Press Release

Dresden’s City Hall Celebrates United Nations Day on 3 November

To celebrate United Nations Day (24 October), Dresden's City Hall will organize a festive event on Thursday, 3 November 2022.

To celebrate United Nations Day (October 24), Dresden’s City Hall will organize a festive event on Thursday, November 3, 2022 at 6:00 pm. The main topic this year is the “Culture of Peace”. While promoting discussions with citizens and guests, the event will analyze how structures that bolster peace can be established sustainably, and what can be done at a municipal level to achieve sustainability development goal no.16.

Festive event and award ceremony

This year, the cooperation partners will welcome Dr Angela Kane as a keynote speaker at the commemorative event in the plenary hall of Dresden’s City Hall. She will discuss the “Culture of Peace” with Prof. Dominik Steiger, head of the Chair of International Law, European Law and Public Law at Technische Universität Dresden and Academic Director of the Center for International Studies (ZIS), as well as address guests’ questions and paths for the future in an open discussion. The event will include music and will be rounded off by the award ceremony of the 2022 Lokale Agenda Competition. This will honor local initiatives that are committed to sustainable development and social change in Dresden. Following the event, there will be a small reception with food and drinks, as well as the opportunity to talk to one another and network with the actors present. They can also get to know the winners of the Lokale Agenda competition in person.

Keynote speaker

Dr Angela Kane has had a long and distinguished career (of more than 35 years) at the United Nations in New York and all over the world. She has served as Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs at the United Nations (UN) and was a member (2016-2019) and chair (2019-2022) of the Council of the United Nations University (UNU). Currently, she is a Senior Adviser at the Nuclear Threat Initiative in Washington DC.

Prizes for sustainable development in Dresden

The Lokale Agenda competition has been held in Dresden for 23 years. The aim is to bring exemplary projects, as well as commitment to sustainable development in Dresden, to the public’s attention. With these prizes, the Lokale Agenda 21 für Dresden, alongside SachsenEnergie AG, the LIONS Club and the Stadtentwässerung Dresden GmbH, strives to increase the visibility of such projects and honor their dedicated work.

The prize in the category “Education for Sustainable Development and Social Cooperation”, sponsored by SachsenEnergie AG, was claimed by two associations this year. The winners are: “Dresden Migration Stories: Making Womens’ Voices Visible” which is part of the Ausländerrat Dresden, and “Metro_polis”. In the category “Sustainable Children’s and Youth Projects”, the jury of the LIONS Club Dresden Agenda 21 has chosen the “kleinen Friedenstauben” (little peace doves) of Kolibri as this year’s winner. The prize money is sponsored by the LIONS Club Dresden Agenda 21. The audience award was earned by the “Montagscafé - an international forum for all” and they were delighted to receive the prize money, donated by the Stadtentwässerung Dresden GmbH.

Congratulations to all prize winners! Keep up the groundbreaking and innovative work!

The United Nations in Dresden

77 years ago, on October 24, 1945, the Charter of the United Nations (UN) came into force. UN sites around the world commemorates this event, as well as the decades of commitment to world peace and more sustainable development on the horizon. Dresden is also a UN site: scientists from around the world have been working at the United Nations University - Institute for Integrated Management of Material Fluxes and of Resources (UNU FLORES) at the World Trade Center. The organizers of the United Nations Day in Dresden include UNU-FLORES (dresden.de), the Lokale Agenda 21 für Dresden (Link), the state capital Dresden (Link), the Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia Regional Association of the United Nations Association of Germany (DGVN), the UNICEF Dresden Working Group (Link), the Center for International Studies (ZIS), Technische Universität Dresden and the LIONS Club Lokale Agenda 21 Dresden (Link).