‘CZECH PRESS PHOTO –- FLOODS IN CENTRAL EUROPE’ EXHIBIT TO OPEN AT HEADQUARTERS 24 APRIL

Note to Correspondents

‘CZECH PRESS PHOTO –- FLOODS IN CENTRAL EUROPE’ EXHIBIT

TO OPEN AT HEADQUARTERS 24 APRIL

Jan Kavan (Czech Republic), President of the fifty-seventh session of the United Nations General Assembly, will open “Czech Press Photo -– Floods in Central Europe” on Thursday, 24 April, at 5:30 p.m. in the United Nations Visitors’ Lobby.  Guests are required to enter from the First Avenue and 46^th Street entrance.

Not since 1432 had so much water flooded under Prague’s historic Charles Bridge as it did during August 2002.  When the water had receded, 17 lives had been lost, more than 200,000 people had been evacuated from their homes, mostly around the Elbe and Vltava rivers –- 50,000 in Prague alone.  The mud-trail of destruction caused some $3.5 billion in damage; 1,000 houses had collapsed or had to be destroyed; cultural landmarks belonging to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization World Heritage list were damaged.

      Czech Press Photo is a yearly photographic contest in the Czech Republic.  The dramatic photographs in this exhibition represent a selection of the best pictures from the 2002 contest as well as from previous years as seen in the Czech Republic, Germany and Slovakia.

Czech Press Photo 2002’ international jury is made up of leading photojournalists from nine different countries:  Germany, France, United States, Italy, Russia, Hungary, Slovakia, Switzerland, and the Czech Republic.  The jury awarded prizes in 16 different categories of the competition, as well as the main prize –- Photo of the Year.  The Lord Mayor of Prague grants one year of a creative scholarship; other prizes are decided by the directors of Canon, Nikon and Sony, as well as by the Children’s Jury of the Czech United Nations Children's Fund Committee and the public itself.

The exhibit will be on display daily from 24 April to 12 May 2003.  Hours:  Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.  (In view of occasional security restrictions, please call (212) 963-8687 to confirm.)

For further press information, please contact Jan Vytopil, Counsellor, Office of the General Assembly President, tel:  (212) 963-1232, e-mail:  vytopil@un.org; or Richard Sydenham, Spokesman, at tel:  (212) 963-1256 or

(917) 445-2855,e-mail:  sydenham@un.org, www.un.ga/ga/president, www.czechpressphoto.cz.

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