 | Director General of the Shanghai World Expo Bureau of Coordination, Mr Hong Hao, and UN Commissioner General, Dr. Awni Behnam, at handover of UN Pavilion |
The Director General of the Shanghai World Expo Bureau of Coordination, Mr Hong Hao, handed over a purpose built pavilion to the United Nations’ Expo Commissioner General, Dr. Awni Behnam. Themed One World, One UN, the pavilion will show the very best of the UN’s work on urbanisation and development at the Shanghai World Expo in which opens in May. Speaking at the handover ceremony, Dr. Behnam, expressed his appreciation for all the work that had gone into completing the construction on schedule and said that the he could not imagine a better place to present the Expo’s theme Better Cities, Better Life. “The true value of the United Nations participation”, he said, “resides in what we can learn from our host country which has become a unique and shining example of how to meet the modernisation and urbanisation challenges.” The UN Pavilion is about the size of half a football pitch and includes a forum area resembling the hall of the United Nations General Assembly with 192 seats representing the number of member states, each adorned with a member’s flag. It will showcase the betterment of urban life through the work of 33 agencies’ work from children’s health to environmental development. For the first time, these agencies will be coming together to present their work on Better Cities, Better Life. Besides Mr. Hao, he was joined at the ceremony by the President of the UN’s implementing partner agency, LVS, Mr Matthew Zhu, Mr. Lars Reutersward, the UN Pavilion Coordinator from UN HABITAT the agency running the UN pavilion. In closing, the Commissioner General said that he promised visitors to the pavilion an unforgettable experience and said he hoped the pavilion could be left standing after the event as a symbol of the UN’s lasting cooperation with China.
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