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93.

STATEMENT
BY VLADIMIR PETROVSKY
UNDER-SECRETARY-GENERAL
DIRECTOR GENERAL OF THE UNITED NATIONS OFFICE AT GENEVA
AT THE MEMBER STATES' FLAG CEREMONY

Palais des Nations, 30 May 2001

Excellencies,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Dear Colleagues,

I t gives me great pleasure to welcome you this morning to the
Palais des Nations to mark the inauguration of our Member

States flags in the avenue overlooking the Place des Nations.
The United Nations is at the heart of Geneva's extensive international
community. Although the Palais has long been one of the most splendid
buildings in the city, appreciated by people from around the world, because it is
set back in acres of parkland, it had never had the full visual profile it merits
from outside the grounds. It has also long been a wish of many in the
diplomatic corps and international civil service to have what is without doubt
the most colourful face of the United Nations - the flags of all its members -
gaily on view to passing traffic and pedestrians alike.

Today we raise 190 flags - reflecting the total membership of the United
Nations. As the individual colours and designs on each flag suggest, our
Organization embraces every culture, every religion, and every creed known to
humankind - and yet it manages in all its diversity to find our common interests
and to set out our common goals.

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