Vienna International Centre
15-18 May 2007
UNIS Vienna organized a study tour 15-18 May for a delegation of the United Nations Association of the National Capital Area (UNA-NCA), USA. The 14 participants included lawyers, former UN staff, consultants, educators and students and were representatives from UNA-USA chapters, such as UNA-NCA, UNA Dallas and UNA Minnesota.
Briefings were arranged with senior officials of Vienna-based organizations and specialized agencies, including the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO PrepCom), International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA).
In their evaluation of the study tour, all participants gave the organization of the 4-day event high marks, describing it as "very good" or "excellent". The participants commented that they were impressed by the high level of expertise of their speakers and appreciated the frankness and openness. All participants stated that their knowledge of the Vienna-based organizations and specialized agencies had increased "a great deal" because of the study tour. "We were UN friendly before", Mr. Elmendorf, UNA-NCA President and head of the delegation, said at the end of the closing session, "but you have made us even UN friendlier." Another participant added: "I feel much stronger now about the UN. I realized that the UN is far more important to the world than I thought - and that the UN is a way to save the world."
