On 24 October 2009, UNAs around the world celebrated United Nations Day. Here are a few examples:

The following events took place in Australia to celebrate the UN Day:

• In Melbourne, the UN Day was celebrated on Friday 23 October by holding the annual Media Peace Awards. The event was held at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, and was attended by more than 120 guests. For more information, please see the UNAA (Vic Division) web-site -  www.unaavictoria.org.au
• In Sydney, the UNAA (NSW Division) held the Cenotaph Ceremony and Celebration Luncheon. The luncheon was held at the New South Wales Parliament in Sydney, with more than 100 members and guests in attendance. Speeches were given by special invited guests, including Jay Jethwa, representing WFUNA at the function.

UN Day was marked across Canada in a variety of ways – with activities often spearheaded by UNA-Canada Branches. Examples include:

• The UN flag flew proudly in front of City Halls, often with formal flag-raising ceremonies and/or civic proclamations of UN Day (Vancouver and Burnaby, BC, Saskatoon, Hamilton and Toronto, Ontario, etc).
• Public events in both Calgary and Edmonton, Alberta affirmed public support, linked to other community groups: in Calgary they honored both corporate and community leaders in corporate social responsibility while in Edmonton there was a spectacular release of doves and a ceremonial salute of the flag by Canadian UN Peacekeeping veterans.  Kate White, UNA-Canada’s Executive Director, attended events in both cities. (Photos by Leroy Schulz)
• Branches provided speakers and/or collaborated with others in events organized to mark the day (e.g. in Ottawa and Vancouver, in collaboration with the Unitarian Church’s annual UN Sunday). 

UNA-Bulgaria organized a high-level lecture at the Sofia University, held an event for student members of National Model UN Clubs at the National Archeological Museum, and organized two students forums, one on UNESCO and sustainable development, the other in preparation for the UN Climate Change Conference (COP-15).

For the last 8 years, successive Presidents of the Republic of Cyprus graciously granted the Presidential Palace to the UNA-Cyprus for the celebration of UN Day.  This is an important event for Cyprus, with participation from the President of the Republic (whenever possible), as well as Ministers, Members of the House of Representatives, judges, civil servants and almost all the diplomatic community represented by Ambassadors. At this year’s celebration, after a short introduction by the President of the UNA, Mr. Theodoulou, the Permanent Secretary for Foreign Affairs gave the keynote speech, followed by a performance by a known Cypriot choir.  After the event, the President of the Republic, as every year, offered a reception.

UNA-Democratic Republic of Congo held a Model UN conference in collaboration with MONUC, the UN Mission in the country.

UNA-Denmark held a public meeting at a café, on the upcoming UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen (COP-15). At the meeting, the UNA Vice-President, Torleif Jonasson, gave an introduction to the upcoming COP15 with the objective of  giving the people of Copenhagen a chance to find out more about what actually goes on during such a conference and the importance of reaching an agreement. The second speaker, Nils Broegger Jakobsen from MS Action Aid Denmark, spoke about how developing countries cope with the strong focus on preventing climate change and how it affects them in their economic development.

UNA-Hungary hosted a public lecture in Budapest, with a keynote statement by former Hungarian General Assembly President Imre Hollai. Professor Mihaly Simai, President of the UNA, spoke on "The UN, Obama and Multilateralism", while Dr. Ervin Gombos, Secretary-General of the UNA gave an update on the WFUNA 39th Plenary Assembly.

On 30 October 2009, the Indian Federation of UN Associations (IFUNA) organized a UN Day event that simultaneously marked the anniversary of India joining the United Nations. Participants included Ms. Shalini Dewan, Director of the UN Information Center in New Delhi; Mr. Ravi Shankar Prasad, Member of Parliament and spoke person of the main opposition party of India; Dr. Akash Ouchi, Deputy Director of Bharat Soka Gakkai; Dr. Varsha Das, Director of Bharat Soka Gakkai;  Mr. Seshadri Chari, UN Consultant; Mr. Ram Niwas Mirdha, President of IFUNA and Mr. Suresh Srivastava, Secretary General of IFUNA and Vice-Chairman of WFUNA. A message from UN Secretary-General Mr. Ban Ki-moon was read by Ms. Shalini Dewan. The event was covered by national electronic media (Delhi Doordarshan) and by print media across the country.

UNA-New Zealand celebrated with a public event in Wellington on the theme “A Media Perspective on the United Nations”.

Young leaders from UNA-Russia together with UNESCO representatives connected via live videoconference from Moscow with Mexico City, Santa Barbara and Philadelphia for an International Dialogue for Nuclear Disarmament, and action-based brainstorm sessions.

UNA-Sri Lanka marked UN Day for the 59th time this year, with a national public observance that saw the participation of hundreds of secondary schools students. Awards were given to outstanding participants of the UNA's Study Circles program.

In Dar es Salaam, UNA-Tanzania organized a celebration focused on the successes of the UN and its agencies in Delivering as One, the one pilot initiative which started in 2007. www.unatz.org  

UNA-Uganda organized a public meeting at the Makerere University Business School on the theme “engaging communities for environmental conservation.” The guest speaker, Mr. Onesmus Mugenyi from the Advocate Coalition for Development and Environment, delivered a synopsis of climate change and how it is affecting the world. Other activities included a display by a secondary school of income generating and environmental management projects.

In keeping its practice of focusing each year on one Millennium Development Goal, this year for UN Day, UNA-USA addressed public education efforts on MDG 8: Developing a Global Partnership for Development. Chapters across the country organized various events (read more in the calendar). For example, the National Capital Area Chapter sold blue UN Day cupcakes, and organized an anniversary Gala and Masquerade Ball.

To commemorate UN Day, the WFUNA Secretariat created coffee cup sleeves with the WFUNA logo and a UN trivia question on them. They were given to anyone purchasing a beverage at all UN cafeterias and cafes, as well as delis and cafes around the UN building in New York. The Secretariat received very positive feedback on this initiative from UN staff members. There was even an article published on iSeek, the UN Intranet Service. Read the article here >>

You can still take the UN Quiz here >>