United Nations Group of Experts, Conference on Geographical Names Celebrate Fiftieth-Year Anniversary of Conferences at Headquarters
NEW YORK, 7 August (Department of Political Affairs) — The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names (UNGEGN) convenes its thirtieth session on the 7 and 18 August, as well as the eleventh United Nations Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names (UNCSGN) from 8 to 17 August, to celebrate their fiftieth-year anniversary of conferences at Headquarters.
Organized by the Statistics Division of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the session and conference will bring together more than 200 experts from across the world to discuss ways and means in which to further international and national geographical names standardization for the benefit of all citizens, Governments and non-governmental organizations everywhere. Central to the meetings will be the fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations Conference on Standardization of Geographical Names, as well as deciding on a new organizational model of the Group of Experts.
The United Nations Group of Experts aim is to increase the awareness of benefits of geographical names standardization by encouraging the collection, storage and authorization of geographical names, and to promote international and regional cooperation in that field. As one of the nine standing expert bodies of the Economic and Social Council, with more than 400 members from United Nations Member States, the Group furthers the essential work of standardizing geographical names and facilitates the development and dissemination of principles, policies and methods suitable for achieving consistent use of names. The Group carries out its work through the activities of 24 linguistic/geographical divisions and 10 working groups, as well as 2 special task teams.
The thirtieth session opens at 10:30 a.m. on Monday, 7 August, with United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names Chair William Watt officially opening the session. With that, the session formally begins and lasts two days, 7 and 18 August, with presentation of reports of the working groups and liaison officers. New or updated toponymic guidelines will also be delivered.
In between the days, from 8 to 17 August, the eleventh United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names conference is being held with almost 150 working papers covering topics such as: implementation of resolutions; toponymic training; toponymic data files and gazetteers; romanization systems; exonyms; geographical names as cultural heritage; and toponymic guidelines for map and other editors for international use. Central to the conference are, however, three major themes — one of which being the United Nations Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names jubilee. “I am looking forward to celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of UNCSGN, meeting with colleagues and continuing my learning process from their input,” Mr. Watt said.
The other major theme concerns the future operational modalities of the Group of Experts. The aim at the conference is to change the structure of Group by streamlining the organization and trimming its meeting format to be more efficient and effective. This is a complex undertaking, as Mr. Watt explains: “Some changes to the method of operations are proposed for UNGEGN at this Conference. However, to come into effect they will need to be accepted by the body of the conference. The changes are focused on reducing the time between the opportunities for setting strategic directions, tightening the day to day operational methods in order to focus more on the issues that need to be discussed and reducing the costs for both the UN and countries sending delegates, although this is of lesser importance from a technical perspective.”
The need for being able to more quickly set new strategic directions is tied in with the third major theme of the conference: the tightening of ties with the United Nations Initiative on Global Geospatial Information Management (UN-GGIM) in setting common goals for the future. Mr. Watt sees the cooperation as being crucial for the Group of Experts: “The relationship with UN-GGIM will help to promote the importance of geographical names standardization and cement the importance of the place names data theme and its relationship with, and integration into, the other fundamental data themes of UN-GGIM.”
The two weeks of the conference will be full to the brim of activities. There will be no less than 14 special presentations and 5 panel discussions, a number of side events during lunch breaks — such as special workshops, meetings of working group and divisions, as well an exhibition showcasing various aspects of geographical names standardization mounted in the vicinity of the conference — the corridor in front of Vienna Café, for the duration of the venue.
The thirtieth session and eleventh conference once again shows that it is essential to national and international communication that we have accurate, clear and unambiguous nationally approved geographical names available. This is especially important in the light of the growing amounts of spatial data, in which geographical names are a core element in geolocation. Geographical names are fundamental to almost every aspect of national life, from the creation of national data infrastructure in support of planning, economic development and communications systems, through natural hazard prediction and coordination of emergency services to the creation of national coherence and unity, as well as furthering the rights of linguistic minorities to have a “spatial identity”.
For additional information on the eleventh United Nations Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names, including the agenda, working papers and webcast, please visit https://unstats.un.org/unsd/geoinfo/UNGEGN/ungegnConf11.html.
For additional information on the thirtieth United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names session, including the agenda, technical reports and webcast, please visit https://unstats.un.org/unsd/geoinfo/UNGEGN/ungegnSession30.html.
For more information, please contact Cecille Blake at email: blake1@un.org.