UAE to sport blue look for United Nations

Petra, Jordan, will be turning blue to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the UN.

Five iconic landmarks in the UAE will be lit up in the United Nations blue colour to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the organisation.
From October 24-26, five landmarks from the UAE, namely Etihad Towers, Qasr Al Hosn, Mubadala (Almamoora), Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium and the Abu Dhabi Global Market Building will be highlighted with blue light as a part of the 'Turn the World UN Blue' global campaign.
Nearly 190 iconic monuments, buildings, museums, bridges and other landmarks in more than 50 countries around the world will be lit up with the official color of the United Nations.
World famous landmarks from Australia's Sydney Opera House to the Great Pyramids of Giza in Egypt, from the statue of Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro to the Empire State Building in New York, will also be lit in blue.
Other participants include Russia's Hermitage Museum, the ancient city of Petra in Jordan, the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy, Edinburgh Castle and Central Hall Westminster in the United Kingdom, Table Mountain in South Africa, Japan's SkyTree Tower and the Alhambra in Spain, among many others.
In Bahrain, the University of Bahrain's Central Library Premises and the Bu Maher Fort will be lit in blue from October 24-26. "I am grateful our Member States are showing such strong enthusiasm in marking 70 years of UN support for peace, development and human rights," said UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. "By turning the world UN Blue for a day, we can light the way to a better tomorrow." The global celebration will kick off in New Zealand and then Australia with the lighting up of the Sydney Opera House at dusk, and from there a wave of UN Blue will move across countries and continents as monuments around the world take part in the international event.
United Nations headquarters in New York will light up for two nights, beginning October 23 when the annual UN Day concert will be held, and concluding on October 24.
Follow the global movement on social media using the hashtag #UNBlue in addition to the year-long hashtag #UN70.
More information on "Turn the World UN Blue" and other UN70 global activities and celebrations can be found at www.un.org/UN70.
dhanusha@khaleejtimes.com