Guys, do you know that the Secretary-General BAN Ki-moon is a constant presence on the new guided tour route at the UN Headquarters in New York?. Well, at least in picture. The cutout of the Secretary-General is part of the many new features recently added to the Headquarters tour route. I just found out about it today, actually , though having been working here in the 17th floor of the secretariat building, had never been paying much attention on the guided tour services available.

It has become a very popular feature of the tour route, with many visitors posing for photographs with “the Secretary-General”. I shall put some of my pose there later.. as often I am kind of shy if office friends pass by and found me with the crowd of tourists.. anyway, it is surely worth to try.

There are also various open showcases along the route also allow visitors to touch and feel some of the tools used by UN staff “_in the field_” to ameliorate suffering. They include a red cup from the World Food Programme to feed children through the “_Fill the cup campaign_”, a safe birthing kit distributed by the UN Population Fund to pregnant women in times of crisis, a mosquito net to prevent malaria and “School-in-the-box”, which UNICEF delivers around the world to ensure that children can resume their education during floods or raging war.

“_From War to Development_” is the theme of the 45-minute tour that begins at an electric blue wall with a bullet-ridden bus in Angola, and moves through the “War and Peace Zones“, where visitors are asked to tread cautiously through the exhibits of landmine victims and remnants of the explosions in Hirsohima and Nagasaki. Personally, this is indeed a great tools for students to learn more about the United Nations and the mandate its been carying on for years in the past.

Perhaps it is the floor-to-ceiling photos of children brandishing AK47 guns that most poignantly remind visitors of why disarmament is high on the agenda of the United Nations.

The General Assembly’s west corridor is dedicated entirely to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and humanitarian aid. Huge compelling photos remind visitors of those around the world who suffer from poverty, famine or disease.

Several monitors, strategically placed throughout the tour route, feature slideshows on peacekeeping, climate change and the MDGs, and visitors are given a 3D-view of the Security Council Chamber. Showcased along the route are exhibits of 60 years of peacekeeping, a sampling of the gifts donated by UN Member States, and individual exhibits on disarmament, landmines, the Holocaust, human rights, indigenous peoples, decolonization and the question of Palestine, to name a few.

Quotes and pieces of information connect the pictures and exhibits along the tour route that wraps around the east and west corridors encircling the General Assembly Hall. Visitors learn that some 75 million children around the world still do not have access to primary schools, and the majority of those denied access (55%) are girls. They are also reminded that over 500,000 women die each year during pregnancy or childbirth.

Tours include a visit to the gathering place of the world – a brief seat in the chamber that many regard as the “visual identity” of the United Nations – the General Assembly Hall.

Anyone visiting New york City, would not be complete if not visiting the United Nations Headquarters on 1st Avenue and between 42nd to 45th street, the Tourist Entrance is located ot 45th street.

For more information on guided tours at the United Nations in New York, please visit: www.un.org/tours.

Allow me also to advise you that a group reservation (15 people or more), you may need to contact and send an email to unitg@un.org. “Welcome to the United Nations – It is your world!“

Source: UN Headquarters’ Iseek Site.