We are honoured to extend an invitation to you to commemorate our annual United Nations Peacekeepers Ceremony and Peoples March – a celebration and remembrance of 77 years of valiant service and sacrifice by Australian Peacekeepers. This ceremony will celebrate the more than 65,000 Australians who have served in peacekeeping operations and remember the peacekeepers who never returned home or returned forever affected.

Book and Join us - free event, family & friends welcome.

Keynote speaker, Damian Cardona Onse

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has appointed Damian Cardona Onses of Spain as Director of the United Nations Information Centre in Canberra, Australia. Mr. Cardona assumed his duties on 20 April 2022.

A field office of the United Nations Department of Global Communications, the United Nations Information Centre in Canberra provides services to Australia, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, New Zealand, Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.

Mr. Cardona has more than 26 years of experience in strategic communications, crisis communications, outreach and campaigns within the United Nations system. Before his appointment to Canberra, he served as United Nations Information Centre Director in Dakar, Senegal (covering French-speaking Africa) and in Bogota (covering Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela). In 2021, he was seconded to the United Nations Verification Mission in Colombia as Chief of Strategic Communications and Public Information.

Having served in peacekeeping missions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mali and Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mr. Cardona was also Chief of Media Relations and Spokesperson for the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) and Special Adviser to the Special Representative of the Secretary-General. (https://press.un.org/en/2022/s...)

Ceremony Program * Subject to change

10am: All stand for the arrival of the Honorary Aide-de-Camp (ADC) Flight Lieutenant Adam Lo OAM
Official Welcome and Acknowledgement of Traditional Owners – Susan Harris Rimmer, President of UNAAQ
Welcome - Nathan Bradney, Australian Peacekeeper and Peacemaker Veterans' Association Ltd
National Anthem - Pipes and drums National Servicemen's Memorial Band & Amberley Pipes and Drums Band
Speech - the Honorary Aide-de-Camp (ADC) Flight Lieutenant Adam Lo OAM
UN Secretary General’s Message – Mr Damian Cardona Onses
Dance Performance - Eric Kagorora, Rwandan Community Group
Reflection - Keynote Speaker – Mr Damian Cardona Onses
Prayer - Reverend Bob Rogders
Laying of Wreath (official guests followed by other guests)
The Ode - Nathan Bradney, Australian Peacekeeper and Peacemaker Veterans' Association Ltd
Last Post followed by One Minute Silence and The Rouse (all stand) - Natalie Deveson from Holland Park State High School
All stand for the departure of the Honorary Aide-de-Camp (ADC) Flight Lieutenant Adam Lo OAM
Final Remarks - Amiel Nubaha
Final Band Performance - RAAF Amberley Pipes and Drums
Morning Tea - provided by Qld Country Women's Association
Event Officially Concludes (11am)

About UNAAQ
Established in 1946, the United Nations Association of Australia is a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to the vision of a future where the United Nations is more effective because more Australians are engaged global citizens, committed to achieving the purpose of the UN Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.