weibo | United Nations Blog

Here’s a selection of photos you may have missed posted on UN social media accounts from around the UN system over the past few weeks and shared with our social media team. Thank you to all who contributed!

Did you know that the UN has an account on the popular Chinese social media platform called Weibo? UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was honoured with an Award of Special Merit at the 2012 Sina Awards Ceremony for the continuous support and participation of the United Nations in social media. You’re invited to join the UN on social media platforms in the UN’s six official languages.

Former Secretary-General Kofi Annan visited the UN Headquarters this week to discuss his new book, “Interventions: A Life in War and Peace.” While in New York City, he also visited the floor where he used to work for the first time since the UN Secretariat reopened after it was refurbished. Also watch a conversation he had with Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson.

Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP) Ertharin Cousin met with Syrian refugees in Turkey last week. Thanks to @WFP for posting this and more on their Twitter page. Find out more about her trip in this video originally aired on CNN.

In this video meet a child who couldn’t walk before he started receiving food assistance from the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP). Thanks to @WFP for posting this video and more on their Twitter account — and thank you to everyone who has supported WFP!

This week the BBC took viewers on a “behind the scenes” tour of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). Thanks to our colleagues at @ICTY for featuring for this video and more on their Twitter account.

Thanks to our colleagues at the UN Information Centre in Rio de Janeiro for this lovely tribute in memory of the third anniversary of the earthquake in Haiti which also highlights progress made.

This week Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon encouraged Stanford University students– and students everywhere — to harness a spirit of hope as they confront the challenges of the world. For him, he said, that spirit was sparked by a visit to California half a century ago when he stayed with a family on a trip sponsored by the Red Cross. In this photo the Secretary-General holds hands with his Ms Libba Patterson, his “host mother” during his first trip away from his home country of South Korea half a century ago. They were reunited during his trip to California last Thursday.

UNICEF Supporter and actress @Angie_Harmon joined UNICEF Chief @Susan_Bissell to discuss child trafficking on @HuffPostLive.

Have a photo or video you’d like to see here? Post it on Twitter and let us know by tagging @UN. More updates from:

Behind-the-scenese with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and TV host Yang Lan who hosted his Weibo conversation in China. Credit: UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe

One of the first things Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon did on his most-recent visit to China was to hold an online conversation with Sina Weibo followers. Sina Weibo is a popular Chinese microblogging platform which has over 350 million registered users.

Watch the conversation here (in English and Chinese)

After starting the conversation by introducing himself in Chinese, Mr. Ban answered 20 questions from Weibo users, selected from the 16,000-plus questions submitted ahead of and during the event on topics such as Rio+20, China-Africa cooperation and the role of social media.

So far, Weibo estimates the conversation attracted the attention of at least 20 million of internet users.

he then answered around 20 questions selected from the more than 16,000 questions submitted by Weibo followers

The United Nations account on Sina Weibo, updated several times a day in Chinese, has more than two million followers and many young people in China see the account as a great way to learn about United Nations.

The conversation was facilitated by TV host Yang Lan who expect to feature it on an upcoming episode of the her programme “Yang Lan One-on-One” show, which is seen by nearly 900 million people around the world.