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.