ANIMATED HOMAGE TO UN’S 60TH ANNIVERSARY
United Nations Day in Bangkok, 24 October 2005

BANGKOK (United Nations Information Services)---The United Nations as seen through the lens of young people and animation specialists in the region will be the focus of attention at the 60th Anniversary observance in Bangkok on United Nations Day, 24 October 2005 at the United Nations Conference Centre.

H.E. Mr. Surakiart Sathirathai, Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand will preside over the event and give prizes to the winners of the United Nations 60th Anniversary Short Animation Competition and view the animation entries as well as open the United Nations family exhibition.

Themed “A Time for Renewal”, the Day’s celebration organized by the United Nations family will begin with a flag-raising ceremony in front of the United Nations Conference Centre at 8:00 am, followed by a formal ceremony where Deputy Prime Minister H.E. Mr. Surakiart Sathirathai, the Guest of Honour, will deliver a keynote address. A video message from United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan will be shown. Ms. Joana Merlin-Scholtes, UNDP Resident Coordinator and other dignitaries will deliver statements. An award ceremony for the winners of the United Nations 60th Anniversary Short Animation Competition will take place at the ESCAP Hall.

The celebration also includes a grand exhibition showcasing different themes of the United Nations namely the Millennium Development Goals; the United Nations’s 60 years of Achievements, 60 Ways the United Nations Makes a Difference and a special display booth of the UN 60th Anniversary Short Animation entries.
The short animation competition was organized jointly by the United Nations and Thailand’s Software Industry Promotion Agency (SIPA) of the Ministry of Information Communication Technology. It was judged by a team of five comprising two UN representatives, one SIPA representative, one animation professor from Thammasat University and one representative from the private sector, Imagimax, a Bangkok based animation studio.

Entrants created a 3-5 minute short animation work on any of the five major working areas of the UN covering poverty, gender equity, health, education and world peace. These topics came from the UN’s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), a set of concrete and achievable goals to raise the level of human development in the world by 2015.

NOTE TO EDITORS: You or your representatives are cordially invited to attend the United Nations 60th Anniversary which will commence at 8:00 to 10:30 am at the United Nations Conference Centre, Rajadamnern Nok Avenue.
PLEASE KINDLY BRING YOUR PRESS ACCREDITATION.

For further information please contact:
UN Information Services Bangkok
Tel: +(66-2) 288-1861-69, Fax: +(66-2) 288-1052
E-mail: unisbkk.unescap@un.org
http://www.unescap.org