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'Founding of the UN' photo exhibit opens at UN Headquarters

'Founding of the UN' photo exhibit opens at UN Headquarters

The United Nations' first meeting at a converted warehouse in Flushing, New York and Franklin D. Roosevelt meeting Winston Churchill aboard a British battleship are among the images at a 60th anniversary exhibit of rarely-seen photos of the UN's early years opening at the Organization's New York Headquarters today.

Secretary-General Kofi Annan, General Assembly President Jean Ping, and other dignitaries will participate in the opening of the exhibit, which also provides a retrospective of UN humanitarian work and images of recent efforts such as the response to the Indian Ocean tsunami.

The exhibit includes some 60 prints selected from among the 500,000 photographs in the UN collection.

Field images show the spectrum of human activities, from economic to political. Topics include agriculture, health, natural resources, employment, micro-credit and refugees, among many others.

The complete exhibit, which is organized by the UN Department of Public Information with support from Hewlett-Packard, will be on view seven days a week at Headquarters through Labor Day weekend. Its historical segment will remain on display through UN Day, 24 October.