In an effort to increase its social media presence, the United Nations has announced that it has launched its official WeChat account last Friday, 14 June 2013.
The account was officiated by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon from New York via a video message broadcast on WeChat and other online social media. The account will be managed by the UN Department of Public Information in New York.
“It’s a great pleasure for me today, to launch UN WeChat. United Nations carries a vital role for international peace, security and development. Through this, we sincerely hope that we’ll be able to reach millions and millions of Chinese citizens, ” Ban announced.
He continued, “United Nations has a global presence, it has a growing profile through social media. I hope that this UN WeChat will enable many Chinese citizens to understand the latest news and information, what we are doing, why it matters. I sincerely hope that I can speak via UN WeChat soon.”
The one-minute officiation speech is available online here – Ban Ki-moon’s Officiation of WeChat Account
WeChat, a social communications app available on all major mobile platforms currently has a registered user base of 50 million worldwide.
