Fifty years of the UN guided tours.

• Author: Karakat, Pauline
• Position: It Took 25 for Men to Break the Gender Barrier

The United Nations guided tour operation celebrated its fiftieth anniversary on 6 November 2002. To mark this event, several hundred former and current tour guides and the media attended the opening of a photographic exhibit highlighting experiences at the United Nations of guides and visitors. Secretary-General Kofi Annan formally opened the exhibit, on display until 6 January 2003 in the visitors' lobby at UN Headquarters. A tour for former guides and media representatives and a private dinner for current and former guides followed the opening. This was designed not only as an anniversary celebration but also a celebration of the invaluable contributions the guides have given to visitors and to the United Nations system as a whole.

A number of Permanent Missions to the United Nations, the United Nations Association of the United States of America (UNA-USA) and the International Photographic Council partnered with the UN Department of Public Information to publicize this anniversary and make guided tours more visible to the public. Kodak Company designed and produced the exhibit, while Canon, Fuji, Nikon and Olympus sponsored the opening reception.

For the past five decades, over 37 million visitors have been led through UN Headquarters by 2,000 tour guides from more than 100 countries. The one-hour lecture tour covers the main council chambers, including the Security Council and the Economic and Social Council; exhibits on peacekeeping, decolonization and disarmament; an art collection consisting of tapestries, murals, mosaics and sculptures presented by Member States; and ends at the General Assembly Hall. The guides have been dubbed the "ambassadors to the public", because they are the visitors' direct link to the United Nations, providing them insight and knowledge into the work and activities of the Organization.

From 1952 to 1955, the American Association for the United Nations (the forerunner of UNA-USA) headed the tour operation until it was incorporated into the United Nations Office of Public Information. A September 1952 excerpt from The New York Times advertising tour guide positions read, "UN Goes In For Paid Tours: Lovelies Wanted!" Nina Miness, one of the first guides, remembered how she was hired: "The employment agency was a seedy office on 42nd Street, run by a woman named Mae Sweeney. She told me the job required knowledge of different languages and entailed working with diplomats. The reality of the position turned out...