IOM joined the UN Information Centre and the UN Communications Group in South Africa, to commemorate this year’s UN DAY.

The week-long celebrations kicked off on the 17th of October with an outreach to schools, where staff members interacted with scholars and engaged them on UN activities.

A UN Careers evening was held at the University of Pretoria to raise awareness among students about the diverse work of the UN in South Africa and globally.  A range of UN speakers shared their career experiences, amongst them Gaone Dixon from IOM who spoke about his career in Media and Communications at IOM in South Africa.  This was followed by an interactive informal quiz session where students competed to answer challenging questions about the UN.

Friday the 21st of October saw IOM staff in full swing, competing with other UN colleagues in an interagency Soccer Tournament in Pretoria. The IOM team lived up to its reputation, winning all their matches. The day culminated in a much anticipated soccer match between FC Inter- Stars, a soccer team from the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO), and a joint UN South Africa team.  The UN team succumbed to a 4-0 defeat by the visiting team.

“Well, after a whole day of playing, our guys were just too tired, and we decided to be kind to our visitors,” explained one UN player after the loss. The tournament was successful in bringing together colleagues from the UN and DIRCO who happen to be working closely together as preparations are under way for the COP17, international climate change conference taking place in Durban, South Africa from the 28th of November to 10th December.

A formal commemoration was held at the UN house in Pretoria on Monday the 24th of October  and UN staff in South Africa gathered to receive messages from Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, an address by UN Resident Coordinator Dr. Agostinho Zacarias.