31 October 2010
After six-month of whirlwind activity, the United Nations Pavilion officially closed its doors today.
“This has been a unique experience for each one of the United Nations staff members, local employees and volunteers who worked tirelessly over these last six months” noted Awni Behnam, the Commissioner-General of the United Nations Pavilion.
31 October 2010
The United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon visited the United Nations Pavilion yesterday. Upon arrival, Mr. Ban was greeted with enthusiastic applause from the entire pavilion staff.
“The Shanghai Expo will close soon but it will not be forgotten”, Mr. Ban noted in his address to the staff. “The success of the United Nations pavilion attests to your dedication and hard work. We are deeply grateful for this”, he added.
25 October 2010
The United Nations pavilion took on a festive atmosphere yesterday in honor of United Nations Day.
Visitors to the pavilion were treated to an array of cultural performances that included a dazzling tango act and traditional songs from a United Arab Emirates folkloric ensemble.
9 October 2010
The Government of Baja California and its partners this month showcased their first sustainable city on the United Nations Pavilion at the Shanghai 2010 World Expo.
Valle San Pedro will be Mexico’s first sustainable city designed to encourage economic activity and innovation and will be the largest such site in the Americas. It is planned to house one million residents in the next twenty years and the first official tenants will move into their new homes this December.
4 October 2010
The United Nations Human Settlements Programme, UN-HABITAT, has opened a photography exhibition showing life on the ground in five of the world’s emerging cities.
The exhibition, featuring the work of renowned photographer Alessandro Scotti, a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador, is unveiled this week in the United Nations Pavilion at the World Expo in Shanghai, where UN-HABITAT kicks off a week of special events, starting with the Global Observance of World Habitat Day on Monday 4 October.
28 September 2010
The United Nations pavilion this week hosted one of its liveliest performances yet when a group of 40 primary school students demonstrated their knowledge of the United Nations and the world by staging a short play on the organisation and singing the famous World Cup song “Waving Flag”. Aided by an impeccable rhythmic timing and choreography, the children brought their message of world peace and understanding to all lucky enough to catch a glimpse of this energetic act.
24 September 2010
UN-Habitat will soon launch its week of activities at the United Nations pavilion. From October 4 to 10, UN-Habitat will animate the pavilion with a number of electrifying events such as a hip-hop concert and a symposium with visual media artists.
The UN-Habitat exhibition will feature striking images from Italian photojournalist Alessandro Scotti’s journey around the world. It will include pictures from Johor Bahru in Malaysia; Tetouan in Morocco; Sao Jose dos Campos in Brazil; Hunchun in China and Onitsha in Nigeria.
24 September 2010
At the Shanghai World Expo 2010, the UN Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) and Google are organising an event entitled “Humanitarian Mapping Applications of Google Map Maker Data”. Several interactive, informational sessions will be held in the UN Pavilion at the World Expo on Friday, 24 & Saturday, 25 September 2010 from 10:00 to 13:00. These sessions will showcase the achievements of the cooperative initiative between UNITAR and Google that provides tangible benefits for the international humanitarian community.
18 September 2010
For Awni Behnam, the Commissioner-General of the United Nations Pavilion, work is not just about official functions and receiving high level guests.
The Commissioner-General is definitely more of the “hands on” type. When he is not hosting an event for university students as master of ceremonies, personally greeting groups of children or handing out souvenirs, he can be found distributing water to the crowds of visitors outside the pavilion.
14 September 2010
The United Nations Pavilion welcomed its two millionth visitor last Tuesday. What was to be a stroll through the Expo Park, turned out to be an auspicious day for the 26 year-old from Xuzhou, Jiangsu province who was singled out from the crowd of visitors waiting outside as the two millionth person to visit the pavilion since the start of the Expo.
