NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan 26 — The United Nations Office at Nairobi (UNON), in partnership with the Israeli Embassy in Kenya, will lead a commemoration on Tuesday to mark the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust.
The ceremony will bring together UN officials, members of the diplomatic corps in Kenya, representatives of the Government of Kenya, and university students.
This year’s observance carries the theme: “Holocaust Remembrance for Dignity and Human Rights,” emphasizing the ongoing importance of remembering the Holocaust in promoting human dignity and preventing violations of human rights.
Key speakers at the event will include Zainab Hawa Bangura, Director-General of UNON; Gideon Behar, Ambassador of Israel to Kenya; Sebastian Groth, Ambassador of Germany; David Silverstein, Head of the Nairobi Hebrew Congregation; and a representative of the Government of Kenya.
The United Nations observes the International Day of Commemoration annually on January 27 to mark the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau in 1945.
The United Nations General Assembly designated the day through Resolution 60/7 and holds commemorations at its headquarters in New York and at UN offices worldwide.
Recalling the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the General Assembly has reaffirmed that the Holocaust remains a permanent warning of the dangers posed by hatred, bigotry, racism, and prejudice.
Resolution 60/7 explicitly rejects any denial of the Holocaust as a historical event and encourages Member States to preserve sites that served as Nazi death camps, concentration camps, forced labour camps, and prisons.
A subsequent resolution, 61/255, adopted in January 2007, further condemns Holocaust denial and urges all UN Member States to reject it unreservedly.
