Note to Correspondents

The United Nations will hold a memorial ceremony at New York Headquarters at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, 9 March, to honour the 101 civilians, military and police personnel of the Organization who perished in the 12 January Haiti earthquake.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has appointed the Chairperson and five members of the Advisory Board of the Capital Master Plan (CMP).

The thirty-fourth annual UNIS-UN Conference (United Nations International School-United Nations) will be held on 4 and 5 March, 2010, in the Trusteeship Council Chamber of the United Nations under the theme “Bioethics: Striking a Balance”. Rapid advancements in science and medicine have created an augmentation of new ethical concerns. The inevitable nature of these advancements makes it increasingly necessary to consider their effects on society and the economy.

Japanese female singer MISIA has been appointed as an Honorary Ambassador for the tenth Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, which will be held from 18 to 29 October 2010 in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan.

An art exhibit will be launched today, Monday, 22 February, in the South Gallery of the Visitors Lobby at United Nations Headquarters. The exhibit, entitled “The Reflective Mirror” showcases an international collection of artworks by women. Most of the artists represented are from Arab countries. Their work is an expression of womanhood and a testimony to the empowerment of women in their countries. The artworks on display include photographs, paintings, video installations and sculptures.

A new exhibition of the recently uncovered blueprints of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Second World War death camps will open in the Main Gallery of the Visitors Lobby at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, 26 January, as part of a week-long series of Holocaust remembrance activities at United Nations Headquarters in New York.

Under the auspices of the Department of Public Information, the United Nations will observe the International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust on 27 January 2010, with a ceremony and concert from 7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. in the General Assembly Hall at Headquarters in New York.

A video exhibition, Generations: Survival and the Legacy of Hope, will open in the Main Gallery of the Visitors Lobby at 6 p.m. on Monday, 25 January, as part of a week-long series of Holocaust remembrance activities at United Nations Headquarters in New York. The International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust is 27 January and the theme of this year's observance is "Holocaust Remembrance: The Legacy of Survival".

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has designated 2004 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Wangari Maathai as a United Nations Messenger of Peace with a special focus on the environment and climate change. She will be inducted by the Secretary-General on Tuesday, 15 December 2009, during the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen.

An exhibition of children's drawings from around the world will open on Tuesday, 15 December, at 6 p.m. in the South Gallery of the Visitors’ Lobby.