The General Assembly of the German Commission for UNESCO, which is being held in Berlin on 23 and 24 June, will celebrate Germany’s 60th anniversary as a member of UNESCO. The ceremony which is taking place in the Federal Foreign Office Weltsaal on 23 June will be attended by UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova and Minister of State Cornelia Pieper, as well as more than 300 guests, including members of the German Commission for UNESCO, ambassadors from UNESCO member states, representatives of the UNESCO networks in Germany and civil society experts.

Following keynote speeches by Minister of State Cornelia Pieper and UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova, a panel discussion will be held on “UNESCO in the 21st century – challenges, prospects, Germany’s contribution”. The participants will be: Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO; Walter Hirche, former minister and President of the German Commission for UNESCO; Prof. Herfried Münkler, chair of political theory at the Humboldt University, Berlin. The discussion will be chaired by Arnd Henze from WDR television.

The Federal Republic of Germany became the 64th member state of UNESCO 60 years ago – on 11 July 1951. For the young country, this marked an important step forward as it sought to rejoin the international community. Accession to UNESCO was preceded by the establishment of the German Commission for UNESCO (then known as the German Committee for UNESCO Work) on 12 May 1950.

Further information and the programme for the ceremony can be found at: www.unesco.de