20 April 2007
Vienna International Centre
On 20 April 2007, UNIS Vienna organized the visit of the United Nations Association of Slovenia to the Vienna International Centre (VIC). The programme covered briefings, as well as a guided tour of the VIC. UNIS hosted a working lunch, bringing together the UNA, the Permanent Mission of Slovenia to the United Nations (Vienna), and Slovene national UN staff.
The UNA-Slovenia group consisted of 24 persons, led by Professor Bojko Bucar, Chairperson of the Department of International Relations, University of Ljubljana and Ms.Vasilka Sancin, Professor at the Department of International Law (she will move to the Slovene Permanent Mission in New York as of Sept 2007). The group consisted of university students from the faculties of Political Science, International Relations and International Law. Prof. Bucar and Ms. Sancin are President and Vice-President of UNA-Slovenia, the students are volunteers working in the organization.
Ms. Nasra Hassan, Director, United Nations Information Service (Vienna), opened the information visit with an overview of the UN headquarters in Vienna, focusing on the work of UNIS and the 2007 priority communication themes. Mr. Jernej Sekolec, Secretary, United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) and Director, International Trade Law Division, United Nations Office of Legal Affairs (OLA) held a briefing on International Trade and the United Nations. As a Slovene national, he spoke in Slovene. Mr. Bojan Bertoncelj, Deputy Permanent Representative of Slovenia to the United Nations (Vienna) briefed the participants on Slovenia's role as chair of the IAEA Board of Governors, in Slovene. An IAEA representative gave a lecture on Nuclear Non-Proliferation, Safety and Security and Technical Cooperation.
Following a public diplomacy symposium in June 2006, as well as a students' forum in April 2007, the information visit of UNA-Slovenia is the third in a series of UNIS events with an international security focus for a Slovene audience, using synergies produced by the present chairmanship of Slovenia of the IAEA Board of Governors.
