A celebration that connected people across the world, conveying a message of peace, sustainable development and respect for human rights. To commemorate the seventieth anniversary of its founding, the United Nations launched a global campaign, inviting its member states to light up its most representative landmarks in blue (the UN’s official colour). On Saturday, more than 250 monuments, churches, temples and museums in over 65 countries were lit up blue, from the Tokyo SkyTree in Japan to the Great Pyramids of Giza in Egypt, the statue of Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro to the Empire State Building in New York, and of course the UN headquarters.
The Enel Group joined the project through Enel Sole’s contribution and lit up the Leaning Tower of Pisa. ‘We are very pleased to participate in this global campaign to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the United Nations, lighting the Leaning Tower of Pisa blue,’ stated Enel CEO Francesco Starace. ‘Enel fully shares the UN’s values and principles of peace and socio-economic progress. The private sector, and especially the electricity industry, has a decisive role in promoting sustainable development and global stability, opening new growth opportunities for everyone, while respecting the environment and local communities.’ The multinational power company, an Official Global Partner of Expo 2015, also lit its Pavilion at the exhibit.
Following the various time zones, the celebration started in New Zealand, followed by Australia with the lighting of the Sydney Opera House at sunset. From there a wave of UN blue moved across countries and continents, with the progressive lighting of the various landmarks that participated in the event. The initiative was extensively covered on social networks, where people from around the world shared images and videos of UN Blue landmarks with the hashtag #UNBlue and #UN70, which were made available by the UN on the web platform UNIFEED and on Flickr.
‘The objective is to unite citizens from around the world with the United Nations’ official colour, thus promoting a shared message of peace, development and human rights that starts from the UN headquarters,’ said UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric. The idea was stressed by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon: ‘The seventieth anniversary is an opportunity to reflect, to look back on the United Nations’ history and take stock of its achievements. It is also an opportunity to spotlight where we must redouble our efforts to meet current and future challenges across three pillars: peace and security, development and human rights.’
For further information on the initiative and other United Nations’ activities visit https://www.un.org/un70.
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