UN Photo Exhibition “People on the Move” at Photokina 2018 in Cologne, Germany

27 September 2018 - The UN Photo Exhibit “People on the Move” is currently displayed at the world’s largest photo fair in Cologne, Germany, from 26 to 29 September 2018. Selected from the UN photo library, more than 50 powerful images capture moments in time – over the last seven decades – of the millions that have, for one reason or another, become people on the move.

People have been on the move since time immemorial. Today, the number of international migrants worldwide stands at 258 million, about 3.4 per cent of the world’s population. While we use statistics to speak about people on the move, we must remember that each number represents a human being, someone just like us.

UN Member States in 2016 have made the protection of migrants and refugees a priority for international cooperation and according to UN Secretary-General António Guterres, “of the many global challenges we face, human mobility is one of the most paradoxical and misrepresented.“

By displaying the work of some of the UN’s specialized agencies and programmes working for the protection of refugees and migrants, including the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), visitors get a unique insight into the UN’s work around the globe assisting people on the move.

The UN Photo Exhibit is presented by the International Photographic Council (IPC) in coordination with the Department of Public Information (DPI) of the United Nations, and sponsored by Lifetouch Inc. John Segall, Vice President of the IPC and Arne Molfenter of DPI’s UN Regional Information Centre (UNRIC) in Brussels jointly opened the exhibition on Photokina’s first day on 26 September. The Exhibit will also be shown at UN Headquarters in New York.

Photokina is an exhibition on all aspects of photography. It brings together the industry, trade, professional users and end consumers with a passion for photography. This year’s exhibition “People on the Move” is the fourth United Nations exhibit brought to the photo fair in Cologne in partnerships with the IPC, Lifetouch and Photokina. It will be displayed throughout the duration of the world’s leading imaging fair, which attracted around 190,000 visitors from more than 130 countries during its last edition in 2016.