Sri Chinmoy:
The Peace Meditation at the United Nations

UNICEF BAZAAR FOR THE INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF THE CHILD

On 31 October 1977 the Meditation Group at the UN held a Bazaar at UN New York Headquarters in honour of the international Year of the Child.

Peace Meditation Group Leader, Sri Chinmoy, offered a silent meditation for the success of the  l . Y. C, which has been declared for 1979.

Dr. Aldaba-Lim, Assistant Secretary-General, who has been recently appointed Special Representative for the I. Y. C., then spoke and cut the ribbon to open the Bazaar.

Members of the Meditation Group sang Sri Chinmoy’s song dedicated to UNICEF, which has been requested by the General Assembly to act as the co-ordinating agency f or the activities of the l . Y. C. Dr.Lim ‘s talk follows:

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For a shorter report of the event, SEE Also   Bazaar for Year of Child – Summary

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Sri Chinmoy opens the programme with a minute of silence, in the tradition of many International Children’s Day celebrations around the world where the children themselves join in silent prayer or meditation ) .

(Below Peace Meditation at the UN Choir Performs)

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Dr. Estefania Aldaba-Lim, Assistant Secretary-General and Special Representative for the International Year of the Child:

Sri Chinmoy, my dear friends in the United Nations and members of the Meditation Group at the UN, good morning. I am not going to speak very long. 1 just want to say how greatIy I appreciate this invitation to join you on this very important occasion to raise funds for children of the world, especially children of the developing world, for which UNICEF, as you all know perhaps better than I do, has worked for all these years.

I know of what I speak for I have seen UNICEF in action in the little villages in the Philippines and many other parts of Asia. For there the cents and the dollars which you contribute from these kinds of things that you have held throughout the years have gone to feeding children, not just ten, twenty or fifty, but hundreds of children, sometimes thousands of children, who probably would never have been able to receive food from their own families. Often their own parents cannot afford to give them even a glass of milk for all their lives, their poverty is so great.

And so therefore this occasion takes on greater significance for several reasons. First, you are doing it in honour of the International Year of the Child, a declaration of the United Nations which will make 1979 the Year of the Child. And it is hoped that you and 1 from now on will continue to join hands, not only today, but in the years to come, in the next few years and thereafter, to make a better world for children not only in the poor countries but even in the rich countries. For the International Year of the Child is not only for the poor but as well for the rich countries of the world, for aH the children of the world, to make everyone aware-rich parents and poor parents alike-of the special needs of children wherever they are, to maximize their development – psychological , emotional, cultural, moral and social development.

Therefore, on behalf of my colleagues in the UNICEF Secretariat here as well as in the Secretariat of Geneva, I would like to say that the International Year of the Child is all gratitude to you for participating in today’s fundraising. We shall ever be grateful to you and we hope that this is not the last time that you will be concerned for children – that your concern is not only for this month, not only in this year, but in the years to come. Thank you very, very much.

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Dr. Lim cuts the ribbon and graciously offers the decoration to Sri Chinmoy.

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Sri Chinmoy thanks Dr. Lim for her illumining talk, offering her a bouquet of flowers.

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Dr. Lim comments on a particular painting by Sri Chinmoy which was part of the one-man exhibit set up especially for the Bazaar.

“There is a nice use of colour and line. I see an interlinking that binds people working for one cause- both for the poor child and for the rich child.”

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Mr. Henry Labouisse, Executive Director of UNICEF at the Bazaar .

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Photo and Bio of Dr. Estefania Aldaba-Lim, Assistant Secretary General

and Special Representative for the International Year of the Child (IYC).

CREDIT UNICEF PHOTO

Dr. Estefania Aldaba-Lim, formerly Secretary of the Philippine Government’s Department of Social Services and Development, has been appointed Special Representative for the International Year of the Child (IYC), with the rank of Assistant Secretary-General of the united Nations.

Dr. Lim was appointed by Henry R. Labouisse, Executive Director of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), in consultation with Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim. She will take up her new post at the IYC Secretariat in New York in early October. Her appointment is for the period through 1979.

Dr. Lim will provide leadership to IYC activities and will be directly responsible to the UNICEF Executive Director. UNICEF has been designated by the General Assembly as the lead agency responsible for Co-ordinating the activities of the Year, which has been proclaimed for 1979.

The IYC is concerned with children in all countries, especially young children. Its major aims are to encourage all countries, rich and poor, to review their programmes for the promotion of the well-being of children, and to mobilize support for national and local action programmes according to each country’s conditions, needs and priorities; to heighten awareness of children’s special needs among decision-makers and the public; and to promote recognition of the vital link between programmes for children on the one hand, and economic and social progress on the other.

 

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Download PDF format Text of  event: as reported in “Meditation at the United Nations” November 1977 issue.

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Click below for larger or different resolution photos from event.