Note to Correspondents

EXHIBIT ON 60 YEARS OF UN PEACEKEEPING OPENS AT UN HEADQUARTERS

 

In celebration of the sixtieth anniversary of United Nations peacekeeping and in observance of the International Day of UN Peacekeepers, an exhibit entitled “Honouring 60 Years of United Nations Peacekeeping:  Looking Back, Moving Forward” will be formally launched in the Main Gallery of the Visitors’ Lobby on Thursday, 29 May, at 11 a.m.

The multimedia exhibition focuses on United Nations peacekeeping, a unique and dynamic instrument developed by the Organization as a way to help countries torn by conflict to create the conditions for lasting peace.  Beginning with the establishment of the first UN peacekeeping mission in May 1948, the exhibit demonstrates how United Nations peacekeeping continues to evolve, both conceptually and operationally, to meet new challenges and political realities.  Since then, there have been a total of 63 UN peacekeeping operations around the world.

Statements at the opening will be made by Kiyo Akasaka, Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information; John McNee, Permanent Representative of Canada to the United Nations; and Jean-Marie Guéhenno, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations.

The exhibit is produced by the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, the Department of Field Support and the Department of Public Information with support from the Permanent Mission of Canada.

For more information on United Nations exhibitions, please contact Jan Arnesen at tel.:  212 963 8531, Liza Wichmann at 212 963 0089; e-mail:  arnesen@un.org or wichmann@un.org.

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For information media • not an official record