foundation. (WHF).
• Musical birthday tribute to the United Nations in its six official languages by UNIS students.
The official ceremony will end with birthday surprise courtesy Aramark, the catering company under contract at UN Headquarters.
For more information, please contact Vyatcheslav Cherkasov, DPI, Outreach
Division.
Tel. Ext: 1212 963 5097 (Cherkasov@un.org)
Book launch and panel discussion on Dag Hammarskjöld
Time: 1.15 - 2.45 p.m.
Venue: Conference Room 8
Organizers: DPI in cooperation with the Permanent
Mission of Sweden.
Launch of the book, The Adventure of Peace: Dag Hammarskjöld and the Future of the UN (Palgrave MacMillan), including a panel discussion and book signing. The panel discussion will be moderated by Under-Secretary-General Shashi Tharoor, and will feature the President of the General Assembly, Mr. Jan Eliasson, and the Director of the Office of the UNDP Human Development Report, Ms. Sakiko Fukuda-Parr.
The book marks the centenary of the birth of Dag Hammarskjöld, the former UN Secretary-General who served as head of the Organization from 1953 to 1961. Researchers, diplomats and UN officials are among the eminent contributors to the book that examines the life and work of Dag Hammarskjöld. Prominent figures like
Dr. Hans Blix, Under-Secretary-General Jean-Marie Guéhenno, Dr. Sergei Khrushchev, Professor Lord Skidelsky, Ambassador Nancy Soderberg, Under-Secretary-General Shashi Tharoor, and Sir Brian Urquhart discuss Dag Hammarskjöld's legacy and ways in which the UN can draw on it in seeking solutions to the problems of our time.
For more information, please contact: Narendra Nandoe, Outreach Division,
DPI,
Tel. Ext. 212-963-1807
Swedish diplomat and poet to lecture on Dag Hammarskjöld
Time: 3.30 - 4.30 p.m.
Venue: Dag Hammarskjöld Library, First Floor
Reading Room.
Ambassador Kai Falkman, distinguished Swedish diplomat and poet, will deliver a lecture entitled: "Dag Hammarskjöld's Life Reflected in His Haiku Poems". There will also be a display of the former Secretary-General's personal photographs illustrating his Haiku poems.
For more information, please contact: Lorraine Waitman, Dag Hammarskjöld Library, Outreach Division, DPI. Tel. Ext: 212-963-7440
Russian documentary on the history of the United Nations
Time: 5:00 p.m.
Venue: Dag Hammarskjöld Auditorium
The Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation and the Russian News Agency ITAR-TASS, in cooperation with DPI, will screen the documentary , " United Nations: 60 years and one day". The film, produced by ITAR-TASS in cooperation with Channel One, Russia , includes first-hand accounts of the history of the UN, its key decisions, the major activities of its principal bodies and interviews with UN Secretary-General and the heads of state and government of the permanent members of the Security Council. The event's organizers will host a reception after the screening.
For more information, please contact: Vladimir Kikilo, correspondent of the ITAR agency, e-mail: vikikilo@aol.com
Ceremony to dedicate the Chagall Peace Window
Time: 6:00 - 6:45 p.m.
Venue: At the Peace Window, Visitors Lobby
The purpose of the event is to dedicate the completed restoration project of the Peace Window by Marc Chagall, which was installed at the UN in honor of Dag Hammarskjöld in 1964. The restoration project was carried out on the initiative of Maecenas World Patrimony Foundation (MWPF), which is chaired by Dr. Vladimir Petrovsky. The project was previously completed in summer 2001 and a dedication ceremony was planned for UN Day in October of that year. The event was postponed as a result of the tragic events of September 11. The objective of MWPF is the conservation of art and historic objects from the collections of the UN offices and its agencies.
During the event, brief statements will be made by Dr Vladimir Petrovsky and Mr. Jan Eliasson, President of the General Assembly. The Secretary-General is also expected to attend.
For more information, please contact: Signe Burgstaller, General Assembly President's Office. Tel. Ext. 212-963-0755
Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra to perform at UN Day Concert
Time: 7:00 - 8:00 p.m.
Venue: General Assembly Hall
The Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by internationally acclaimed conductor, Alan Gilbert, will perform for the UN Day concert. Symphonic selections from the musical genius of Gustave Mahler and Sergei Prokofiev, and a festive range of Nordic songs will be performed. The concert will be the highlight of the Day's celebrations to mark the 60 th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations.
For more information, please contact: Vikram Sura, Outreach Division, DPI.
Tel: Ext: 212-963-8274
Exhibitions to mark the 60 th anniversary
Venue: Visitors Lobby
Commemorative exhibitions continue to be featured at
UN Headquarters .
"Peace in Mind" is a travelling exhibition commemorating the 100th anniversary of the birth of Dag Hammarskjöld. It is a reflection of Dag Hammarskjöld's belief that the work for peace must begin within the private world of each one of us, and that we have to understand our own place on earth before we can reach global understanding. The exhibition highlights the connection between his actions in office and his private life beyond the spotlight of the United Nations. " Peace in Mind" is produced by the Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation in close collaboration with the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs and The Swedish Institute.
A historical photographic exhibition entitled "The Founding of the United Nations" continues in the Visitors Lobby. The retrospective exhibition features archival photographs from the UN Photo Library on the founding years of the United Nations and highlights of the Organization's 60-year history. The exhibition is sponsored by the Hewlett-Packard Corporation.
For more information, please contact: Jan Arnesen, Outreach Division, DPI.
Tel. Ext: 1 212 963 8531
UN 60 posters and Harmony Bell sponsored by NGOs
The UN-affiliated NGO Mayors for Peace and the World Harmony Foundation (WHF) have sponsored the production of 5,000 posters with the UN 60 th anniversary logo and 15,000 posters of the Preamble to the United Nations Charter. The posters, designed in the Department of Public Information's Outreach Division, will be on display during the official UN 60 ceremony on the morning of 24 October.
The WHF commissioned the Harmony Bell for the UN's 60th anniversary celebrations on 24 October, to ring in "A Time for Renewal". The design links the concepts of 'Peace and Harmony' and the 'End of the all Wars' and includes the word 'Harmony' in the UN's six official languages around the center of the Bell . The metal for the bell comes from scraps of recycled metal collected by school children in China and from the casings of live ammunition donated by the Chinese military. The bell symbolizes the goal of a peaceful future for all children for generations to come.
The Harmony Bell can be rung at any time by persons from all walks of life. The WHF will offer the Harmony Bell to major international gatherings, educational and spiritual meetings and conferences.
The WHF has as its mission the promotion of peace, respect and harmony as elements in eradicating the root cause of war. Mayors for Peace unites 1,200 cities under the leadership of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in upholding the vision of a nuclear-weapon-free world being achieved through international agreement by the year 2020, and strives to avert the destruction of a third city by nuclear explosion.
The media advisory is prepared by the Partnership Unit, CSS, Outreach Division, DPI.
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