Preparations Gather Steam for UN Anniversary

The United Nations Organisation (UNO) will clock 67 years tomorrow as it was created on October 24, 1945 by 51 States in New York, United States of America. Cameroon joined the organisation on September 20, 1960, nine months after attaining independence on January 1, 1960.

There are anthill activities in the UN Department of Cameroon's Ministry of External Relations as preparations hot up towards celebrating 52 years of the country's fruitful cooperation with the organisation. After sporting activities on Saturday, October 20 and Sunday, October 21, celebration activities yesterday, October 22 moved to schools. Educative talks on the work and impact of the United Nations Organisation in Cameroon were organised at Queen's Way International College and Government Bilingual High School all at the Essos neighbourhood of the capital city, Yaounde. Today, October 23, exchanges are programmed at the conference hall of the Ministry of External Relations, focused on evaluating the implementation of the recommendations of the workshop of October 2011 on the privileges and immunities of representatives of the UN System in Cameroon. On D-Day, Wednesday, October 24, the hallmark of celebrations will be the reading of the message of the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon and Cameroon's External Relations Minister, Pierre Moukoko Mbonjo's speech at the anniversary ceremony in the ministry.

Cameroon-UN relations started as far back as 1945 upon the creation of the organisation. The British Southern Cameroons was a UN Trust Territory under Britain administration and French Cameroon a UN Trust Territory under France administration. The country with Michel Tommo Monthe as Permanent Representative to the UN in New York, has enjoyed multi-facetted cooperation with the organisation made palpable through the work of UN Agencies. At the moment, a total of 255 Cameroonians are working with the UN System at different levels with many occupying key positions such Florence Arrey and Benjamen Mutanga Itoe, judges at the Special Tribunals for Rwanda and Sierra Leone respectively.

President Paul Biya of Cameroon has often made the country's voice heard in different UN General Assembly sessions and other gatherings. The hallmarks of the Cameroon-UN cooperation constitute high-level visits. The former UN Secretary General, Koffi Anan made three official visits to Cameroon and his successor, Ban Ki-moon visited the country from June 9 to 11, 2010. The UN has left and continuous to leave indelible imprints through contributions to Cameroon's socio-economic and political advancement.