The photo exhibition "International Cultural Dialogue" which commemorates the World Intellectual Property Day and the World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development, was inaugurated on May 7 at the UN House in Armenia.

The black and white photographs by the Armenian photographer and artist Tatev Mnatsakanyan, featuring the Armenian and Egyptian famous painters and sculptors, were exhibited. Her art attracted youth, artists, the international community, civil society activists, the media and the general public.

The aim of the exhibition is to raise the public’s awareness about the distinguished artists who dedicated their life to the development of art and promotion of peace, tolerance and cultural diversity. Tatev Mnatsakanyan plans to involve those countries in Western Europe, Middle East, USA, Canada and Russia, which have large Armenian communities, and serve as cultural bridge between nations.

Maria Dotsenko, UN Department of Public Information Representative said: “Through Armenian art, its rich traditions, which developed its strengths and brightness on the crossroads of various civilizations, we wish to attract public attention to the promotion of cultural diversity, tolerance and dialogue among different nations. I believe that this exhibition exalting the esteemed artists empowers the next, young generation with creativity. The UN House doors are traditionally open to artists who use their creativity to promote UN values aimed to spread ideas of peace, cultural diversity, gender equality and sustainable development.”

The photographer, Tatev Mnatsakanyan added: “I wish to further promote the beauty of Armenian art and its principles of tolerance and respect to diversity. Thanks to UNO Yerevan, I am able to share my works that were demonstrated earlier in the Armenian National Assembly and in Tashkent, Uzbekistan”.

Several of the elderly artists whose photos were on the walls were also present at the opening ceremony thus doubling the value of the exhibition and the essence of the theme itself.

The exhibition will be displayed in UN House till the end of May.
More photos on UN Armenia Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.521825264543213.1073741834.150992104959866&type=3

The UN Information Centre (UNIC) Panama City has harnessed social media through its Cinu Panamá Facebook page to disseminate UN Messages in Spanish throughout cyberspace. 

UNIC's posts have educated people in a number of arenas, like marking World Days, from Malaria to Intellectual Property. Uploading information explaining that in the last decade the world has made great progress in the fight against malaria, the cite notes that "Since 2000, the mortality rate from that cause has decreased by more than 25 per cent and 50 of the 99 countries with ongoing transmissions were on track to reach the goal set by the WHA, lowering the rate of incidence by more than 75 per cent." 

UNIC’s FB posts on intellectual property encouraged fans to promote the debate on the role it plays by fostering innovation and creativity and utilizing the Day as a unique opportunity to meet with others worldwide and demonstrate how intellectual property contributes to the flourishing of music and arts and advances technological innovation.

Asking “What are your priorities?”, UNIC let fans and followers alike know that 1.4 million people still live in extreme poverty. Every four seconds a child dies from preventable causes, and in particular women and young people suffering from chronic hunger. The FB page encourages everyone to make Governments listen and act on what matters to people everywhere… to the World We Want 2015.

To present the outcomes and national priorities reflected in the concept Azerbaijan: Vision 2020, as well as to elaborate on achievements, challenges, and recommendations in population dynamics for the period beyond 2015, the representatives of the UN in Azerbaijan and various national partners met in Baku.

The session, conducted jointly by the Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights (Ombudsman) of Azerbaijan, the UN Office of the Resident Coordinator, and the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), with the participation of the UN Office Baku, was part of a broader national dialogue on the post 2015-development agenda. Special focus was attached to the subjects of reproductive health, gender, aging and internal migration.  

Additionally, issues related to youth, rapid population growth, urbanization and migration were at the heart of a heated debate. It was noted that these issues demanded re-conceptualization, in line with post-2015.

“We are witnessing many changes in population dynamics,” said the UN Resident Coordinator. “Older persons are the world’s fastest growing population group on one hand, while on the other hand in some countries the youth increase is the prevalent trend – both phenomena need an appropriate answer, which should be an essential component of the broader global development agenda.”  

For the Azerbaijani High Commissioner on Human Rights, this session was particularly important. She lauded the UN in Azerbaijan for its work, reiterating Azerbaijan’s commitment to integrating population dynamics into its national policies and programmes.

“We are quite content that Azerbaijan is among the 100 countries that have launched similar consultations around the globe, keeping in mind the fast approaching 2015 deadline for the MDGs. We are also happy that Azerbaijan is not lagging behind and having a say in identifying a new generation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),” said the Ombudsman.

Every child in the world has the right to a quality education and no child has a chance of realizing that right without an effective teacher. The Global Campaign for Education (GCE) runs a Global Action Week every year, and since its inception in 2001, this campaign has brought together tens of millions of people and raised awareness on these issues. This year the campaign was co-organized by the National Coalition for Education (NCE), UNESCO India, the United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) for India and Bhutan and CARE.
 
Several Members of Parliament presented strong messages in support of education-related initiatives such as these. UNESCO Director and Representative for India Shigeru Aoyagi also pledged the ongoing support of his office to this very effective campaign.
 
The event was attended by teachers and students from government schools, many of whom had created placards carrying messages in English and Hindi. UNIC Director, Mrs. Kiran Mehra-Kerpelman congratulated them on their efforts. “Education is the basic building block of every society”, she said. “It is a fundamental human right, not a privilege of the few”. She pointed out that education is the critical thread tying together all our hopes for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the six internationally agreed Education for All Goals (EFA). She reminded the audience that on 26 September 2012, during the UN General Assembly in New York, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon launched a five-year initiative to bolster global action on education and it sought to generate a renewed push to reach the education goals set for 2015 – the Global Education First Initiative, GEFI. He urged governments to spare no effort to achieve the MDGs by 2015. “We have three years and three months. We must intensify our work. This is our collective responsibility”, he said.
 
UNIC National Information Officer Rajiv Chandran moderated a riveting media interaction, together with UNESCO National Programme Officer Huma Masood.