MEDIA ADVISORY: UN and CERN to celebrate science for peace and development

Geneva, 17 October 2014. The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN1) will gather eminent politicians and scientists to celebrate science for peace and development highlighting the values of science and its ability to build bridges between nations.  

Using CERN as an example, the event will highlight the role that science has played in peaceful collaboration, innovation and development, and to consider how this legacy can be used to address present and future global issues. The event will be the last in a series of celebrations to mark CERN’s 60th Anniversary.

WHO: Keynote speakers: Mr. Kofi Annan, Chairman and Founder of the Kofi Annan Foundation and Nobel Peace Prize winner; Professor Carlo Rubbia, Nobel Physics Prize Laureate, and former CERN Director-General; Professor Hitoshi Murayama, Director of the Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe, University of Tokyo, and professor at the University of California, Berkeley; and H. E. Ms Naledi Pandor, Minister for Science and Technology, Republic of South Africa.

Opening statements by: H.E. Mr. Martin Sajdik, President of the Economic and Social Council; H.E. Mr. Sam Kutesa, President of the UN General Assembly’s 69th session; Mr. Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary-General; and Mr. Rolf Heuer, CERN Director-General.

WHEN: Monday, 20 October at 10a.m. to 11.40 a.m. EDT

WHERE: ECOSOC Chamber at UN Headquarters

The event will also be webcast live on UN Web TV: http://webtv.un.org/

For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/en/ecosoc/CERN60

Media contacts:

Mr. Arnaud Marsollier, CERN, Tel: +41 22 767 41 01; E-mail: Arnaud.Marsollier@cern.ch

Mr. Paul Simon, UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Tel: 917-367-5027; E-mail: simonp@un.org

Mr. Wynne Boelt, UN Department of Public Information, Tel: 212 963 8264, E-mail: boelt@un.org

 

1. CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, is the world's leading laboratory for particle physics. It has its headquarters in Geneva. At present, its Member States are Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Romania is a Candidate for Accession. Serbia is an Associate Member in the pre-stage to Membership. India, Japan, the Russian Federation, the United States of America, Turkey, the European Commission and UNESCO have Observer Status.