 11
July 2006 – Secretary-General Kofi Annan and German
Chancellor Angela Merkel inaugurated the new UN Campus in
Bonn, Germany. The new complex currently unites the offices
of eleven UN organizations specialized in the areas of environment
and development and will soon include the new United Nations
Climate Change Secretariat building and a UN Congress Center.
For the 530 UN staff members in Bonn and additional 600
special guests, being diplomats and high-level representatives
of Germany and the European Community, the day started with
a ceremony in the International Congress Center building
(IKBB), former parliament of the German government. and
part of the future UN Congress Center. The German Chancellor
Angela Merkel welcomed the Secretary-General and the UN
staff on to the new Campus and underlined the importance
of the UN headquarters in Bonn as a center for environment
and sustainable development. “Germany as a member
of the international community wishes to contribute to the
UN principles of sustainable development by providing this
Campus to the relevant international organizations. We will
continuously encourage additional UN organizations to move
their offices to Bonn”. 
Kofi Annan praised the German support and great hospitality
for the United Nations, which “has long been at the
centre of Germany’s foreign policy” and “has
made Bonn one of the Organization’s most attractive
and rewarding duty station”.
Referring to the organizations’ common focus on sustainable
development the Secretary-General pointed out that “the
breadth of work that will be carried out here is remarkable.
It is from Bonn that the United Nations leads the world’s
efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change and it is
from Bonn that they seek to protect migratory animals and
endangered species.” Moreover, he expressed his hope
that “the new, unified headquarters would be a place
of tremendous dynamisms and synergy. […] The renowned
Langer Eugen, which formerly housed the parliamentarians
of a divided Germany, is now the place where all UN agencies
in Germany will work as a single family”.
 The
official opening of the Campus was materialized by a ribbon-cutting
and flag hosting ceremony and included a tour in of the
main UN Campus building “Langer Eugen” by the
German Chancellor and the Secretary-General. During a visit
of the 19th floor, which hosts the new offices of the AEWA
Secretariat, the Secretary-General showed himself impressed
of by the “very nice offices”. - “We are
grateful for the impressing restoration that has been carried,
which preserves the building’s cultural heritage,
while endowing it with a full complement of modern amenities.”
In the afternoon UN staff members were given the opportunity
to ask the Secretary-General questions on UN internal issues.
The AEWA Secretariat wishes to express its sincere gratitude
to the German government, the Federal Ministry for the Environment,
Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) and to the
City of Bonn for the generous contribution to the Agreement’s
work by providing its Secretariat with high-quality office
space in the UN city of Bonn.
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