Slovenj Gradec will host an assembly of peace messenger cities on Thursday and Friday as the culmination of events marking United Nations Day, observed worldwide on 24 October.
Designated as city peace messenger by the UN in 1989, the regional centre of the Koroško region (N) actively promotes the culture of peace and non-violence.
After 2005, this will be the second time the General Assembly of the International Association of Peace Messenger Cities (IAPMC) will be held in Slovenj Gradec. The association brings together a hundred cities.
The event at Slovenj Gradec airport will be attended by 35 delegates from 15 cities from ten countries, as well as rapporteurs from the UN, Spanish Society of International Human Rights Law and Mayors for Peace.
Apart from Slovenj Gradec Mayor Andrej Čas, the secretary general of the organisation, the 25th general assembly will also be attended by IAPMC President Alfred L. Marder of the US and Slovenian Foreign Ministry State Secretary Božo Cerar.
Ambassador Andrej Logar, who in the past served as Slovenia's permanent representative to the UN in Geneva, will give a talk on the 20th anniversary of Slovenia's membership in the UN.
Before the general assembly, held under the honorary sponsorship of the Foreign Ministry, the assembly's executive committee will meet in Slovenj Gradec on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, the city will get a visit from the mayor of the partner Japanese city Myoko, Akira Nyumura, and Japanese Ambassador to Slovenia Toshimitsu Ishigure.
After visiting the local secondary school, whose students are hosting their peers from Japan, the officials will plant a Japanese cherry tree, a gift from the Japanese Embassy to mark 20th years of diplomatic ties.
United Nations Day is observed worldwide since 1948 in memory of 24 October 1945 as all permanent members of the UN Security Council and most founding member states ratified the Charter of the United Nations.
Slovenia joined the organisation on 22 May 1992.
Source: The Slovenian Times
