Look Who it Was Random video

Clearing the Way

2,688 views · Published 14 February 2012 · 22:01 · Indexed 21 September 2026

Channel: United Nations · 2012 · News & Politics

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United Nations, New York, February 2012 - In the centre of Manhattan, six blocks have been cleared to make a site for the U.N. Headquarters. In the eyes of  group of neighbourhood children, this is a needless intrusion on what used to be their playground. In a nearby candy store, however, they meet a U.N. interpreter who explains what isbeing done. An engineer on the site describes how the Planning Commission works. 

Scenes of the U.N. site area give a vivid picture of the neighbourhood of the new headquarters, before construction began. The needs of the U.N. are described by the engineer, by means of drawings on a school slate. 

The children are not yet convinced. They journey out to Lake Success to lodge a complaint about the loss of their playground. But as they walk trough the U.N. and listen in on a session of the International Children's Emergency Fund, they become convinced of its importance. They decide among themselves to give up their playground after all, rather than to "hold up the works". 

This film depicts conditions prevailing at the time of its production in 1948. 

This movie has been produced by The United Nations Films and Visual Information Division of the Department of Public Information. In cooperation with the United Nations Headquarters Planning Office.

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