For information only - not an official document
UNIS/VIC/207
16 June 2015
VIENNA, 16 June (UN Information Service) - On the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the United Nations, the Visitors Service of the UN in Vienna invites young people in particular to visit the UN at its headquarters in Austria. Two new special programmes are being offered this year.
Between 6 and 31 July, a 'Journey Through Time' is the theme for this year's WienXtra holiday games which will take children aged 6 - 13 through the last 70 years. Writing with a real slate pencil; using a dial-operated telephone; guessing how many songs fit on a vinyl record: the activities are fun, but the quizzes and props will also teach the children how much daily life for a Viennese schoolchild has changed since 1945 and what the UN is doing to support children worldwide who still need help.
A glance into the future, not the past, is what our new interactive tour for school groups offers. The tour becomes available for booking from 26 June 2015. This was the day, 70 years ago, that the founding document, the UN Charter, was signed. This sets out the goals of Member States to foster "better standards of life" for their peoples. But what does this mean 70 years on in a more complex world that has limited natural resources and is tackling climate change? As the 193 Member States of the UN today grapple with these challenges during negotiations to create 'Sustainable Development Goals', this tour helps young people aged 10-18 find their own answers through role play, case studies and discussions.
Vienna is one of the four headquarters of the United Nations, along with New York, Geneva and Nairobi. The Visitors Service of the United Nations in Vienna organizes tours from Monday to Friday of the Vienna International Centre, which opened in 1979. Multilingual tour guides give students and adults an insight into the work of the global United Nations and the Vienna-based organizations.
The UN organizations in Vienna focus on the peaceful use of atomic energy, the reduction of poverty through sustainable industrial development and on banning nuclear tests amongst other things. They also try to make available the benefits of peaceful outer space use to all countries, to clear the legal obstacles to international trade and to make the world a safer place by fighting drugs, crime and terrorism.
The UN has declared its anniversary year 2015 a 'Time for Global Action', as it is also the year in which the Millennium Development Goals agreed 15 years ago come to their end. For the last three years the UN has been working with its Member States and civil society on a set of new goals, an ambitious agenda directed not only at developing countries, but at countries worldwide. The negotiations on the new 'Sustainable Development Goals' are expected to conclude in September 2015. Further information: www.un.org/action2015.
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For more information please contact:
Johanna
Kleinert
Chief of Visitors Service
Telephone: (+43-1) 26060-3348
Email: johanna.kleinert[at]unvienna.org
Katharina
Goetze
Associate Information Officer
Telephone: (+43-1) 26060-4949
Email: katharina.goetze[at]unvienna.org
