Top UN-Official Attends United Nations-Day Celebration Medford, Mass. -- Iqbal Riza, the United Nations as Chef de Cabinet to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, attended a ceremonial raising of the UN flag as part of a UN Day celebration on the Main Campus Quadrangle at Tufts University on Thursday, Oct. 24.
Also on hand was Stephen W. Bosworth, Dean of The Fletcher School and the Tufts University Chaplain, David O’Leary who addressed the gathering with short remarks. The Ambassachords, Fletcher's lively a cappella group provided music. This year's event was organized by Ian Johnstone, an assistant professor of international law at Fletcher and a former aide to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. "It is a great honor that such a distinguished UN official and close adviser to the Secretary-General is able to join us at this critical moment in the UN’s history," said Johnstone.
The flag-raising event was followed by a luncheon talk in which Riza delivered a talk which asked the question, "Is Multilateralism under Threat?" United Nations Day was established in the United States by Presidential Proclamation to commemorate the formation of the United Nations in San Francisco in 1945. It is celebrated in all US states and by all member countries of the United Nations for the purpose of informing the people of the world about the aims, purposes, and achievements of the UN.
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Jointly sponsored by the university and The Fletcher School of Law and
Diplomacy, the appearance of a top UN official at Tufts comes at a
time of great urgency: the United States and its Allies are involved in
a global war against terrorism; the U.S. is weighing military action
against Iraq; the Israeli-Palestinian conflict continues unabated, and
the North Koreans have just made a stunning admission about a secret
nuclear weapons program.