{"id":201378,"date":"2009-06-30T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-03-12T18:09:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/?p=201378"},"modified":"2019-03-12T18:09:44","modified_gmt":"2019-03-12T18:09:44","slug":"auto-insert-201378","status":"publish","type":"document","link":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/document\/auto-insert-201378\/","title":{"rendered":"60th anniversary of UNRWA – SecGen video message – Press release"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

\n

\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n\n\n
\n
\n

\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\n\n\n\n\n
\n

<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n
\n

Secretary-General<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

\n

SG\/SM\/12343<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

\n

PAL\/2116<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

\n

\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Department of Public Information • News and Media Division • New York<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

\n

\n

\n<\/p><\/div>\n
\n

‘SENSE OF SOLIDARITY AND JUSTICE’ BRINGS WORLD TOGETHER TO MARK 60<\/u><\/strong><\/span>th<\/u><\/sup><\/strong><\/span> ANNIVERSARY <\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

\n

OF PALESTINE REFUGEE AGENCY, SAYS SECRETARY-GENERAL IN VIDEO MESSAGE<\/u><\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

\n

Following is the text of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s video message to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East sixtieth anniversary concert in Vienna, 30 June 2009 (videotaping on 29 May):<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

President Heinz Fischer of Austria,<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

Mayor Michael Häupl of the city of Vienna,<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

Commissioner-General Karen AbuZayd of UNRWA,<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

Distinguished guests, <\/p><\/div>\n

\n

Ladies and gentlemen,<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

I am pleased to share my warm wishes to all assembled in this historic square, as well as all those following the broadcast around the world.  <\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

Tonight promises to be a magical evening of music and poetry. <\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

Artists who perform with their heart and soul often have a special gift to cross the boundaries of faith, race and social class. <\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

They remind us of our shared humanity as well as our shared responsibility to build a better world.  <\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

That sense of solidarity and justice is what brings us here tonight as we mark the sixtieth anniversary of the UN agency responsible for Palestine refugees, UNRWA.  <\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

We also honor a people who have shown great courage in the face of conflict.  A people who have strived to better their lives and those of their children, in particular through education.<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

That effort will gain new support with a scholarship fund for Palestinian refugee students to be launched here in Vienna —- and generously supported by the OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries)Fund for International Development. <\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

I also wish to pay tribute to the great musician featured tonight.  <\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

Marcel Khalife is a man of humble origins, who empathized at an early age with the plight of those living as refugees in his native Lebanon.  <\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

Ladies and gentlemen,<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

When UNRWA was established in 1949, no one anticipated that its humanitarian and human development work would be needed for this long. <\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

But, until there is a final settlement of the conflict, I am confident that UNRWA will continue to be a source of strength and support for millions of Palestinian refugees.<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

My best wishes to all for a memorable evening.  <\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

Let us take the spirit of this night to build a peaceful tomorrow for the people of the region and, indeed, the world.<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

* *** *<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

\n

\n

\n<\/p><\/div>\n
\n

For information media • not an official record<\/strong> <\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Secretary-General SG\/SM\/12343 PAL\/2116 Department of Public Information • News and Media Division • New York ‘SENSE OF SOLIDARITY AND JUSTICE’ BRINGS WORLD TOGETHER TO MARK 60th ANNIVERSARY OF PALESTINE REFUGEE AGENCY, SAYS SECRETARY-GENERAL IN VIDEO MESSAGE Following is the text of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s video message to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"country":[],"document-category":[2621,1329,3205,2805],"document-source":[5352,1897,1817],"committee-meeting":[],"document-subject":[1945,1905,1745],"entity":[1729],"document-language":[6542],"class_list":["post-201378","document","type-document","status-publish","hentry","document-category-message","document-category-press-release","document-category-secretary-general-press-release","document-category-video","document-source-secretary-general","document-source-united-nations-department-of-public-information-dpi","document-source-united-nations-relief-and-works-agency-for-palestine-refugees-in-the-near-east-unrwa","document-subject-assistance","document-subject-peace-proposals-and-efforts","document-subject-refugees-and-displaced-persons","entity-united-nations-system","document-language-english"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/201378","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/document"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/201378\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=201378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"country","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/country?post=201378"},{"taxonomy":"document-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-category?post=201378"},{"taxonomy":"document-source","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-source?post=201378"},{"taxonomy":"committee-meeting","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/committee-meeting?post=201378"},{"taxonomy":"document-subject","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-subject?post=201378"},{"taxonomy":"entity","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/entity?post=201378"},{"taxonomy":"document-language","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-language?post=201378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}