Bonn,
26 October 2009 - People around the world came together
on Saturday (24 October) to celebrate the anniversary of
the UN Charta, which entered into effect on 24 October 1945.
The AEWA Secretariat joined this special event together
with the City of Bonn and several other international organisations
at the city’s market square in front of the old town
hall this weekend. Despite rainy weather conditions, thousands
of people attended the festivities, which have been taking
place annually in Bonn since it became a host city to several
United Nations organisations in 1996.

The AEWA Secretariat shared an exhibition
tent with the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS),
its Bonn-based Agreements and several other UN Bonn organisations,
programmes and offices, for instance, the United Nations
Platform for Space-based Information for Disaster Management
and Emergency Response (UN
Spider) and the United Nations Volunteers (UNV).

Next to a diverse stage performance, including
folk music and dance, visitors got the chance to find out
more about the different activities and goals of the various
UN Bonn organisations and received give-aways, such as posters,
stickers and other information material. Among the more
prominent visitors to the AEWA stand at this year’s
UN Day was also the new incoming mayor of Bonn, Mr. Juergen
Nimptsch, who stopped at the stand to take a close look
at one of the AEWA Common Crane Flyway Posters which were
on display.

In view of the upcoming Climate
Conference in Copenhagen this year in December,
the UN encouraged the people of Bonn to Seal
the Deal! Moreover, the official logo of the
International
Year of Biodiversity 2010 was presented at
this occasion.

In accordance with the Stand Up meeting
against poverty, which was held in front of the UN Tower
in Bonn on 16 October 2009, the UN Day was also an opportunity
to once more raise awareness for the UN
Millennium Development Goals, which include
stopping extreme poverty and hunger and ensuring environmental
sustainability.