1. Marking the 25th anniversary of the Vienna International Centre and United Nations Day, an Open House event was organized at the VIC on 26 October 2004, which attracted according to figures of the UNOV Safety and Security Service close to 15.000 visitors. The Permanent Mission of Austria to the United Nations (Vienna) had proposed the Open House as part of the observances for the VIC anniversary and the idea was endorsed by the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Vienna and the Heads of the other international organizations and programmes based at the VIC. Former UNIC Bonn and UNIS Vienna Director, Mr. Axel Wuestenhagen, was hired in September as a Consultant to plan and coordinate the event.
2. A Coordinating Committee was established comprising representatives of all VIC-based organizations and programmes to plan a broad programme of exhibits and information activities, entertainment and publicity efforts. As a first step, a multi-colour information folder was prepared as a joint handout, describing the work of the community of United Nations and other international organizations located at the VIC. A Planning Committee convened by the Austrian Mission to the United Nations to oversee the preparations for the VIC anniversary observances was kept regularly informed by the Open House Coordinator on progress made in the Open House plans. Close liaison was also kept with essential support services in the VIC including the United Nations Safety and Security Service, Buildings Management, Information Technology Section, and the commercial operations in the VIC Visitors Centre, as well as with the Catering Service to ensure their full integration into the Open House planning.
3. The wide spectrum of publicity efforts to draw attention to the Open House event included a press breakfast for local and international journalists, hosted by the Permanent Representative of Austria to the United Nations (Vienna); several interviews given to local radio and television channels; press releases sent with additional background information to selected dailies; the placement of articles in magazines, and numerous personal contacts by UNIS staff to individual newspapers, radio and TV channels to alert them to the event. Posters and handout leaflets were printed and distributed in central locations of the city. Public service announcements were placed on electronic news boards at 33 strategic subway stations and in trains. Special arrangement were made with the new private city television channel PULS TV, to place several trailers announcing the event and to broadcast related interviews recorded during the Open House Day at the VIC as well as in their studios. In addition to the joint VIC information folder, a programme of events was printed which also served as guide or each individual visitor through the many exhibits, information and entertainment activities.
4. The Open House information programme eventually comprised a total of 17 exhibits and information stands which were prepared and manned by staff members of the United Nations Office in Vienna (UNOV), the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA), the United Nations Information Service (UNIS), the United Nations Safety and Security Service (UNSSS), the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the United Nations Postal Administration (UNPA), the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR), the United Nations Environment Programme - Interim Secretariat of the Carpathian Convention, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO). In addition, a full-day programme of film shows and lectures by representatives of the VIC-based organizations was held in the UN/UNIDO Boardroom.
5. In addition, the City of Vienna contributed an exhibit on "25 Years Vienna International Centre", the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs an exhibit of models for a new conference building, the Austrian Ministry of National Defense an exhibit and information stand on Austria's participation in United Nations peace-keeping missions, and the 22nd district of Vienna - the home district of the VIC - an exhibit of its own 50th anniversary. The Conference of Non-governmental Organizations, the Austrian United Nations Association and the UN Women's Guild also had information stands at the Open House. The VIC Visitors Service maintained a children's corner, offering face-painting and blue VIC balloons.
6. The entertainment programme featured performances by renowned Austrian singer Timna Brauer, Jimmy Fall (Senegal), Jose Ritmo (Dominikanische Republik), and Elias Meiri (Israel, international jazz group). Among performers were also the local St. George brass band and the VIC Choir. A familiar television editor from the Austrian public television and radio broadcasting organization ORF acted as moderator of the entertainment programme and conducted brief live interviews with senior officials from the VIC-based organizations as well as with VIP guests attending the event.
7. Other special activities included a demonstration of drug and explosives tracing dogs, presented by the Austrian Ministry of the Interior; the visit of two Austrian gold medal winning sailors at the recent Olympic Games in Athens who also spoke on the role of sports and drug-free lifestyles; and an Internet Café offering access to the websites of the United Nations and its Vienna-based agencies. Austrian painter hansi dietrich pro-actively involved visitors in art creation for a fund-raising activity "Hand in Hand", sponsored by the United Nations Staff Council, to finance another fresh-water well for Ethiopia.
8. The VIC Visitors Centre contributed a live music programme and the minting of a special souvenir silver coin in addition to the sale of United Nations stamps, souvenirs and UNICEF cards. All commercial operations of the Centre including the UN Café, a hairdresser and a flower shop were open to the visitors. The VIC Catering Service offered international snacks in the Cafeteria and serviced an additional Coffee Corner.
9. Despite the very short preparatory time available and the multiple public events taking place throughout the city of Vienna on that day, marking Austria's National Day on 26 October, the attendance of the VIC Open House by about 15.000 visitors was a memorable success. Already half an hour before official opening at 10 a.m., several hundred people were gathering outside the premises and the stream of people pouring through the gates at Checkpoint 1 never seized until the doors closed at 6 p.m. Every exhibit and information stand saw crowds of interested people, information folders and hand-outs disappeared at breath-taking speed, and staff attending to the many questions raised by the visitors had hardly any moment to relax. The occasion also provided a unique opportunity for a wide distribution of the Secretary-General's United Nations Day message. Everybody in the house, including the very helpful security officers, was engaged in lively talks with highly interested visitors. Film shows and lectures in the UN/UNIDO Boardroom were packed with people throughout the day - the average audience numbering between 250 and 300, the Visitors Centre was bustling with customers and there was practically no empty table or place to be found in the Internet Café or in the Cafeteria.
10. Both in terms of figures and public interest, the day turned out to be one of the best-attended open house events in the past 25 years of the VIC. This success would not have been possible without the unreserved support received from the management of all agencies and programmes based at the VIC, the determined cooperation by the public information officers of these agencies working closely with the Consultant on the planning of activities and, in particular, the untiring efforts by all staff of the United Nations Information Service, working under extreme time pressure to assist in the preparation and conduct of the event. A special tribute has also to be paid to the Austrian Permanent Mission to the United Nations (Vienna) for its guidance and support in the fund-raising to finance the entertainment programme, as well as to the Austrian Ministries of Foreign Affairs, National Defence and the Interior, the City of Vienna and the 22nd district of Vienna for their valuable contributions.
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