Note to Correspondents

Marking the 2010 International Year for Biodiversity, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today designated two-time Academy Award-nominated actor Edward Norton as a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador for biodiversity.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will make opening remarks at the New York premiere of "A Small Act", a documentary film that traces the journey a young man from his African childhood to his career with the United Nations, thanks to a distant benefactor. The screening will take place on Thursday, 8 July, at the HBO Theater in New York City, co-hosted by HBO, the Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP) and the United Nations Department of Public Information.

On Public Service Day, 23 June, the United Nations will present awards to 23 public institutions from around the world in recognition of their excellence in public service, as well as their creative achievements in developing more effective and responsive public administrations.

Advertising agencies from Lebanon, Israel, and the United States, among others, will be honoured for public service advertising on Saturday, 12 June, when the UNDPI awards are presented at the New York Festivals 2010 International Advertising Awards at the Shanghai Theatre Academy in Shanghai, China.

The graduation ceremony for the Class of 2010 of the United Nations International School (UNIS) will take place at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, 2 June, in the United Nations General Assembly Hall, with Carol Bellamy, Chair of the Board of Directors of the Education for All/Fast Track Initiative global partnership and former Executive Director of UNICEF, addressing the graduating seniors. Ms. Bellamy has also served as Director of the Unites States Peace Corps and President of the New York City Council.

In observance of the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers, 29 May, a multimedia exhibit will be open to the public from 28 May to 25 August in the North-East Gallery of the Visitors Lobby of United Nations Headquarters. The exhibit, entitled “Ayiti Kanpe” (Haiti Standing), pays tribute to the Haitian population and the peacekeepers that lost their lives as a result of the 12 January earthquake.

An event featuring a special screening of a documentary film entitled Countdown to Zero will be held at United Nations Headquarters on 5 May from 4 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., Conference Room 4 (Temporary North Lawn Building).

International television programming and films focusing on issues of importance to the United Nations will be honoured on today at the New York Festivals Television and Film Awards Gala at the American Airlines Theater in New York City.

In conjunction with the 2010 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons taking place at the United Nations from 3 to 28 May, the exhibit “Putting an End to Nuclear Explosions” will open in the Main Gallery of the Visitors’ Lobby on Tuesday, 4 May at 6 p.m.

“A Message to the World from Hiroshima and Nagasaki”, one of two exhibits in the Stop Nuclear Arms! joint exhibition, will be launched with a special ceremony on Monday, 3 May, at 4 p.m. in the Visitors’ Lobby at United Nations Headquarters.