FREE UNITED NATIONS GUIDED TOURS GIVEN TO 8,700 VISITORS ON SUNDAYS IN JUNE

Free guided tours were given to 8,700 visitors to the United Nations on Sundays in June in celebration of the 60^th anniversary of the United Nations Charter, signed in San Francisco on 26 June 1945.  The free tour took 30 minutes, with stops in the Security Council Chamber and the General Assembly Hall.  Information about the premises, the work of the United Nations, events and artwork on display on the tour route was provided by UN guides.

“This promotion was a wonderful start to our anniversary year.  People emerged from the tours with a better understanding of how the United Nations tackles pressing issues and promotes global understanding”, said Shashi Tharoor, the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information.  “With the generous support of the United Nations Foundations, 8,700 visitors -- three times the number we would normally have expected on Sundays in June -- now know more about their United Nations.”

The United Nations Foundation was created in 1998 with a $1 billion gift from entrepreneur and philanthropist Ted Turner.  It supports United Nations causes and activities through grants and by building innovative public-private partnerships, and works to broaden support for the United Nations and global cooperation through education, advocacy and public outreach.

Organized by the Department of Public Information’s Outreach Division, United Nations guided tours offer a direct link between the United Nations and the general public.  Each day, 60 multilingual guides help members of the public better understand the world body. 

During its 60^th anniversary year, when the United Nations is focused on renewal -- on new international threats and challenges, and ways to ensure the international system is up to the task of dealing with them -- the tours provide information about a wide range of UN activities around the world and, equally importantly, reflect back to the Organization the concerns and questions expressed by a highly articulate and engaged visiting public.

The United Nations Guided Tours Unit offers tours in 20 languages, more than any other tour operation in New York.  Tours are conducted daily, with a few exceptions (see www.un.org/tours), from 9:30 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. on weekdays, and from 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on weekends.  Since the first tour took place in November 1952, over 38 million visitors have been guided through United Nations Headquarters. 

For more information, please contact:  Way Gomez, Public Relations Section, tel.:  1 212 963-7721, fax:  1 212 963-0071, e-mail:  gomezl@un.org; or e-mail:  toursunhq@un.org; or visit www.un.org/tours.

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