ARRANGEMENTS FOR CORRESPONDENTS FOR GENERAL ASSEMBLY'S SPECIAL COMMEMORATIVE MEETING
Press Release
ARRANGEMENTS FOR CORRESPONDENTS FOR GENERAL ASSEMBLY'S SPECIAL COMMEMORATIVE MEETING
19951017 The special commemorative meeting of the General Assembly for the fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations will be held from Sunday, 22 October, to Tuesday, 24 October, in the General Assembly Hall at United Nations Headquarters. The buildings will be closed to the public for the duration of the meeting.The Accreditation Centre is located at 304 East 45th Street. Its office hours are as follows: 17-20 October, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Saturday, 21 October, 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Sunday, 22 October, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Monday and Tuesday, 23 and 24 October, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.
All members of the press corps accompanying heads of State, heads of government or heads of delegation must present themselves to the Accreditation Centre, where they will have their photographs taken and be issued a United Nations grounds pass upon presentation of their national passports. For security reasons, members of the press corps will be required to wear both their United Nations grounds pass and a national press ID at all times.
The designated press entrance will be the playground entrance located at the south-east corner of First Avenue and 48th Street. This will be the only press entrance into the Headquarters complex during the commemorative meeting. The gate will be opened at 5:30 a.m. At this location, there will be an express line to go through the screening procedures for those journalists who are not bringing any equipment. Members of the United Nations Correspondents Association (UNCA) have been informed on the special arrangements made for them.
At the playground entrance, United Nations Security Officers will verify the United Nations grounds passes and direct members of the press to the screening tent. All press personnel and equipment will be screened. The method of screening will be by magnetometers, x-ray machines and explosive- detection canines. Upon completion of the screening, members of the press will be directed to the first basement (1B) entrance to the Conference Building (the glass doors at the end of the garden). This is the only authorized press entrance into the building from 5:30 a.m. until the
commemorative meeting is adjourned each day. Any media needing to enter the building once the 48th Street entrance has been closed following the conclusion of the afternoon sessions of the General Assembly, should use the Visitors' Entrance at First Avenue and 46th Street and proceed to the first basement through the retail concourse.
Although adequate staff will be on hand for screening, it is recommended that all press personnel arrive no later than 7 a.m. to allow sufficient time for screening. Last minute arrivals will encounter longer delays; they may be further delayed should the host country law enforcement personnel temporarily close First Avenue for priority motorcade movement.
Media Centres
In addition to the facilities normally available to the press on the third floor of the Secretariat building, the ExPress Bar located on the third floor of the General Assembly building will serve as an overflow area for the press corps, particularly the official photographers and cameramen waiting to enter the booth assigned to them. This location will be equipped with a television monitor, carrying the proceedings in the Plenary Hall, typewriters, telephones and electric outlets. The United Nations has established media centres for the local and visiting press corps, which will provide the following technical services in Conference Rooms 1, 2 and 3:
Conference Room 1: Main Press Centre. Will offer the following facilities:
* Television sets carrying live proceedings on closed circuit television in English;
* Full interpretation in the six official languages on earshells;
* Press announcement and local paging systems;
* Telephone lines (at commercial rates) and electrical outlets (110 volts) to enable journalists to use their lap-top computers with modems;
* Documents distribution, including press releases and texts of speeches; and
* Typewriters.
Conference Room 2: Main Press Centre. Will offer the following facilities:
* Television sets carrying live proceedings on closed circuit television in English;
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* Full interpretation in the six official languages on earshells;
* Press announcement and local paging systems;
* Telephone lines (at commercial rates) and electrical outlets (110 volts) to enable journalists to use their lap-top computers with modems;
* Documents distribution, including press releases and texts of speeches;
* Designated gathering areas for visual media covering bilateral meetings; and
* Ticket distribution for the Press Gallery in the General Assembly Hall.
There is a very limited number of seats available for media representatives in the Press Gallery of the General Assembly Hall. The United Nations grounds pass alone will not entitle its holder to enter the Assembly Hall. Special tickets will be distributed on a first come, first served basis starting on 22 October at 8 a.m. in Conference Room 2, on a rotating basis.
Conference Room 3: Broadcast Centre. Will be established for broadcast media and will provide the following facilities:
* Television sets carrying live proceedings on closed circuit television in English;
* Video channels for video recording in international standards;
* Visual and sound distribution boxes with provision for language selection (floor, Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish) to facilitate dubbing of any of the proceedings;
* Sound distribution boxes carrying the proceedings of the press briefings in Conference Room 4 and Room 226 (floor, English and French);
* Telephone lines (at commercial rates) for telephone feeds.
Conference Rooms A, B, C and D are allocated for television broadcast organizations on a reservation basis. Conference Room E will serve as a studio for television interviews; for further information and reservations, please contact (212) 963-7650.
United Nations Audio-Visual Materials
Photographs, videotapes and audiotapes are available from the United Nations. Each day during the special commemorative meeting, the offices which provide these services will be open from 9 a.m.
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Photographs will be available to delegations for a nominal fee and to accredited correspondents free of charge. Photographs will be available during the afternoon of the same day. Please direct inquiries and requests to United Nations Photo Library, Room S-805L, Fax: (212) 963-1658, Tel: (212) 963-6727; Photo Librarian: (212) 963-0034; Photo Librarian Assistant: (212) 963-5637.
Videotapes will be available for a fee in NTSC only, in the VHS, U-matic (3/4"), and Betacam SP formats. Tapes ordered in advance will be available for pick-up immediately following the speech. Otherwise, they will be available the next day. To request videotapes of the speeches, contact: (212) 963-7652.
Live feeds are available through commercial carriers; contact: (212) 963-7650 for information.
Please note that unilateral television production services will not be available from United Nations Television.
Audio cassettes will be available free of charge, from the United Nations Audio Library, located on the first basement concourse level (1B) in room GA-27; Fax: (212) 963-3860; (212) 963-9272, 963-4186.
Speeches are normally available in the original (floor) language in which they were delivered. Special requests for the recording of the interpreter's version in one of the six official languages (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish) should be made in advance, and are subject to the limitations of the recording facilities.
Accredited correspondents are provided with audio cassettes of news items free of charge. Delegates may request one cassette of each speech free of charge (additional copies are subject to charge and are handled by the Sound Recording Unit, room GA-13C, Tel. (212) 963-7658).
Other Arrangements
Pool coverage: Owing to logistics and space considerations, nearly all visual media coverage will be done by selected media pools. These pools are reserved exclusively for United Nations Television, United Nations photographers, international wire services and photo agencies. For the print media, the UNCA will notify the Department of Public Information (DPI) of its representatives. There will be three official luncheons hosted by the Secretary-General in the North Delegates' Lounge. Each head of State, head of government or head of delegation will be invited to one of the official luncheons.
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Visual coverage in the General Assembly Hall: The official photographer and documentary film crew will have an opportunity to cover the speech of their head of State, head of government or head of delegation from the press booths surrounding the General Assembly Hall. A limited number of still photographers, escorted by DPI liaison staff, will also be allowed to take photographs from the "bridge" at the back of the General Assembly Hall during the speech. These operations will be coordinated from the third floor liaison desk.
Photo opportunities will take place in designated areas adjacent to the General Assembly Public Lobby and on the third floor balcony, where facilities for bilateral meetings are being provided. Media representatives covering these meetings will be asked to assemble in Conference Room 2, from which point they will be escorted by a liaison officer from DPI. A list of scheduled bilateral meetings will be issued daily.
Press conferences: Room 226 and Conference Room 4 have been identified as venues for press conferences during the commemorative meeting. A list of scheduled press conferences will be issued daily.
Dining facilities: The following dining facilities will be accessible to the press during the commemorative meeting: Cafeteria (Secretariat Building -- first floor); UNCA Club (Secretariat Building -- third floor); Staff Cafe (Secretariat Building -- fourth floor); Austria Cafe (General Assembly Building -- first basement); and ExPress Bar (General Assembly Building -- third floor).
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