United Nations, May 30: The United Nations General Assembly has cleared the way for the entire amount of one million dollars from 2001 Nobel Peace Prize which the world body shared with Secretary General Kofi Annan to be utilised for the education of the children of the UN staff members who lost their lives in the service of peace. It adopted a resolution yesterday to donate 500,000 dollars for the purpose, thus matching Annan's decision whose donation of his share of equal amount had helped kick off the fund. Simultaneously, the world body announced that the amount of the 1988 Nobel Peace Prize awarded to UN peacekeeping forces would be utilised to raise a memorial for the peacekeepers who laid down their lives while serving the cause of peace. The memorial will be located in the garden in the United Nations headquarters here and unveiled in September in the presence of world leaders attending the annual general assembly session. "The memorial is designed by Arquitectonica, the prestigious architectural firm, whose services were provided to the UN pro bono," the world body said.

Annan had proposed in October last year that the prize money he and the world body shared be earmarked for the fund to education the children of UN staff who have lost one parent.

"The fund would be a way of ensuring both a living memorial to staff who have made the ultimate sacrifice and a practical way to helping families left behind," a UN spokesperson said.

Bureau Report