UNHCR Executive Committee meeting next week

As mentioned Tuesday, the five-day annual meeting of UNHCR's governing body, the Executive Committee, begins on Monday and is open to media.

The first day's session begins at 10 a.m. in the Assembly Hall here at the Palais. During the week, "ExCom" reviews and approves our programmes and budget, advises on international protection issues and discusses a wide range of other topics with UNHCR and its inter-governmental and non-governmental partners.

High Commissioner Guterres will deliver his opening ExCom address on Monday shortly after 10 a.m. We'll issue a press release and copies of his opening address on Monday morning.

The opening session Monday will also introduce our 2006 Nansen Refugee Award winner, Dr. Akio Kanai, a Japanese optometrist who over more than two decades has improved the quality of life of over 100,000 uprooted people around the world by testing their eyes and providing them with spectacles.

The formal award ceremony for Dr. Kanai will be held at 18:30 on Monday at UNHCR, and media are invited to attend. Please let us know if you're interested in coming. The High Commissioner will make the formal presentation to Dr. Kanai in our headquarters atrium in the presence of ExCom members, the Nansen Award Committee, diplomatic community, NGOs and staff. A second awards ceremony will be held in Tokyo in early December.

The full ExCom schedule for the week and all of the relevant documents are also available on the UNHCR website. Throughout the week, updated information and documents will be posted daily on the site. So you may want to check the website regularly as well. Please note that the first day's ExCom session on Monday will be held in the Assembly Hall, and then the meeting moves on Tuesday to Salle XVII for the rest of the week. As usual, the High Commissioner will hold a briefing here around midday on Friday, Oct. 6.