Tree-Planting Ceremony Held on the Ground of the Palais Des Nations to Honour the Memory of U Thant

A tree-planting ceremony was held on the grounds of the Palais des Nations today to honour the memory of U Thant, Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1961 to 1971. U Thant died in New York on 25 November. At today's ceremony, tributes were paid to the late Secretary-General by V. Winspeare Guicciardi, Under-Secretary-General, Director General of the Office of the United Nations at Geneva; Dr. David Arthur Davies, Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization, on behalf of the specialized agencies of the United Nations, and L. H. Horace Perera, Secretary-General of the World Federation of the United Nations Associations, of which U Thant had been President. A large concourse of people had gathered for the ceremony. They included Swiss authorities and members of diplomatic missions; also United Nations officials and many Genevois who had either known U Thant personally or admired his work. The memorial tree, a Himalayan Cedar, was planted near the Library Wing of the Palais and not far from the monument commemorating man's success in the conquest of outer space. A plaque, unveiled by Mr. Winspeare Guicciardi at the close of the ceremony, states that the tree was planted on 6 December 1974 in memory of U Thant.
Mr. Winspeare Guicciardi making a statement.