LIONS CLUBS INTERNATIONAL HOLDS 24TH ANNUAL DAY WITH UNITED NATIONS

                                                                  Note No. 5722

                                                                  21 March 2002

Note to Correspondents

LIONS CLUBS INTERNATIONAL HOLDS 24^TH ANNUAL DAY WITH UNITED NATIONS

Lions Clubs International members from around the world will meet at United NationsHeadquarters tomorrow, 22 March, to mark the twenty-fourth annual “Lions Day with the United Nations”, an event sponsored by the Department of Public Information.  The theme of this year’s programme is “Light the Path”.

More than 600 Lions Clubs members are expected to attend a programme that will highlight humanitarian concerns, issues of peace and security, and the importance of volunteerism and service in furthering United Nations objectives throughout the world. 

Senior representatives of the Office of the Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict and of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs will speak.  In addition, there will be addresses by Patrick Kennedy of the United States Mission to the United Nations and by Ahmad Kamal, former ambassador of Pakistan to the United Nations.  The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) will be presented with a check for $14,000 from Lions Clubs International.  Also, there will be a presentation of the Annual Peace Poster winner, a student from Hong Kong.

Lions Clubs International has had a history of support for the work of the United Nations since the Organization’s inception in 1945, when it was one of the non-governmental organizations invited to assist in the drafting of the United Nations Charter in San Francisco.  With aid for the blind and visually impaired as a primary mission, Lions Clubs International’s Sight First campaigns have improved the health and well-being of people throughout the world.

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