UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process and other UN representatives to visit Yad Vashem on Thursday, International Holocaust Remembrance Day

Under Secretary General Robert Serry, the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, will lead a delegation of heads and representatives of UN agencies, including: UNOPS, UNDP, UN-OCHA, UNODC, UNRWA, UNFPA, OHCHR, UNTSO, UNESCO and the World Bank, to Yad Vashem on Thursday, January 27, 2011.

January 27, was designated by the United Nations, in 2005, as The International Day of Commemoration to honor the victims of the Holocaust.

The group will visit the Holocaust History Museum, participate in a memorial ceremony in the Hall of Remembrance, visit the Children’s Memorial and sign the Yad Vashem Guest Book. Danny Ayalon, Deputy Foreign Minister for the State of Israel, will participate in the memorial ceremony in the Hall of Remembrance. At the conclusion of the visit, Mr. Serry, Mr. Ayalon and Yad Vashem Chairman Avner Shalev, will offer brief remarks.

Following are press arrangements for the visit:

10:00: Arrival and tour of the Holocaust History Museum: CLOSED to Cameras Hall of Names: Photo-Op: OPEN with prior registration

11:40: Memorial Ceremony, Hall of Remembrance: OPEN

11:50: Children’s Memorial: CLOSED to Cameras

12:00: Signing of the Guest Book, brief remarks: OPEN

Media who wish to cover the visit should arrive at the Hall of Names by 11:00, and register with the Media Relations Office: 02 644 3410/1.