UN Special (magazine)

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UN Special
Editor-in-Chief Alex Mejia
Deputy Editor Dr Garry Aslanyan
Categories International magazine- magazine of the International civil servants (functions at voluntary basis!)
Frequency 10 times a year
Publisher Bercher S.A. Publicité Générale
Total circulation 10,500
Year founded 24 October 1949
Country Switzerland (Geneva)
Language English/French, bilingual
Website www.unspecial.org

UN Special is the monthly magazine of international civil servants working in the United Nations system in Geneva, mainly from the United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG) and the World Health Organization (WHO). Similarly to Ex Tempore, the literary magazine of the United Nations Society of Writers, the UN Special magazine functions on a voluntary basis, representing the joint efforts of staff of the United Nations, the World Health Organisations, and other international organizations and agencies based in Genevainternational organizations and agencies based in Geneva (Switzerland), who collaborate in the magazine in their free time, beyond their formal duties. It is a non-profit, non-commercial magazine. Although the magazine is not a professional media and is not accredited in the Swiss Club de la Presse, it closely cooperated with the Club suisse de la presse (Swiss Press Club)[1] and was recognized by the official media as an outstanding collective volantary example of non-professional journalism.[2][3] On the eve of the 70th anniversary of the United Nations, UN Special magazine was nominated for a UN Secretary-General Awards,[4] and selected as finalist in the category: Staff Volunteerism.[5]

Its first issue appeared in October 1949. Since then, for almost 66 years it has published 11 issues per year, on average 50 pages, and embodied both the United Nations’ cooperation between people of all backgrounds and its capacity to adjust to changing circumstances. The magazine has not lost sight of its overall objective: being for and about the United Nations and its international civil servants.

A key contribution of a magazine such as UN Special is that it opens windows to international organizations, diplomatic missions, academia and various other entities in order to promote mutual understanding and foster synergy in the work covered by their respective mandates.

Thus, UN Special offers dialogue and reflection to renew a spirit of cooperation and humanitarianism, not only for international Geneva, but also worldwide.

History

File:CoverN124Oct1949.jpg
Cover of the first issue of the UN Special, 1949.

The first issue of UN Special was published on 24 October 1949. It was handwritten and the cover was signed by the members of the Editorial Committee at that time. Among the articles, essays and UN announcements in this very first issue under the Chief Editor R.J Spencer, we find a welcoming address by Wladimir Moderow, the representative of the Secretary-General, the Director-General of the European Office of the United Nations (this was the name of the United Nations Office at Geneva, UNOG in 1949) and by Gunnar Myrdal, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, UNECE. Another interesting contribution was dedicated to the celebration of the United Nations Day, announcing public reading of the Preamble of the UN Charter. This first issue contained 22 black and white pages without defined columns and without photos.

Over the years, the UN Special has developed to become a professional 50 page-magazine with an average of 32 articles, mainly in English and French (the six official UN languages are English, French, Russian, Spanish, Arabic and Chinese). Earlier, the content of the magazine tended to focus on UN staff issues, however, with its development and increase in outreach, the magazine covers a broad range of topics related to the work of international organizations and governance, such as peace-keeping, poverty reduction, human rights, climate change mitigation, environmental protection, natural disaster management and the status of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The recent global discussions on greening the economy and enhancing sustainable development are reflected in the magazine due to the engagement within these topics of those contributing to the UN Special. Cultural and environmental world heritage sites (listed by UNESCO), find their coverage in the magazine as well.

In October 2009, the exhibition “UN Special magazine: History over 60 years” was inaugurated in the Palais des Nations in Geneva. The exhibition traced the development of UN Special from the very first magazine in 1949, highlights key moments in the history of the United Nations, as experienced and told by staff. The exhibition was visited by the Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon.[6] The Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva Sergei Ordzhonikidze in his opening remarks to mark the 60th anniversary of the UN Special magazine noted: “I believe that UN Special embodies both the United Nations’ unique ability to facilitate cooperation between people of all backgrounds and its capacity to adjust to ever-changing circumstances – without losing sight of the overall objectives”.[7]

In summer of 2015, the UN Special Staff Magazine submitted the nomination for the United Nations Secretary-General Awards (UNSG Awards) that honour individual staff members or teams who promote innovation, efficiency and excellence in the way the Organization delivers its programmes and services. On the eve of the 70th anniversary of the United Nations, the UN Special Staff Magazine was announced shortlisted in the category: Staff Volunteerism, for the collective work of the colleagues who promoted Organizational values through the commitment of personal time and/or expertise to a deserving cause outside their job description.

Mandate and policy

Editor-in-Chief and the Deputy Editor-in-Chief are elected for the period of 2 years from the candidates who present their candidatures voluntary. Today magazine has also two Associate Editors, and Editorial Board, who, in majority, are the international civil servants and who collaborate in the magazine at voluntary basis. The policy of the magazine is to have a broad variety of subject, and at the same time to be politically, religiously and gender neutral.

Columns

  • Guest of the month
  • World
  • Society
  • Arts and Culture
  • Swiss pages[8]
  • Geneva International[9]

Projects

  • "In Memoriam of our Colleagues who Perished on Duty" - unveiling of the Memorial in the Ariana Park, Day of Remembrance (proposal to designate a specific day)
  • Humanitarian assistance
  • Restoration of the Celestial Sphere Woodrow Wilson Memorialas symbol of Peace
  • Proposal to re-erect the Temple of Peace and Friendship marking two centuries of peace actions in Geneva (Temple was erected by the Count Jean-Jacques de Sellon, the founder of the first European Peace Society, i.e. "la première Société de la paix sur le continent européen"[10])
  • UN Special and Geneva International[11]
  • UN Clubs[12]
  • United Nations Orchestra[13]
  • UN Special meets children needs[14]

Achievements

UN Green Day

Green Day on the Place des Nations, 5 June 2010.

On 5 June 2010, the United Nations family sponsored a celebration of World Environment Day. A record number of 6,500 accepted the invitation to visit Ariana Park, which was opened also to mark the International Year of Biodiversity. Many activities were organized by the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) on the Place des Nations, and the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) opened its doors to the public for the first time.

Based on an idea from UN Special magazine and from its editor-in-chief,[15] the event (also called UN Green Day[16][17]) was made possible through the efforts of an organizing committee drawn from the United Nations Geneva office, UNEP and WIPO, as well as contributions and assistance from the Swiss Confederation, the Canton and City of Geneva, the permanent missions of Brazil, Denmark, Italy, Japan and Rwanda and other partners.[18]

Memorial to honour those who lost their lives for peace

File:Memorial in Ariana Park.jpg
Memorial in Ariana Park

Special attention and tribute is given to United Nations staff and international civil servants who lost their lives under the duties of the United Nations in different parts of the world. A special Memorial has been inaugurated at the initiative of UN Special with the support of the United Nations Secretary General and under the auspices of the United Nations Office at Geneva Director-General to commemorate those who lost their lives for the high ideals of the United Nations Memorial to honour those who lost their lives for the high ideas of the United Nations [19][20][21] (see UN Special No.600). The Memorial was inaugurated at the grounds of the Palais des Nations, in the Ariana Park, in 2003.

Today, this Memorial in Ariana Park symbolizes all UN peacekeepers and a celebration of the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers takes place at the grounds of this Memorial to remember those who served in the UN peacekeeping operations and to honor the memory of those who died in the name of peace. Each year, at the end of May, UN staff and the Soldier for Peace International Association come to this Memorial to pay tribute to the women and men who serve, or have served, in United Nations peace missions across the globe, to salute their courage and commitment, their dedication and determination to serve fellow human beings in dangerous and difficult circumstances. Special ceremony is conducted near this Memorial in Ariana Park to honour more than 2,500 civilian and military personnel who have died in the line of duty since 1948. Near this Memorial UN colleagues vow to remember them, and pledge to carry on their efforts, to honour their memory and to ensure that their sacrifice will serve the cause of peace and stability in the world.

Rice is life

Rice is life was selected as the slogan for the International Year of Rice 2004. The slogan illustrated the significance of rice across the globe, and its importance to nutrition, livelihood, culture, and the natural environment. On the occasion of the International Year of Rice decided by the United Nations General Assembly, the UN Special magazine together with the United Nations family, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) prepared an international cookbook, Rice Around the World. From Santiago to Bangkok, from Beijing to The Cape, from Tashkent to Cairo, rice nourishes more than 3 billion people throughout the world. In each of these cities, in each of these countries, from the richest to the poorest, each one has its own way of accommodating rice, or rices as there are so many types. The book was prepared by the international civil servants as well as goodwill people from all over the world. The so-called "Rice Team" from the UN Special Editorial Board collected, compiled and put such a book together offering to its readers to go around the world with 300 recipes from over 100 countries. The benefits were donated to the UNICEF to help fighting against hunger.

Featured interviews

See also

References

  1. ↑ [1] Archived July 7, 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ↑ Tribune de Genève,octobre 2009
  3. ↑ https://www.unog.ch/80256EE600583A0B/(httpPages)/ECE0B4E8A7D6F853C12576400049E475?OpenDocument&year=2009
  4. ↑ The UN Secretary-General Awards honour individual staff members or teams who promote innovation, efficiency and excellence in the way the Organization delivers its programmes and services.
  5. ↑ The caterogy Staff Volunteerism includes individual staff members or teams who promoted Organizational values through the commitment of personal time and/or expertise to a deserving cause outside one's job description.
  6. ↑ [2][dead link]
  7. ↑ http://www.unog.ch/unog/website/dg.nsf/(httpSpeechesByYear_en)/ECE0B4E8A7D6F853C12576400049E475?OpenDocument&year=2009&navunid=DA1302D9298CEF1E80256EF700760B0B
  8. ↑ [3][dead link]
  9. ↑ [4][dead link]
  10. ↑ Ivo Rens et Klaus Gerd Giesen in Revue suisse d'histoire,1985.
  11. ↑ [5][dead link]
  12. ↑ [6][dead link]
  13. ↑ [7][dead link]
  14. ↑ [8][dead link]
  15. ↑ [9][dead link]
  16. ↑ [10][dead link]
  17. ↑ [11][dead link]
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ [12][dead link]
  20. ↑ [13][dead link]
  21. ↑ [14][dead link]

External links

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